Toyota RAV4 CV 2006 Review

7-day Test

Of all the compact SUVs on the market today, few have done more than Toyota's RAV4 to popularise the segment. Originally, it was the funky styling, high driving position and flexible interior that appealed to young and young at heart buyers. Since its launch in 1994, it has slowly grown and developed along with the market but never so dramatically as in its latest incarnation that was launched earlier this year.

The new car is significantly bigger than its predecessor, sports a new part-time all-wheel drive system and is now only offered as a five-door wagon (the previous model was also available as a three-door).

The changes reflect the preferences of the market that Toyota now has in its sights. No longer is it targeting the funky young inner-city dwelling urbanite with off-road fantasies but rather the new RAV4 is being pitched at a more mature audience of young families.

With that in mind, the styling of the new car is somewhat more conservative than its predecessors having eschewed the macho cladding and big flared wheel arches in favour of more conservative aesthetics.

Step inside, however and the dash is a horizontally split affair that offers good visual appeal and neat and logical ergonomics -- although there are also plenty of dust reservoirs.

Up front, the seats are comfortable and supportive and there is enough adjustment in the driver's pew -- and rake and reach adjustment for the steering column -- to be able to get a good driving position.

The substantial increase in length and wheelbase means a much bigger interior with most of the benefits obvious in the rear. For rear seat passengers, there is good leg and headroom and the reclining feature of the 60:40-split rear seat back means that it can accommodate adults in reasonable comfort over longer distances.

One significant oversight however, for a car aimed at young families, is the standard fitment of only one child restraint top tether point, located on the roof behind the centre rear seat position.

The luggage area too has gained from the increased size and there is a very large underfloor storage area -- where the US-only third-row seat option would sit.

The base-level CV car we tested here comes with a reasonable list of standard kit including power windows and mirrors, air conditioning, remote locking and cruise control. The audio system is a single-slot radio CD that is MP3-compatible and while the sound quality from the six speakers was good playing CDs, the FM radio reception was poor with a constant background crackle on most stations.

Under the bonnet is a 125kW/224Nm 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine that feels reasonably perky around town at speeds up to about 60kmh. It is basically the same engine as in the previous model but along with the car's bigger dimensions has come a 140kg-odd weight gain so acceleration is solid but hardly rocket-like. Like most Toyota engines, you do have to push it reasonably hard to get some serious forward motion but it is happy to rev and generally feels refined, only getting a bit loud over 5000rpm.

Under moderate throttle the four-speed automatic transmission is quite smooth and is quick to kick down under a prod of the right foot but push the throttle hard and the shifts become quite noticeable.

Out on the freeway cruising along at 110kmh, the RAV4 is quiet and comfortable with only a little road noise evident on coarser chip tarmac. But it is here that the car's reduced power to weight ratio makes itself known with the RAV4 able to just maintain speed on long hills and overtaking requiring some careful consideration.

While US buyers get the option of a V6, Toyota Australia stuck with the four-only as the bigger engine would have meant a bigger price that would start to intrude on Kluger territory. With high fuel prices Toyota also crowed about the greater fuel efficiency of the four-cylinder powerplant claiming an official fuel consumption test figure of 9.1litres/100km.

This figure is the result of the ADR81/01 government dyno test, but achieving that sort of fuel economy in the real world would be hard. Over the course of our week of city and country driving we managed just 390km out of the car's 60-litre tank resulting in a fuel consumption of around 15l/100km. Small engine does not necessarily mean lower fuel consumption!

As is the trend with these higher-bodied vehicles, the suspension is on the firmer side but the ride remains comfortable with the car easily soaking up small short sharp ruts. Over bigger road irregularities, the firm settings mean that it does bounce around a bit but never so much as to be unruly.

The pay off for the firmer ride is decent handling with no more pronounced body roll through corners than you might expect. It feels very planted on the road and the solid body and longer and wider stance do a great job in maintaining the car's composure. On the wet and slippery corners, the all-wheel drive system unobtrusively helped keep the car on track with plenty of grip from the 17-inch Bridgestone tyres and the ABS-equipped brakes do a good job in pulling up the car in a timely fashion.

With its increase in size and composure, the new RAV4 is likely to be far more family friendly than its forebears but it feels like the car is a bit too big -- or at least heavy -- for its engine.