1000km+ (620mi+) per tank! 2021 Toyota RAV4 Cruiser Hybrid expert detailed review, 0-100 4K

CarExpert

Did you know, you'll get 1000km+ (620mi+) per tank of fuel in the 2021 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid? Paul gets behind the wheel of the all-new Toyota RAV4 Cruiser hybrid to see why there is a 12 month waiting list for Toyota's newest hybrid SUV. Is it worth the wait? Watch and find out!  Read the full review: https://www.carexpert.com.au/review/2020-toyota-rav4-cruiser-hybrid-review/  More Toyota content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/toyota More Toyota Rav4 content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/toyota/rav4  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 Exterior: 00:59 Interior: 02:53 Infotainment: 04:12 Features: 07:13  Practicality: 09:03 On the Road: 13:03 Acceleration (0-100): 15:48 On the Road: 16:08 Verdict: 17:03  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you! #toyota #review #rav4  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric  @Toyota USA @Toyota Australia

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Paul and I have something crazy to tell you.

00:02 There is currently a 12-month waiting list for a Toyota.

00:05 A RAV4.

00:06 I don't think anyone thought that would ever happen, including Toyota themselves.

00:11 Is it worth the wait?

00:12 Well, today we're going to test it to find out.

00:14 This is the Toyota RAV4 Cruiser Hybrid.

00:18 So it is second from the top there.

00:20 It's a two-wheel drive, this one.

00:21 And it's curious that the top spec is only petrol.

00:24 You can't get it in a hybrid.

00:25 I think that's a mentality thing with consumers.

00:27 But anyway, pricing kicks off for this particular model at just under $42,000.

00:31 You can see the rest of the RAV4 pricing in the comments below.

00:35 What competes with this?

00:36 It's cars like X-Trail, Ford Escape, Hyundai Tucson.

00:39 There is a whole stack of them.

00:40 It is a massive segment for medium SUVs.

00:43 Now if you do want to skip ahead, you can use these time codes above me.

00:47 Or if you're on YouTube, just scroll down and we have links in the description to jump

00:50 ahead to other parts of the review.

00:52 I'd also love if you guys can hit subscribe and also the bell icon.

00:56 That's going to tell you each time we drive something new.

00:59 Let's talk styling.

01:00 So you have eight colours to choose from and all but the white is $600 extra.

01:05 What do you reckon about the design?

01:06 Let me know in the comments below because some people love this and others absolutely

01:10 hate it.

01:11 Have a look at the front here.

01:12 So Toyota has gone very utilitarian with this.

01:15 The last RAV4 was a little bit rounded and soft around the edges.

01:18 This is like a drop.

01:19 It's like a cliff face.

01:21 And then you've got this sort of quite meaty grill to it.

01:24 You've got a second grill up here that does nothing but it kind of looks like a big shark,

01:28 like it's sort of coming at you.

01:30 The big Toyota badge up the front there.

01:32 And did you know as well that when you see these, if they have blue on them, it means

01:35 it is a hybrid Toyota.

01:37 So some interesting stuff there.

01:38 Have a look at this as well.

01:39 Instead of integrating the front parking sensor in a place that's gaudy and easy to see, they've

01:43 stuck it up here in the grill so it hides away nicely and you barely even notice it's

01:46 there.

01:47 You've got the headlights, full LED, daytime running lights strip around the edges there.

01:51 It is a very decent headlight unit.

01:53 So at night time you get lots of projection and you can see long into the distance.

01:58 Have a look around the side here.

02:00 This is interesting because they've kind of gone Jeep here.

02:02 Again, removing the soft edges.

02:04 This is all hard turns and this is very much Jeep.

02:06 If you look at any Jeep like a Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, they've all got these edgy wheel

02:11 arch guards and then you've got the plastic cladding which has become a bit of a trend

02:14 now.

02:15 18-inch alloy wheels.

02:16 These are black.

02:17 They come black on this car and I think it works really well with this colour.

02:20 Makes it offset beautifully.

02:21 What other features have you got?

02:23 Well up here you have roof rails, a sunroof and then if you follow me around the side,

02:28 have a look at that styling.

