All Grown Up Now: Toyota RAV4

Remember the first generation "RAV"? With its Nike-esque styling, it was so cute not everybody liked it as much as they did the Honda CR-V, both of which pretty much got the market rolling for car-based, compact SUVs. A couple of years later (was it 2000?), the 2nd generation RAV4 came out and, with more raffish-but-still-slightly-juvenile looks, made a better impression on buyers. Enthusiasts in particular liked its zippy handling. Of course, almost everyone wished for a more expensive-looking interior and a big enough luggage area to, oh, fit a couple of suitcases without the things exploding out the back window.

So now we have the 3rd generation, and evidently the engineers and the product planners listened. You wanted maturity? Here’s a "RAV" that won’t make you look like you’re still in college. Instead, you’ll look like a responsible family man (as you probably are) with the total absence of loud decals or swoopy curves. It’s a grown-up look that won’t merit a second glance in traffic, and whether this is good or bad is up to you to decide. It’s a clean and sterile design that bores in the short-term but will probably age better over the years than the first two generations of RAV4.

You wanted more space? Climb inside and stretch out. This is the roomiest RAV4 ever, with abundant head- and legroom for all but PBA players. There’s also enough space behind the rear seat now to throw in several golf bags, a cooler, or several suitcases. A retractable tonneau cover and a cargo net even help to keep things tidy back there. For the humans, nicely finished leather adds plushness to the seats (no telling how it’ll breathe in summer, though), and the driver now has those nifty power-adjustment thingies.

The cockpit is also a little less claustrophobic as before, with an idiot-proof dash and those pictographic buttons and switches, a center console with the requisite cupholders, and a pod-style instrument panel binnacle that adds a touch of sportiness. Fiddle with the radio (no iPod-connectivity?), set the climate control (Dual-zone! Cool!), put the car…. oops, SUV in gear and you’re off. Who needs manuals with these things, right? As SUVs go, the cockpit fits most drivers like a glove.

Step-off is urgent, and while there’s no manumatic function, the Euro-style gate works okay. Actually, we rarely ever bothered to shift for ourselves since the automatic shifts quickly and smoothly. Plus, there’s enough power to deal with practically all overtaking situations. The 2.4-liter four revs cleanly up the engine range, and with peak output of 170 horses and 22 kg-m of torque, you’ll find yourself zipping through traffic and cruising at 120 in no time at all. Well, at least if it’s a Sunday.

Even better is that noise has been much reduced. Apart from the distinct zinging of the valves past 5,000 rpm (which you don’t want to do if you’re paying for your own gas), there’s very little wind and road noise entering the cabin. Your grandmother can leave her hearing aid at home now when you take her out for Sunday lunch! And whereas the old RAVs tended to have a busy ride owing to a short wheelbase and a sporty suspension setup, the new one’s extended wheelbase (2,660mm versus 2489 for the 2nd Gen) diffuses vibrations and bumps without sacrificing that agile feel. Perfect for keeping the peace with the in-laws.

Indeed, drive the RAV4 like a Camry and it’s easy to miss the point; it’s a role that every other SUV could do with your eyes closed. Okay, maybe one eye. Drive it quickly and it comes alive. The electric power-assisted steering feels sharp and gives sufficient feedback, the all-disk brakes are strong, and the all-independent suspension is up to the task of frisky driving until high-speed curves bring out that sporty-car-on-stilts feeling.

Being a light-duty SUV, the full-time all-wheel drive is not really something you’d want to try out on a highly technical trail. Rather, it’s more of an all-weather setup that brings most of the power to the front wheels most of the time, then transfers it to the back wheels if things start to get slippery; especially useful in the mountains during typhoon season. As before, a button on the dash lets you lock the center differential for those rare moments when you need a 50-50 front-rear torque split, such as gingerly crawling over small boulders, slogging through mud, or driving your RAV up the curb of a vacant lot just for the heck of it.

Now the big question: Are you ready to foot the bill? Because whereas the first two generations were reasonably affordable, "entry level" SUVs, this newest RAV – with all the refinements and added safety features, now comes with a substantially price: P1.785M for a 4x4, or P1.425M for a 4x2. Add another 15 grand for a "Pearl White" paint job, which, to be honest with you, makes this safer-looking RAV4 look even more antiseptic unless white is really your thing.

By way of comparison, a top-of-the-line Fortuner 4x4 (diesel only) carries a friendlier sticker price of P1.573M. If you want the quieter gasoline engine and can live without four-wheel drive, the gas Fortuner 4x2 is a relatively cheap P1.268M.

The monocoque RAV4 feels much more nimble than the truck-chassis Fortuner, and the cabin feels more spacious and looks more refined, but hundreds of thousands more refined? You be the judge. Comparing apples to apples, the popular Nissan X-Trail rings the cash register at P1.350M for the 250X variant. The Honda CR-V also seems like a relative bargain now at P1.318M for the priciest model (we’re quoting from the Toyota and motioncars.com websites, by the way). Even with the RAV4’s exclusive side and curtain airbags (only available in the 4x4) and auto climate control, it still has a hefty price differential that’s impossible to ignore… unless you’re very rich, of course, in which case you should just drive around in a Touareg and leave us little people to squabble over these peasant issues.

So, uh, if it’s not playing anymore to the market it helped created in the first place, who is it aimed at now? We’re tempted to say it’s aimed at the Lexus crowd except, no, the build quality and refinement may be better… but still not luxury-league better. "Entry-level" it is not anymore, and at its price point, it makes us wonder how many buyers will step up to a RAV this time.

Maybe we’ve got it all wrong. Maybe we’re too stuck on the idea of a "RAV" still being the cheap, runabout, pseudo-truck of before. Maybe this new car, oops again, SUV should just get a new name so we can forget all our preconceptions of what the RAV4 should cost like. Of course, we could be totally wrong. Maybe the grown-up marketers of Toyota have it all figured out this time.

THE GOOD: More than adequate power. Sporty yet comfortable chassis. Idiot-proof AWD. Much-improved cabin and luggage space. Mature, if forgettable, styling.

THE BAD: Mystifyingly steep price. Some interior bits still look cheap. Merely adequate stereo sound quality.

THE VERDICT: Sophistication and refinement in the new generation, but you gotta pay a lot more to play in a "RAV" this time around.