Winter Tyres

[marlinleg]

Does any member know winter wheel and Tyre siz for RAV4 and all new 2019 RAV4 . 2 Wheel Drive Excel  model 

thank you 

[Heidfirst]

these days you can just use exactly the same size as summers (or of course you can run an all-weather e.g. Michelin CrossClimate all year).

[marlinleg]

👍

[PeteB]

8 hours ago, Heidfirst said:

these days you can just use exactly the same size as summers (or of course you can run an all-weather e.g. Michelin CrossClimate all year).

that's exactly what I did for my previous (gen 3) Prius, and luckily they were the same size as my current Gen 4 Prius, so I was able to continue using them.

Not so lucky with the RAV4 Excel AWD I ordered today - it's space saver is bigger than the main wheels on my Prius!  And when I get winter tyres for it next October, I'll be looking at about about £600 for 4, Vs just under £250 the Prius Prius ones!  Oh well.

[marlinleg]

Hi PeteB  come October winter Tyres do you  buy another set of alloys  for your winter tyres ?? 

Thanks 

 

[PeteB]

5 minutes ago, marlinleg said:

Hi PeteB  come October winter Tyres do you  buy another set of alloys  for your winter tyres ??

Hope.  I didn't bother with another set of wheels, just bought my winter tyres from my dealer, who is always competitive on price (once even got a London KwikFit to price match my dealer when it wasn't convenient to get to Norwich!).

My dealer also stores them for me for a one-off £40 set-up fee (and free thereafter) and then £30 per time (for all four wheels) to swap the tyres onto my original wheels, including new valves and balancing (all including vat).  My service manager and I feel that the few tyre swaps is no more harmful to the tyres than taking them off for a few punctures, and I've seen no downsides during the 4 winters since I started doing this.

I spoke to him today and he said that come October there will be no further setup charge and it will remain £30 a time for swaps.  Also avoids any issues with the TPMS sensors (not that I'd expect any with the dealer doing the swaps), or buying an other set of sensors for the second set of wheels.

[marlinleg]

Thanks for the information VW charge me £100 per year for all changes , and includes tyre hotel storage BUT that’s wheel and tyre swap not changing tyres to original wheels, so your dealer is giving better value. I will talk to my Toyota dealer soon they are a small Famliy firm they own 2 Toyota dealerships plus Mazda Suzuki . Highly thought of in my region . I did road tests in AudiQ3/Lexus NX/ Honda Hybrid CV-R . The Toyota dealer was the only one I found listened to what I wanted and didn’t push anything , that’s why I chose them (apart from the RAV4)

thanks again 

0

[PeteB]

8 minutes ago, marlinleg said:

Thanks for the information...

You're welcome.

My dealer is a gem, and I enjoy going there as I have a good rapport with my service manager, team managers, salesman and sales manager.  They look after me really well, though I have spent a fair bit with them since 2002 when I bought a Gen 1 Prius.

I love my current Prius more than any car I've ever driven (including the RAV4), but sadly a downside of the top five best Drag Coefficient is it's very low to the ground, and about a year after I got it my hip joint problems started.  It's now rather painful (and noisy🙄) getting in and out!  Various medical people that have been treating me agree with my suspicions the Prius probably hasn't helped (previous versions were higher, and the Gen 1 was a lot higher) and may even have accelerated or caused the problems.  It's certainly not an issue with the RAV4, but after 7 years and 100,000 with an excellent Heads Up Display, I'm gutted to be losing it.

Also, after seeing American YouTube reviews for a couple of months, I was bitterly upset that their so called Limited trim version (for some reason "Limited" translates to highest equipment level - go figure!) for about 35,000 US Dollars (=£26½k) has almost everything we get on the Excel (only speed limiter seems to be missing) PLUS:

1. 3 stage heated Vs our 2 stage) front seats
2. ventilated front seats
3. heated rear seats
4. camera based rear view 'mirror' not obscured by rear passengers or high luggage loads
5. heated front windscreen
6. heated washer nozzles
7. rear hatch opening by swinging a foot under the bumper
8. probably more..!

I was angry enough to look at other manufacturers for the first time since 2000, but a big part of what swung me back was wanting to stay with my excellent dealer!  And to be fair, there's a lot to like about the RAV4.  I would even have paid extra for most of these features, given the chance.

[Heidfirst]

1 hour ago, PeteB said:

Also, after seeing American YouTube reviews for a couple of months, I was bitterly upset that their so called Limited trim version (for some reason "Limited" translates to highest equipment level - go figure!) for about 35,000 US Dollars (=£26½k) has almost everything we get on the Excel (only speed limiter seems to be missing) PLUS:

1. 3 stage heated Vs our 2 stage) front seats
2. ventilated front seats
3. heated rear seats
4. camera based rear view 'mirror' not obscured by rear passengers or high luggage loads
5. heated front windscreen
6. heated washer nozzles
7. rear hatch opening by swinging a foot under the bumper
8. probably more..!