02:29 It still sort of comes down all those edges.

02:32 More cladding there as well.

02:33 You've got a hybrid badge on the front side, another hybrid badge here and also Cruiser

02:37 signifying the model.

02:39 You get privacy glass as well and all round it is just a very meaty looking car.

02:44 It sits confidently on the road.

02:45 It's a little bit shorter than the last RAV4 but it doesn't look it.

02:49 It still looks nice and big on the road which is what you want from a medium SUV like this.

02:53 OK, interior styling.

02:55 Before I dive into it, there is a lot of rubber in this car so when I go to close the door,

02:59 the door handle has rubber on the inside.

03:02 You've got rubber here around the air conditioning controls, rubber here as well.

03:07 It's actually a really premium looking interior.

03:10 When you're spending this kind of money, I genuinely don't think you expect to have something

03:14 that is nicely presented like this is.

03:16 These seats look really nice and comfortable.

03:18 You've got all this soft touch material everywhere, the stitching throughout the dashboard.

03:22 Now speaking of soft touch material, I have my durometer here.

03:25 This is our hardness tester and it's going to tell us exactly how soft touch that material

03:30 is.

03:31 It goes from zero which is really soft all the way up to 100 which is super hard.

03:35 So let's see what it's like on that dashboard.

03:38 That actually feels really nice.

03:40 Let's give that a shot.

03:41 Wow, 42.

03:42 That is really impressive.

03:43 What about this centre console?

03:45 That feels really soft.

03:47 Oh wow, that is so impressive.

03:51 How about the build quality though?

03:52 For the most part, it all feels really nice and solid but I did notice here this centre

03:57 console lid is really flimsy and you can see the whole centre console there shaking around

04:02 a little bit.

04:03 So that is a little bit disappointing but outside of that, this all feels really nice

04:07 and solid and it feels like it's going to stand the test of time, especially if you're

04:11 using this as a family car.

04:12 I have some good news.

04:13 Toyota has finally updated its infotainment system.

04:17 This is a much better unit than the previous generation but that's not saying much because

04:21 the previous generation was really bad.

04:23 It is now an 8-inch infotainment system.

04:25 It now also comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which is excellent news.

04:29 I'm going to take you through a detailed look at the infotainment system and what you can

04:32 expect from it.

04:33 So let's start with the navigation menu.

04:35 It's a touchscreen of course and this has rapidly improved.

04:39 I remember with the old infotainment system it was quite difficult to move things around.

04:43 This is a much better system, much easier to use as well.

04:46 Entering in navigation destinations is pretty straightforward but it is a little bit convoluted.

04:50 You've got to go through like 10 different menus to get to where you need to go and once

04:54 you start typing it's all pretty quick and easy to use which is excellent news.

04:59 You can also use the voice recognition function.

05:01 It works well, it just sometimes doesn't pick up exactly what you want it to do.

05:06 Sometimes it doesn't recognize the names that you're asking it to find for the phone and

05:09 also the same story with navigation addresses.

05:12 Sometimes it's a little bit clumsy.

05:13 Back onto that home menu, you can then go into audio.

05:16 This is where you're going to find AM, FM, DAB plus digital radio.

05:20 You also have the option to mirror cast from an Android device and also plug in through

05:24 Bluetooth and also USB as well.

05:26 So if you have an old school iPod or something like that you can still plug that into the

05:30 car and it will do everything as you expect it to do.

05:33 I love this menu here.

05:34 So given this is a hybrid you get to see real time where the power is coming from, where

05:39 the energy is going to.

05:40 So this is your battery, its state of charge and then it will also tell you as you're driving

05:45 whether the battery is supplying torque to those front wheels or whether it's the engine.

05:48 When this is in an all-wheel drive version you'll also see an extra link here to the

05:52 rear axle which is strictly driven by the electric motor in the hybrid all-wheel drive

05:57 cars which is a little bit different and kind of cool if you ask me.

06:00 Into our menu, this is where you're going to find extra options.

06:02 You do have an apps menu.

