Is It Me Or The Xtr.

[mickey.j]

hi all rav owners.

i am in the process of trading the avensis in. so thought it about time to have a little bit of 4x4 in my life.

me and mrs.j. have just test driven the new shape 07 plate rav 2.2 140 diesel which was the xtr model.

i have a few questions ,firstly a found this model very difficult to drive smoothly, by which i mean most gear changes were very jerky.mrs j noted it was like i had just passed my test and couldnt change gear smoothly despite over 25 years of smooth driving in my avensis 1.8 petrol anyway. cant be my fault surley.

secondly we both noticed the ride was very hard and jiggly, which can only be described as like being on a boat,it seemed to rock us from side to side as we went over any bumps in the road so much so that over a long run it could injuce a bit of travel sickness.

i was very dissapointed as i really wanted to like the rav being a toyota die hard.

i do not intend to give up my quest and have booked a test drive in the 2.0 petrol model to see of what we expiranced is unique to the diesel model,i know a diesel is totally differnt to the petrol but surely it must be possible to drive it smoothly and no i am not a boy racer type. pipe and slippers are approaching !!

by the way we also test drove ,dare i say the new honda crv which had a totally smoother ride and was a doddle to drive smoothly. still like my toyotas though. i will post my findings of the pertol rav.

any comments from other owners or is it just me!!

happy motoring mickey.j..

[Steve@Aberdeen]

I, too, find the Rav4 clutch quite harsh - both the demo and the XT4 I bought (and also found the CRV much smoother). Over the past 9 months and 16,000 miles most changes are now smooth, though I still occasionally seem to get it wrong and it snatches. My guess is a combination of the torque available (which is a lot less with the petrol engine) and hard clutch material - will improve life of the clutch but possibly at the expense of other parts of the drive train; we'll have to wait and see if the latest model suffers from the flywheel weakness of the previous one.

I chose the Rav4 over the CRV because I found it to be a much nicer overall package - CRV would have been my choice 20 years ago with a young family. The D-4D is a cracking engine - wouldn't even consider the petrol; liked the idea of the T180 but the 140 has more than enough oomph for the job and I wouldn't really use the extra.

[sywy]

Yes, I also found the clutch a bit harsh at first, but you get used to it over time, and learn to change gears smoothly. Like Steve, i also still get it wrong occasionly. Ditto the ride. It is a bit firm, but again you do get used to it. However, i would not say it was that bad that it would induce travel sickness. I believe this firm ride is what gives the RAV it's great handling, for a SUV, over other lesser SUV's.

I think a lot of people, me included, would have also looked at the CRV, as they are direct competitors, on paper at least ;) I just didn't like the look of it, inside and out. That was the old model. Not sure if the new one has improved, but looking at the outside, I don't think so :)

[anchorman]

I echo the comments above.

You do get used to it with time. I cannot compare the new CRV though.

Good luck.

[dave.m]

Hi Mickey,

I have a MK2 XT-R D4D, I think the problem you are having is that you are so used to driving a car. The rav gives you a

very different feeling, remember the drive train has a lot more components. If you look at sites like What Car and get the

tests on the earlier Rav's, the MK1 & Mk2 you will see that the reporter describes them as being the GTI of the 4X4 world.

Apart from the VVTI engine this is also due to the handling/cornering performance. I think this is where you are finding the

ride a bit hard, its a personal preference whether you want good handling or a softer ride. this is where you will find the

difference between the Rav and CRV. The Honda is definitely set up to give a softer ride, in fact it is VERY car like to drive.

I drove the old shape CRV before buying my Rav and hated it. I say give the Rav a chance as you are a diehard Toyota man,

and as other members above have said you will get used to it.

Cheers,

Dave.

[jock1]

hi all rav owners.

i am in the process of trading the avensis in. so thought it about time to have a little bit of 4x4 in my life.

me and mrs.j. have just test driven the new shape 07 plate rav 2.2 140 diesel which was the xtr model.

i have a few questions ,firstly a found this model very difficult to drive smoothly, by which i mean most gear changes were very jerky.mrs j noted it was like i had just passed my test and couldnt change gear smoothly despite over 25 years of smooth driving in my avensis 1.8 petrol anyway. cant be my fault surley.

secondly we both noticed the ride was very hard and jiggly, which can only be described as like being on a boat,it seemed to rock us from side to side as we went over any bumps in the road so much so that over a long run it could injuce a bit of travel sickness.

i was very dissapointed as i really wanted to like the rav being a toyota die hard.

i do not intend to give up my quest and have booked a test drive in the 2.0 petrol model to see of what we expiranced is unique to the diesel model,i know a diesel is totally differnt to the petrol but surely it must be possible to drive it smoothly and no i am not a boy racer type. pipe and slippers are approaching !!

by the way we also test drove ,dare i say the new honda crv which had a totally smoother ride and was a doddle to drive smoothly. still like my toyotas though. i will post my findings of the pertol rav.

any comments from other owners or is it just me!!

happy motoring mickey.j..

Mickey I have had the new shape D4-D XT-R ( the one without the spare) since January.I had owned two Saab 900s for the previous twelve years and a Golf GTI before that.Changing to the Rav was strange to start with as was the switch to a diesel. I have now got used to the change and find the car brilliant.It handles much better than I expected and when you get used to the torque it fairly rockets away when you need to. The biggest problem to overcome was a psychological one ie. not having a spare but the practicality of having the fully opening boot is brilliant.All in all I am delighted with the car.Any change to a different type of vehicle is strange at first but I wish I had made the change years ago. Good luck.

[bjw]

I was considering changing from an Avensis to a Rav 4 and I think that is where the problem lay these are different types of cars ! I was also disappointed with the ride comfort and the overall smoothness of the car.

I ended up with Verso which had the higher driving position which I wanted but just felt much more comfortable and refined. I am not knocking the Rav4 everyone to there own but it was not just for me

[bitman]

have a test drive in the rx400h

[Sussex_Paul]

I think you have to accept that a 4x4 is going to drive and feel different to a normal car, hence the somewhat nuggety ride.

I mirror Dave.M's remarks concerning the specific ride quality of the Rav against other similar SUV's - it's either for you or it's not, in which case a softer ride may be what you're looking for, but, once you are used to it, the ride quality is an excellent mix for both comfort and cornering for a 4x4.

The clutch has been a matter of some debate on here previously, it is a bit sharp, but again it's something that you get used to - it's no different to the first few miles in a hire car that you've not driven before!!!!

I'd be interested to hear if the petrol version drives differently.