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Toyota’s RAV4 crossover utility vehicle earns its popularity through practicality, reliability, on-road comfort and overall competence
Practicality. That’s what helped make compact crossover sport-utility vehicles such a hit. Toyota, which helped launched the current craze with the first RAV4 way back in the late 1990s, is into its fourth generation. Over the intervening years, the RAV4 has grown in size (and so has the field of competitors).
With room for five, and still a goodsize cargo hold for luggage or groceries, compact crossovers make excellent conveyances for family vacations or trips to Costco. And with the rear seats folded down, there’s enough room for a pile of bags of mulch or fence-building materials. That’s the utility part of the SUV equation.
Powered by a four-cylinder gasoline engine (there’s also a gas-electric hybrid version available), the RAV4 delivers decent fuel economy. With front-wheel drive, the compact ute is rated at 23 mpg city/29 highway. Subtract 1 mpg for the optional all-wheel drive.
All versions (except the hybrid) feature a six-speed automatic transmission — no manual gearboxes here. Fortunately, this is a quite decent cog-swapper, delivering solid, quick shifts up or down.
The willing engine’s 178 horsepower has its work cut out for it with a rather porky 3,630 pounds to push around, but it does a decent enough job.
The RAV4’s suspension is tuned for maximum comfort, offering a nearly plush highway ride that quietly soaks up most bumps. Through fast turns, though, the tallish body tends to lean a bit.
The cabin in our top-flight Platinum model was dressed up with leatherlike SofTex upholstery on seating surfaces and the padding on the front of the dashboard for a somewhat posh appearance. But numerous hard plastics, contrasting textures and finishes tend to cheapen the overall effect.
The seating is quite comfortable, though, and with a full array of comfort, convenience and safety features, the RAV makes a confident traveling companion.
There are sportier competitors (Mazda’s CX-5 comes to mind), less expensive ones (Hyundai and Kia offerings), and more refined ones (Honda’s best-selling, newly redesigned CR-V), but for all-around competence, it’s hard to top Toyota’s RAV4. That, and its enviable reliability, is what keeps it near the top of the sales heap.