2019 MY RAV4 Moose Test

[Heidfirst]

https://www.motor1.com/news/370486/toyota-rav4-moose-test/

https://www.thedrive.com/news/29804/watch-the-2019-toyota-rav4-miserably-fail-the-moose-test

[Ezcritique]

****, that was not a good test..   Qashqai whooped *****!! Even the big Kia did well and they were both 2WD...!!  Not exactly inspiring when I do a fair bit of driving on rural roads... I do hope Toyota can effectively "tweak" its stability software in due course and in the meantime I hope no deer jumps out on me!! 

[IanML]

I'm wondering whether Toyota's own moose test is with keeping the power on, and the Swedish test not.  On my RAV4, there is a world of difference with sharp turns, depending on what you do with the throttle.

Lifting off the throttle (which is pretty instinctive, I imagine, when dodging moose), weight will immediately transfer to the inside of the turn.

[Rav Rob]

I think some of this is poor tyres, at the first sharp direction change the rear seems to have slid outward too much and it struggles to get back in shape. With such low emissions (so on the edge they have to chuck the spare out if you have a sunroof to keep it compliant due to small weight difference) I wonder if they are fitting pretty low rolling resistance tyres as OEMs to meet its figures.

Stability control can't recover lost grip beyond a certain degree. Mine has Dunlop PT30 and wouldn't be my choice, squeal pretty easy and feel nervous in the wet.

Would like to a see a repeat test with a decent set of Continentals onboard.

[IanML]

8 hours ago, IanML said:

I'm wondering whether Toyota's own moose test is with keeping the power on, and the Swedish test not.  On my RAV4, there is a world of difference with sharp turns, depending on what you do with the throttle.

Lifting off the throttle (which is pretty instinctive, I imagine, when dodging moose), weight will immediately transfer to the inside of the turn.

Got that wrong.  I must have been tired.  Should have said: "Lifting off the throttle (which is pretty instinctive, I imagine, when dodging moose), weight will immediately transfer to the outside of the turn."

[roadster-rav]

This does correspond to my first impressions of the new car when pushed a bit. The Dunlop tyres might well be partly to blame and in driving less than 300 miles I have already had them squealing two or three times when accelerating and turning sharply at the same time. I get the impression that the rear drive motor kicks in as soon as the steering wheel is turned and the traction control system is too slow to catch up if the inside rear wheel lifts a bit. I think some oversteer is engineered in to give a rear wheel drive feel but there are circumstances where this is undesirable. I have also had a rather poor response when overtaking at speed then applying brakes fairly hard before the car was completely back in lane in a straight line. The feel was a bit like what was shown in the video with the suspension taking more time than it should to regain stability. Conclusion is that its an SUV and from now on I'll not treat it like a sports car so the 220 horse power will be put back in the box and only brought out occasionally and in a straight line.

[Ezcritique]

I still think Toyota won't be impressed that they've not done too well on this test which also caught out the hilux. It is surprising that the Nissan which isn't all that reliable can get through this test at nearly double the speed of the Toyota without apparent issue. 

It seems odd to suggest an Awd with 220hp, not a huge amount, cannot put that power down in anything but a straight line... I'm sure the engineers need to get on this though perhaps not in so much of a hurry as they would be if the sales weren't so good..... 

And another thing.. Lol... Where's the android auto support..?? 

Just having a little grizzle..... 

[Alan1234]

This test is pretty much useless 99% of people will just stand on the brakes and crash into what ever is in front of them .they will not try flicking the steering left and right like Lewis Hamilton at Monaco race track .

[Buff69]

Is it AWD, has it got good tyres on, is it in the right driving mode ???

[IanML]

1 hour ago, Alan1234 said:

This test is pretty much useless 99% of people will just stand on the brakes and crash into what ever is in front of them .they will not try flicking the steering left and right like Lewis Hamilton at Monaco race track .

Maybe they do in Sweden 😎

[Ezcritique]

Step on the brakes and hit a moose and if it doesn't join you in the cab your vehicle will be a right off.... More natural to take evasive action though imay be reluctant in the Rav... May have to apply cause and effect in my decision making.... If I have the time.... Don't fancy explaining to insurance attempted swerve and flipped it.... 

[Alan1234]

I'm more likely to do a moose swerve test going past a local school when little johnny **** bag runs out in front of my car at 20 mph because his 15 year old mother is too busy scoring a bag off weed of the local do as you likely 12 yr old .

[Rav Rob]

6 hours ago, Ezcritique said:

Step on the brakes and hit a moose and if it doesn't join you in the cab your vehicle will be a right off.... More natural to take evasive action though imay be reluctant in the Rav... May have to apply cause and effect in my decision making.... If I have the time.... Don't fancy explaining to insurance attempted swerve and flipped it.... 

From the video doubt you would flip it, but by the time you hit the moose it might be with the rear bumper instead of the front.

Seems to be a lack of grip more than anything and its hard to roll it if the 'pivot point' - the contact point between the tyres and road is not fixed

[Alan1234]

If this is Sweden why aren't they doing this on snow with snow chains on and big fake moose I'm all for realistic action scenes ,this moose test just screams fast and the furious of the little Swedish guy trying his best to turn that steering wheel as fast as he can .i would  also like to see a random joe public picked and said there you go give this a try .