06:04 You can confidently completely ignore that.

06:06 So this is Toyota Link.

06:09 It's Toyota's infotainment apps.

06:11 I wouldn't bother using any of them.

06:13 This is how you used to connect with the car previously in the last generation of the infotainment

06:17 system and it was absolutely hopeless to use.

06:19 If you go over to the information menu you've got some extra eco-dialogues.

06:23 So this shows you your recent trip history, how much fuel you're using and then also if

06:29 we go over to the history menu, what your previous usage has been like.

06:33 Look at this, previous best is pretty much bang on with the fuel consumption for this

06:36 car, 4.8 litres per 100 kilometres.

06:39 And then finally you've also got setup options.

06:41 So this just takes you through all the car's configuration functions.

06:44 You do have the ability to connect to a Wi-Fi network.

06:47 That's especially handy if you're doing updates to the infotainment system that are done strictly

06:51 over Wi-Fi.

06:52 And then finally you have this menu here which is pretty handy.

06:55 This shows you all the maintenance items you have coming up.

06:58 So it'll tell you when you need to rotate your tyres, when you did them last and how

07:01 long you've got until the next one.

07:03 And then you can also set your local dealer here as well.

07:05 So if you ever run into any dramas, it's one push button away and it will take you straight

07:09 to your dealer.

07:10 Also, I love these rubberised buttons up the top as well.

07:13 Moving on from infotainment, let's talk features.

07:16 You're getting a lot of standard equipment in the RAV4.

07:19 Let's start off here, dual zone climate control.

07:22 It's also an interesting function here.

07:24 It allows you to stop airflow to the rear of the car.

07:26 So that's going to save you energy.

07:27 You also have an eco heat and cool button which also means you're going to use less

07:31 fuel to cool and heat the cabin.

07:34 But obviously it's going to give you less heating and cooling.

07:36 Now I have a question for you if you're watching.

07:38 I've always found it really tricky with Toyota's climate control systems when you set the temperature

07:43 automatically.

07:44 So if I set this to 22 degrees, it just never gets warm.

07:47 So if it's a really cold morning, it just never gets warm inside the car.

07:50 I don't know if that's just me or if it's common to all Toyotas.

07:52 Let me know in the comments section below.

07:55 Down here you've got heated seats.

07:56 You've got two functions there for the driver and the front passenger.

07:59 You've got wireless phone charging and I love the Japanese because there is about three

08:03 chapters worth of warnings there before you actually put your phone down.

08:07 That belongs down there.

08:08 Five USB ports littered throughout the cabin.

08:10 Down here you've got your button cluster.

08:12 This section here is actually reserved for the all-wheel drive model because you're able

08:16 to select the terrain that you're on.

08:18 And on the other hand, you've also got some blank buttons down here near my knee which

08:21 is a little bit frustrating.

08:23 Other features that you've got in front of the driver, a full LCD display.

08:27 You don't actually have a tachometer which is interesting.

08:28 You just have a power gauge so the car knows what it's doing when you're driving.

08:32 You have an auto-dimming mirror, auto-dimming wing mirrors as well.

08:36 And then on top of that you have a raft of safety technology including low and high speed

08:41 AEB.

08:42 That's the tech that stops the car if you don't.

08:44 This is what the key looks like.

08:45 So there's that Toyota theme, the blue hybrid in the background there.

08:49 You've got lock, unlock and boot.

08:51 This is a proximity sensing key so you just keep that in your pocket, grab the door handle

08:55 and then in addition to that you get push button start.

08:57 You really are getting a stack of standard equipment here.

09:01 It's all presented nicely.

09:02 It's all very easy to use as well.

09:03 Storage is important for a family SUV like this and the RAV4 is pretty comprehensively

09:09 covered here.

09:10 So phone, you've got this slot up here that's rubberised so your phone's not going to move

09:14 around much there at all.

09:15 You've also got two cup holders up the front here.

09:19 They fit in nicely and they've got retractable springs on them as well.

09:23 And then you can stick that inside the door as well and there's a little pocket just next

09:27 to where the bottle sits for extra little pieces.

