Toyota RAV4 - Engines, performance and drive

On the road, the RAV4 is a curious mix. The latest generation’s body is 57 per cent more rigid than the previous model’s, and this – coupled with the TNGA underpinnings – makes it a surprisingly capable performer on twisty roads. The body doesn’t lean as much as you might expect an SUV to, and the front end turns into bends crisply, with less tendency to carry on in a straight line and understeer like the Honda CR-V. Barring the worst hooliganism, it grips the road well and is admirably amenable to sudden direction changes. The steering feels direct and nicely weighted.

These traits promise to reward the driver more than you might expect in such a tall vehicle, but Toyota’s hybrid powertrain isn’t quite willing to play its part in that. It’s not that it’s unrefined or inherently unsorted; it’s more that the Hybrid Drive principle of having the engine revs not entirely related to how fast you’re travelling is a little odd.

You can use steering wheel-mounted paddles to play with the ‘stepped’ ratios in the system, particularly under braking, but it will always ignore you and do what it thinks is best and most efficient once you’re back on the throttle.

​Recognise this fact and adopt a smooth, relaxed approach, and you’ll find the 2.5-litre set-up fast enough for most situations, including around town. And there’s no doubt that the larger capacity and increased torque mean that when the CVT revs do rise – and yes, they still do, from time to time – they tend to be shorter blasts than you might experience in, say, an older Toyota Auris or Toyota Prius.

When cruising on the flat at motorway speeds, you’re unlikely to hear much engine noise at all – although we found this is as much down to the fair degree of wind noise you’ll hear instead from the side mirrors.

We’ve tried both front– and four-wheel-drive RAV4s on some pretty badly rutted and muddy terrain, and both versions have acquitted themselves well enough to persuade us that the RAV4 has more than enough off-road ability for the type of person who’s going to buy one. There’s no discernible pay-off in on-road performance either.

The brake pedal provides plenty of slowing force when needed, and the pedal feels consistent enough that you won’t really notice where regenerative braking ends and the mechanical brakes take over. It is a little disappointing that, unlike the CR-V, you cannot vary the amount of regenerative braking, or engage in one-pedal driving like you can with the Nissan X-Trail. Both systems add an additional level of involvement to the driving experience that, in our view, can be quite satisfying as you try to boost your efficiency.

Engines, 0-60 acceleration and top speed

The front-wheel drive RAV4 with 218bhp takes 8.4 seconds to reach 62mph while the AWD edition, which has a little more power at 222bhp and an extra electric motor on the back axle, trims three-tenths of a second off that figure. Plug-in hybrid power brings stronger straight-line acceleration thanks to 306bhp, cutting the 0-62mph time down to 6.0 seconds.