[philip42h]

Some seem to be getting a bit hung up on the 'moose' - we're unlikely to come across many of those on UK motorways! The test is simply to see how the vehicle behaves during a high speed evasive manoeuvre - and the new RAV doesn't appear to perform that well.

In a previous car I had two 'bad' experiences of this kind before I simply got rid of the car. The first was when exiting the M25 (IIRC) when some ******* decided to leave the motor after missing the exit and use the piece of road I was in. An evasive manoeuvre was required to avoid getting side-swiped ... and to say that the car became 'unsettled' would have been a major understatement. The second was on a country lane when an oncoming car came around the corner 'at speed' and on the wrong side of the road. The incidents were 'memorable' because I pretty much lost control of the car through the manoeuvre and it took a worrying amount of time to settle down again. Braking wouldn't have help at all in either case. Note that the car in question wasn't a RAV but my faith in it was shot to the extent that I wasn't going to give it a third chance!

So, a car should be capable of making an emergency lane change, safely, at motorway speeds - and the new RAV doesn't appear to accomplish that as well as it should ...

[Rav Rob]

Done a bit of chucking the car about today, I was able to get the front or rear to drift too easily for my liking, which is a shame as the car actually turns quite keenly, just if you try to use it the tyres complain very quickly. When due replacement I won't be letting the lease companies tyre supplier put Dunlops on again.

[Ezcritique]

I know, I took delivery of my Rav today and took it for a quick burn up the A3, I too have those squeaky Dunlop tyres and frankly with winter coming I just want to burn through them as quick as poss... They are skittish, don't know about wet performance yet but easy to squeal and push the envelope with these shoes on.... 

[_dct_]

This looks like Toyota's own attempt at moose test with the Rav4

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbVpZate_Qg[/media]

 

 

[philip42h]

2 hours ago, _dct_ said:

This looks like Toyota's own attempt at moose test with the Rav4

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbVpZate_Qg[/media]

 

 

Which, assuming that the cones are correctly positioned, is, technically, a pass ...

... I had to look-up the rules for the elk/moose test - the German VDA version specifies a particular placement of cones and that the car must pass down the course, without hitting the cones, at a minimum speed of 60 kph ... which in the test above it does.

In the comments someone links to tests carried out by km77 (also in Spanish). They show that the RAV 4.5 gets through at 71 kph (in this case in 2WD form) ... and really doesn't do too well at 72 kph! The folk at km77 start at a nominal 77 kph and expect to go up from there ...

[Brentwood Rav]

Hi, I’m new to the forum and wondered if anyone had seen the Rav pass the moose test finally (after some serious tweaks by Toyota engineers!)?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xSRCJFCmvTk

I read Toyota will release an update in a few months but you have to ask for it specifically at your dealer as it won’t be applied during routine servicing which seems crazy to me.

Be great to know if anyone has it already or knows more.

[roadster-rav]

I'm not so sure that I want a greater level of intervention from the stability control system to address this one scenario. The car is fun to drive at moderate cornering speeds where the rear drive provides a certain amount of throttle responsive oversteer.  I am reminded of a certain driver who was convinced that the brakes had failed on their ABS equipped car because it would not slow down until they were informed that the road was covered in sheet ice! If you do happen to encounter a moose it is unlikely to be on a clean dry empty road which is wide enough to swerve in this way. That is not to say I think the RAV4 has race track handling when driven at speed, definitely not. But it gives the driver plenty of feedback that translates to "back off or crash this is not a sports car".

[PeteB]

We all have our differing views and preferences.  My driving these days is fairly relaxed, and as I get older I have to accept my reactions will be slightly slower than when I started driving 47 years and over ¾million miles ago.

At almost 8½k miles my car will need it's first service in a month or two and I do intend to ask my service manager about this and will request it if available.

I've been part of RoSPA's advanced driving scheme since shortly after two big crashes in 2001 & 2002, the second of which wrote off my first Prius.  Neither of these involved avoidance manoeuvres, and since then due to the skills learned from RoSPA observers and the Police Driving Handbook "Roadcraft" my driving techniques these days are all about minimising the risk of needing to take emergency avoiding action and being prepared to deal with hazards should they arise.  The sobering thing for me was that if the 2nd crash had been in any of the first five cars I owned, made between 1960 and 1980, I wouldn't be here writing this now.

That said, you never know when something will develop suddenly, for example when a nearby a car on a motorway swerved suddenly due to a blow-out, or I've seen someone else swerve at speed on the A10 in Hertfordshire trying (unsuccessfully) to avoid a deer.  I suspect the Stability Programme will still not intervene in normal spirited driving (which I'll being practising in the next month or two when my three yearly RoSPA Advanced Driving Test comes around again, along with one or two practice runs with a RoSPA observer (they expect a drive making good "progress" where feasible, while remaining safe, smooth and legal).

This 5th Gear YouTube excerpt makes quite interesting viewing: 

 

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

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