This RAV4 is here to stay

Handsome-looking vehicle that is all grown up and conservative. DESIGN OF THIS TOYOTA APPEALS TO ANY SUV FAN, SO PEOPLE WANT IT

It’s hard to imagine a Toyota being an automotive head-turner. The company is renowned for reliability and toughness – the marks of true quality – but design? Not so much…

In the company’s current lineup though, the funky C-HR certainly does stand out from the crowd and it reminds one of the second-generation RAV4 (in twodoor guise) which, for a brief period after its launch in the early 2000s, swoon car of the era.

Women, particularly, loved its unusual, sexy lines. I know this because driving one on test, I kept on getting long looks from a variety of women.

Now that could well be because I am drop-dead gorgeous… err. No.

The four-door version of that RAV, which followed, lost the urban edginess of the two-door as it became obvious the car was aimed at suburban young families.

And that’s where the RAV4 has remained since then…still a handsome-looking car, but now grown up and much more conservative. Also, despite the fact the RAV4 (first generation) was one of the initiators of the “family lifestyle/SUV” sector, the Toyota doesn’t stand out nearly as much as it used to – because there are plenty of good-looking urban warriors out there.

And it is the “Camel Man Lite” design of these vehicles which gets them flying out of the showrooms – not their off-road ability which in two-wheel-drive form is limited.

Most of the RAV4s Toyota sells are front-wheel-drive versions, which illustrates the point about form over function very clearly. Yet, as the owner of a proper allwheel-drive Subaru myself, I do not know why more people don’t buy the AWD versions of most family SUVs.

What happens if you do decided to go down a road less travelled in a game reserve and find yourself in sand?

What if the road to a game lodge suddenly turns into a mud puddle? You and the kiddies are not going to be happy bogged down up to the axles…

Even more likely is the scenario where your dirt road suddenly takes a turn and gets very steep. And your FWD car starts wheelspinning and slowly rolling backwards? Not fun.

That’s where you need an AWD – and the system on the RAV4, although not a permanent one (as on a Subaru) would certainly come to your rescue.

The RAV4’s transmission normally drives the front wheels, until traction is lost and then it sends power to the rear.

The system can also be locked in 4WD mode … although this unlocks when the car gets over about 40km/h and you’re back to front-wheel-drive again.

Nevertheless, I would go with an AWD every time.

I won’t argue with those who decided on the two-wheel option, although I say: stay away from anything but tar and good gravel roads…

The RAV4 we had on test had the 100kW D4-D diesel engine, which gave excellent fuel consumption (under 7 litres per 100km in the city and less than 6 on the open road).

Coupled to a six-speed manual transmission, it gave good overtaking oomph and sprightly acceleration and was surprisingly refined for a diesel motor.

Inside the RAV4, it is as you’d expect from a Toyota – easy to use, logically laid out and, for the top models anyway, well-equipped.

There was also not a squeak or rattle present in the test car, which had around 10 000km on the clock and had, so the Toyota fleet people told me, been involved in a bumper bashing.

You just know this vehicle is going to be around for a long, long time and that you’ll be raising your eyebrows around the braai fire (or at the book club, mom) when everyone is complaining about their sexy beast being at the garage yet again…

The RAV4 comes with petrol and diesel engines, and two- or all-wheel-drive.

And the best thing you can say about it is that it is the Toyota of family SUVs.

Enough said…