I was angry enough to look at other manufacturers for the first time since 2000, but a big part of what swung me back was wanting to stay with my excellent dealer!  And to be fair, there's a lot to like about the RAV4.  I would even have paid extra for most of these features, given the chance.

That's the American market for you - far bigger market & far lower taxes (although their state taxes probably don't figure in the headline prices) = far lower prices (& of course different specifications).

I also imagine that "our" RAV4s will be buit in Japan & transported 1/2 way around the world whereas there's will be built in the US for the US.

The US is (at least to me) a little odd in that their market basically works on a drive into a dealer & drive out today in a new car from stock basis - they do very few factory build to customer spec. orders. 🤔

[marlinleg]

Thanks and very informative 

[PeteB]

2 hours ago, PeteB said:

...      6.  probably more..!

oh yes, and:

   6.  wireless phone charger - this one's really mean!  -  back to messy wires and fiddling with them
   7.  paddle shifters on the steering column (but I'm not worried about those, as I don't think I'll be using Shifting much)

[philip42h]

13 hours ago, PeteB said:

... Also, after seeing American YouTube reviews for a couple of months, I was bitterly upset that their so called Limited trim version (for some reason "Limited" translates to highest equipment level - go figure!) for about 35,000 US Dollars (=£26½k) has almost everything we get on the Excel (only speed limiter seems to be missing) PLUS:

1. 3 stage heated Vs our 2 stage) front seats
2. ventilated front seats
3. heated rear seats
4. camera based rear view 'mirror' not obscured by rear passengers or high luggage loads
5. heated front windscreen
6. heated washer nozzles
7. rear hatch opening by swinging a foot under the bumper
8. probably more..!

etc. ...

Your $34,900 will indeed get you an AWD Limited with all the toys you suggest (though I haven't actually checked line by line). What it won't get you is any electric drive motors or drive Battery. That price is for a 2.5L 4-cylinder petrol engine - the hybrid isn't yet available in the US (coming soon!)

[PeteB]

14 minutes ago, philip42h said:

Your $34,900 will indeed get you an AWD Limited with all the toys you suggest (though I haven't actually checked line by line). What it won't get you is any electric drive motors or drive battery. That price is for a 2.5L 4-cylinder petrol engine - the hybrid isn't yet available in the US (coming soon!)

Well this is one of the reviews I was thinking of, and it was posted last November and quotes $34,900 for the Limited AWD gas model and $35,700 for the Limited Hybrid, and it was a Hybrid the guy was driving in the review.  From this and other YouTube offerings I was under the impression they were available last fall.  Maybe I missed something, or these people got access to pre-launch cars?

 

[philip42h]

I quoted details from the US website (toyota.com) which indicated that the hybird is 'coming soon' and doesn't give pricing for the hybrid  (that I could find). It looks as though the US will get a range of petrol-engined models plus an AWD hybrid in due course (soon).

I'm certain that the reviewers had access to 'pre-launch' cars and am somewhat sceptical of anything they write. For example, in the latest What Car review of cars "coming soon" to the UK  in a very short piece they highlight the fact that "Toyota has upgraded the RAV4’s four-wheel drive system and introduced a new Trail mode that uses a limited-slip control system to regain traction over uneven terrain" ... which is available on certain petrol-engined RAVs in the US but not on hybrid RAVs anywhere - and we're getting only hybrid RAVs in the UK for now at least!

[APS]

14 hours ago, PeteB said:

Also, after seeing American YouTube reviews for a couple of months, I was bitterly upset that their so called Limited trim version (for some reason "Limited" translates to highest equipment level - go figure!) for about 35,000 US Dollars (=£26½k) has almost everything we get on the Excel (only speed limiter seems to be missing) PLUS:

1.  3 stage heated Vs our 2 stage) front seats
2. ventilated front seats
3. heated rear seats
4. camera based rear view 'mirror' not obscured by rear passengers or high luggage loads
5. heated front windscreen
6. heated washer nozzles
7. rear hatch opening by swinging a foot under the bumper
8. probably more..!

 

This is not a US specific thing. These features are decided by the local Toyota sales and marketing office (Toyota GB here) - based on what they think will sell. RAV4 in Scandinavia also come with ventilated seats, heated windscreen, heated rear seat etc. in the premium kit.   

[PeteB]

4 hours ago, APS said:

This is not a US specific thing. These features are decided by the local Toyota sales and marketing office (Toyota GB here) - based on what they think will sell. 

It sometimes hard to see what their idea of 'thinking' is though, they seem impervious to lots of owner being upset by some of their more odd choices - for example, the Prius didn't heave heated, electrically folding mirrors until the Gen 3 2012 mid term face-lift - and some of us would really have benefited from heated mirrors that I'd previous had since mid 1980s.  Portuguese owners we chatted to (on Yahoo Groups in those days) asserted they DID have heated mirrors, but almost never actually needed them.

