This year, Toyota added an optional leather interior to its RAV4L Special Edition package.
All two-door models now come with a soft top that debuted in mid-1998. The folding fabric top provides open-air motoring for back-seat passengers, while a solid sun roof opens above driver and front-seat passenger. The Soft Top model looks like an off-road toy, offers relatively little luggage space and the back seats are best suited for children. The fabric top is of high quality and Toyota has done a good job of minimizing noise levels. The two-door hardtop is no longer available.
The four-door RAV4 presents a more roadworthy stance. It offers some of the versatility of larger sport-utility vehicles, but with less room for people and parcels. The four-door model is 16 inches longer than the two-door and rides on a longer wheelbase. It offers seatbelt hardware for five people.
The Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage, the new Suzuki Grand Vitara and the Subaru Forester compete with Toyota's RAV4. RAV4 offers the best fuel economy (22/26). It sits in the middle of this group of competitors in terms of size: five inches longer than Sportage, 14 inches shorter than CR-V, one inch shorter than Grand Vitara. RAV4 is near the top for cargo-carrying capacity; only CR-V offers more space. Forester provides the best driving dynamics, but lacks some of the off-road capability.
The RAV4 is based on the front-wheel-drive Toyota Camry sedan. Its unibody chassis gives it a comfortable car-like demeanor.
Two- and four-wheel-drive variations are available. The four-wheel-drive models feature a lockable center differential (on manual transmissions). Even though the RAV4 lacks a low-range set of gears, its ground clearance (7.5 inches for the four-door, 7.7 for the two-door) is sufficient to make light off-road driving feasible. The locking differential gives the RAV4 traction advantages over the all-wheel-drive Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester. Although the RAV4 has been compared to the Jeep Wrangler, it cannot compete with the Wrangler's traction capabilities in really rough going.
There doesn't seem to be a consensus on the RAV4's looks, considered everything from cute to ugly duckling to extra-terrestrial. Next Page