Some unofficial bits of video have been floating around the internet about the new Rav4 with lots of little information from engineers, and I'm more excited than ever!
Here are some highlights:
- Toyota did extensive testing on many road surfaces and in many conditions. This is not surprising for Toyota, but they did high speed testing in snow, mud/dirt, and gravel/loose rock. They also did lots of off-road testing it seems. For a mass market Toyota unibody vehicle, this is surprising. The Rav4 in the testing footage looks SO planted in high speed snow and gravel conditions, I'm very excited!
- For doubters of the new torque vectoring AWD system, an engineer specifically mentions in the video the system provides high stability during on road driving, and maximizes traction during off road driving. The engineer mentions the system works based on both the driving conditions (in other words, how slow or fast or light or aggressively you may be driving), and the road surface conditions. So obviously the system is not only based on when wheel slip is detected. The system actually improves handling and increases performance on road. The video also specifically mentions excellent cornering performance.
- The E-Four system on the hybrid model makes the Rav4 act more like a rear wheel drive vehicle due to the greatly increased torque of the rear motor. That is tied to an Auto (electronic) LSD system for situations with tricky traction.
- The development concept for the XA50 Rav4 placed a high priority on tough reliability for rough road driving. I really hope this means that generous use of body adhesives was implemented. Otherwise after hundreds of thousands of kms of light or moderate rough road and off road driving the unibody may not handle the stresses. Such problems have been seen in the past on unibody vehicles from other automakers, like the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
- The Rav4 starting from this generation has a new development concept that will lead future generations of the Rav4 for the next 25 years.
- The hybrid model is capable of over 1,000 km (over 620 miles) range on a single tank. This was previously Prius territory, just amazing!
- Despite the increased ground clearance, the aerodynamics were improved for better fuel economy and for very stable straight line driving.
- Some markets will have available Trailer Sway Control and heated windshield washer nozzles. Trailer Sway Control is extremely rare to see on any unibody vehicles. It is typically only offered on body-on-frame vehicles.
If that rumor ends up being true about a higher-powered engine being offered in the future, Toyota will have big trouble keeping enough stock. Even as it is, these will fly off the lot. I predict that aside from being a serious problem for the CR-V, this will pose a problem for every single competitor in the segment, including Jeep as well. With every bit of new information that comes out, this just further cements what an absolute hands down home run product this is.
