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V6 Jan 20, 2006
Just for clarification... these dates are when the 2006 RAV4 first arrives at the US ports. Not when it goes on sale at dealerships.
I only had to see those IIHS test videos once, where they back into an object at low speeds and that rear-mounted spare crumples the whole back end of the car, to dislike this design.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Over on the Sienna and Odyssey boards, we saw some pictures and heard some details, but the original Sienna pictures were waaaaay off and the details on the Odyssey came from a person claiming to be a Honda insider. (that is, he said he works for Honda)
That's news from the 2007 Lexus LS board....
Guess I was right about a Lexus RAV4...
How about the Lexus MX230h?
Going after the boy-racer market I guess.
Guess that's the Highlander Hybrid's territory...
Toyota's hybrids= less power, less prestige, less fuel.
They should have a RAV hybrid next time out - this is a car that has never had earth-shaking fuel economy.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Yeah. Yeah, they do....
These are small vehicles - basically high-roofed cars with the most rudimentary of AWD systems - so I wish they would do better for gas saving. In an age when Toyota manages to extract high 30s from the Corolla fairly easily, I would like to see high 20s in the RAV on which it is based.
As it is, if I were looking for something a little less trucky than my Runner, which probably will be replaced with an FJ or an XTerra (crappy gas mileage all around), I would be waiting for EPA numbers in this segment to rise quite a bit before shopping.
The Escape V-6 was only about five points lower in fuel economy than RAV is, yet it paid off for them to make a hybrid of that model...which soundly trounces RAV on gas mileage (at a higher price of course).....
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I see that Mitsubishi has announced that for '07 the Outlander will offer only the 3.0 V-6 as the standard engine, and this has me worried that Toyota WILL play the hp game with RAV. I would still rather they have a hybrid and a 4-cyl, than a 4-cyl and a 6-cyl.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
jmho
~alpha
Toyota should not be getting edged out on the fuel economy front by a turbo competitor with 50% more power. So I say go for a hybrid next time with the RAV. But it was not mentioned anywhere on Toyota's official rundown of coming hybrid models, so I don't hold out a lot of hope.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Toyota has already demonstrated incredible fuel efficiency with the new Avalon, rated at 280 hp and 22/31, weighing in at 3600 lbs.
~alpha
Hasn't there been some whispering about there perhaps being a Lexified RAV appearing around 2008? It could use the 2.5 V-6!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
NOT!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Hope this helps.
Ken
I bet the next one will still have a base 5-speed to keep the base price down for advertising purposes. I really hope it doesn't grow too much - "slightly smaller than the Highlander" would be too big IMO.
I am sure if there is an optional V-6, it will be automatic-only.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Sounds like they're aiming at the Equinox.
I hope they don't take a price jump. I actually like the RAV4, but if it's going to be so big.... but then again, don't automakers sometime say "slightly" when they mean "waaay"?
If you look at the numbers, the current CR-V is closer to a Highlander in size than it is to the RAV4 which it's usually compared with...
RAV-4 Length:166.6"
CR-V Length: 181.0"
Highlander Length: 184.6"
RAV-4 Width: 68.3"
CR-V Width: 70.2"
Highlander Width: 71.9"
RAV-4 Height: 65.4"
CR-V Height: 66.2"
Highlander Height: 68.3"
RAV-4 Passenger Volume: 82.0 cu ft
CR-V Passenger Volume: 106.0 cu ft
Highlander Passenger Volume: 104.7 cu ft (assume only 1st & 2nd rows)
RAV-4 Cargo Volume: 29.2 cu ft
CR-V Cargo Volume: 33.5 cu ft
Highlander Cargo Volume: 39.7 cu ft
Maybe what Toyota is doing is shooting for the CR-V from a competitive standpoint.
http://www.donlen.com/buildstart_toyota.asp
This data comes from Canada but would think it would be the same for the US.
The new family of V6s that Toyota is introducing will see many different applications. The originally introduced engine was the 4.0L V6 in the 4Runner, obviously a RWD/4WD application. However, the 3.5L, which is based on that engine, is used in the FWD Avalon. Its pretty certain that once the Lexus LS460 debuts, the GS will become the GS460 and the V6 GS will then become the GS350, using the 3.5L an RWD/AWD application.
My point: it seems that Toyota's engine families are no longer limited in use with a designate drive wheel layout.
~alpha
RAV4 always seems to get cast-off engines - maybe it will get the 3.0 from the current Camry.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The layout might be a factor tho - the small engine bay may mean a longititudinal install - meaning 4WD only. Which would make sense - there won't be a striper V6 version.
http://www.1000islandstoyota.com/newsite/pages/spypage.html