Toyota actually joined the group for a while and in 2003 a user called TGBmole invited Gen 1 Prius owners to a preview of the Gen 2 (at the time only referred to as the 2004 model) saying they wanted to do a photoshot, give us the chance to examine the vehicle, and then be interview for our views on what spec would appeal. 20-30 owners took up the invitation and I know for a fact that most, if not all, really wanted heated mirrors, and a full size spare wheel.  The preview (left hand drive) car came with much bigger wheels (up from 14" to 16") and a tin of gunge instead of a spare.  The Gen 1 came with a full size matching allow spare wheel, and demands for a full size spare in the Gen 2 got quite vociferous from some owners (I said I would buy a car with a space saver or no spare, but was more restrained in the way I put it across than some).  A few of the group even took all the trays out from under the boot floor to prove there was room, for a full sized spare, while all bemused Toyota people watched, so they couldn't have failed to get the message.

During the interviews the reps also quizzed us about the keyless entry-start that the preview car came with and as far as I'm aware there was unanimous desire to have it, as there also was for a reversing camera that they said would be available in some markets.  It was also mentioned that as the Gen 1 had a fully functioning cruise control (right down to the fused and lamp in the dash), but no switches (some of us got our dealers to fit the switches) that would be appreciated on the next version (and at least this wish was granted) (the parts cost just £60 retail, so ti can't have save Toyota much money to leave them off!).

The chatter no the Yahoo Groups was immensely praising of Toyota in the weeks that followed, for caring so much to find out what their existing and potential customers wished for.

That was somewhat reversed when the Gen 4 launched many months later, with 16" low profile wheels that gave a dramatically harder rise than the Gen 1 (which the Gen 23's firmer seats made all the more obvious), and at last two members of the group who upgraded to the Gen 4 found the comfort so much reduced they sold them and purchased second and Gen 1s!

There was also dismay that it came with a space saver (but at least it wasn't gunge!), no heated mirrors, no reversing camera (that came much later), no keyless entry/start (came with Gen 3 at the end of 2009, but lots of  other countries got it).

[Heidfirst]

I do wonder sometimes if the people who spec these things actually drive them for any length of time...

Be thankful for small mercies though 😉 - reading a review of Jaguar XF & BMW 5 series 4wd estates this morning costing £42,000.

CarPlay (that Toyota says is coming) BMW extra £235, Jaguar na

 & "In the 5 Series, the Driving Assistant Plus package brings adaptive cruise control and steering and lane control assist. It’s a pricey £2250, but it really does improve motorway journeys. Semi-autonomous steering isn’t available on the XF, but you can get adaptive cruise control for £1460." Even a RAV4 Icon @£30k has adaptive cruise control.

[PeteB]

It's fair comment, but judging by posts from US and other UK owners, the fact the these things could be offered (because they are on cars made in the same factories and sold in some other countries) is still jarring if we can't have them at any price.

BTW - I wonder why this board changed a while back so we can't edit our own posts after an hour or two any more! - I meant to say above I would not buy without a full size spare (in fact the Gen 2 was the only version I din't buy, because I hung onto my 2nd Gen 1 Prius for 9 years as I did have a full size matching alloy spare).  [Reluctantly have to be glad to get any spare these days.]

[marlinleg]

PeteB I agree with your comment on spare wheel. I remarked on this in an early post test driving the Honda CR-V Hybrid , no spare wheel no way of buying, I mentioned this to the salesman his reply “ I can get you a spare wheel “ great driving around with a spare in the back 😱 . Another reason Toyota have a vast experience on Hybrid they must be the world leaders on this technology 

[PeteB]

I was quite taken with the CR-V, but like you the lack of spare wheel scuppered it.  The salesman also said he could supply a wheel, but I'm also of the same opinion as you on this.   I didn't get as far as a test drive.

The Toyota Hybrid system was the first viable mass production Hybrid when it was launched in Japan in 1997, and when I got my first one in 2002 I loved it as much for the way it drove as anything else.  Honda have almost as much history, their original Insight Hybrid was launched very slightly later than Toyota worldwide, although they just beat the Prius to it in the UK.

Until recently, their system was technically simpler (and slightly less effective).  The original Insight had a manual gearbox with clutch, but later Honda Hybrids (the Civic Hybrid, then second generation Insight) used a 'proper' CVT gearbox (with belts and cones inside) and a torque converter, so had many more moving parts than the Toyota system with its sun gear arrangement.

I drove both the Civic and 2nd gen Insight for a few weeks and despite the differing drive train they felt almost identical in the way they performed to the Prius, but couldn't match the Toyota's economy.  The very latest Insight has a more advanced system, as does the CR-V, and can now do electric only, petrol only or combined driving, but my understanding is it's achieved in a different way to the Toyota system.  I've seen one US comparison between the latest Prius and latest Insight, and on that one they believed the Insight now has the edge.

[PeteB]

22 hours ago, PeteB said:

...That was somewhat reversed when the Gen 4 launched many months later, with 16" low profile wheels that gave a dramatically harder rise than the Gen 1...

Oops, done it again - s/b Gen 2 and harder ride

[Mods - any reason for the change to this system some time ago that alterations could only be made (by original poster) for the first hour or so after posting?]