Technically, this isn’t the most crucial difference between the 2013 RAV4 plus the previous version in the vehicle that trails merely the Corolla in Toyota’s Canadian sales. But it really’s planning to vie for attraction to price cuts from the neighbourhood of $1,000 to $1,500, and this’s what matters as Toyota aims to advance the RAV4 from third destination for a first inside crowded and competitive compact SUV segment. From your Green Wheels perspective, other improvements with a long list of changes tend to be meaningful.
First, the V6 engine isn't a more. Inside the interest of gas mileage, the only real option, for now (a hybrid might be inside works) may be the 2.5-litre four-cylinder, DOHC carried over from 2012, which generates 176 horsepower and 172 foot-pounds of torque at the relatively high 4,100 rpm. A six-speed automatic drive replaces a few. As well as the “emotional” and “bold” exterior remake includes tweaks, like vortex generators externally mirrors and taillights, which slightly improve RAV4’s aerodynamics and stability.
The result is an official combined urban/highway fuel-consumption rating (in line with Transport Canada’s rosy-eyed scheme) of 7.7 litres per 100-kilometres before-wheel drive and 8.1 while using optional all-wheel drive. Both represent a vast improvement of about half a litre over the previous generation. Nevertheless the front-wheel figure still lags Mazda’s CX-5, at only under seven litres per 100, and other competitors from GM, Ford, Subaru and Mitsubishi.
Along with better fuel economy, the modern transmission provides a zero-to-100 time of 8.9 seconds (for the purpose it’s worth, 1.3 seconds quicker than recently). That acceleration is much smoother: You are able to hear the shifts, in the event you’re watching the agreeable engine notes, but barely feel them. The RAV4 is it being produced for America at Toyota’s state-of-the-art Woodstock assembly plant, certainly where an vehicle rolls over line every 60 seconds. (Process changes cut that time from an authentic 82 seconds, and further improvements could shave additional time, says Brian Krinock, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc.)
This new version offers more amenities along with the safety of what Toyota calls a “class leading” eight airbags, a superior-strength steel cabin, and also the company’s complete “Star Safety System” of stability and traction controls, anti-lock brakes, electronic brake-force distribution, brake assist and smart stop technology. Aids including lane departure alert and optic disc monitor are offered only at the upper price end.
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