09:30 In here you've got a little coin tray.

09:32 You've also got quite a deep entry there and two 2.1 amp USB chargers so that is a fast

09:37 charger for your phone.

09:39 And then over here in the glove box you have storage there as well.

09:42 Mind you that space is virtually all taken up by the manual once it's in there.

09:46 You've also got this storage spot here and a spot for your card.

09:50 What I'm really liking here though is how comfortable these seats are.

09:53 So you have that 10-way adjustment on the side with the bolster adjustment as well but

09:57 the seating position itself is really, really comfy and the steering wheel is a nice size

10:02 as well and really good to hold onto.

10:04 Continuing on with the family theme, kids are going to like it back here and also kids

10:08 that are teenagers because, have a look at this, I've actually got a fair bit of knee

10:13 room there.

10:14 I've got my seat pretty far back but it's still quite a cavernous space.

10:17 The only problem is toe room isn't amazing but it's not too bad.

10:22 Now have a look at this.

10:23 Even though this is the front-wheel drive, there is a tiny bit of a hump here but fun

10:28 fact, the all-wheel drive version of this car still doesn't have a driveline that goes

10:32 down the centre.

10:33 It simply uses an electric motor on the rear axle so you still don't have a need to have

10:38 a big old chunky driveline coming down the centre of the car.

10:41 So that's a really clever setup.

10:42 Have a look down here, you've got two more USB ports with 2.1 amps so they are fast charging

10:47 USB ports.

10:48 You've also got air vents there.

10:50 Mat pockets in the back of the passenger seat.

10:53 Centre armrest here as well with two cup holders.

10:55 You've got ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats and then on top of that you have storage

11:00 in the doors.

11:02 That's actually not too bad, you can fit one bottle in there, nothing on either side of

11:06 it.

11:07 Now do you reckon I'm sitting back here a little bit?

11:09 I am but you can adjust these seats one slat forward, whoops, just there.

11:17 So you can be in a slightly more upright position.

11:19 One more thing that you can't actually see is the battery pack which sits beneath this

11:22 second row and on my side there are vents here for a bit of cooling as well.

11:26 This car has a theme to it and that is beeps.

11:30 There are beeps absolutely everywhere.

11:32 Here's another one with the boot.

11:33 It joins a symphony of other beeps throughout the cabin that continuously annoy the crap

11:38 out of you.

11:39 So what about cargo space?

11:41 580 litres is the number that you can get up to here and it's slightly adjustable because

11:45 when you move those two seats forward a notch you're getting a little bit more room.

11:48 The giant JBL subwoofer.

11:50 There's also a space saver spare tyre under here but did you know a lot of people don't

11:54 realise you have to pump the crap out of these.

11:57 You have to pump this up to 60 psi, 420 kPa.

12:00 It's much higher than you would a regular tyre which is around the sort of 36-40 psi

12:04 mark.

12:05 The floor as well.

12:06 When you pull this forward you can actually slide it down to the next tier.

12:11 So you're getting just a little bit of extra space and then on top of that what you can

12:15 do if I pop this back, you can actually remove this and store it.

12:18 So instead of having to have it sitting at home taking valuable garage space, take these

12:23 off.

12:24 Sounds like I broke that.

12:28 Anyway, you stick this under here just like that and then these go back on and there it

12:33 is there.

12:34 You have a space without a cargo blind.

12:36 Let's pop our luggage in there.

12:38 Piece of cake.

12:39 That goes in very nice and easily and then where you don't have a subwoofer on this side

12:43 you've got a little storage net, 12-volt outlet and also a little light as well.

12:47 And you can fold the second row from here but you've got to lean in to do it.

12:50 There's no manual release on either side of the car.

12:53 So you just come in there, give that a push, give that a push as well.

12:59 Not the best system in the world and then you have a virtually flat floor.

13:06 So we have just hit the road in the RAV4 Hybrid.

13:09 I've got to say it is dead silent in here and that is because the screen is telling

13:13 us we're currently riding along on battery power only.

13:17 The internal combustion engine is off.

13:18 This is what they call a parallel hybrid.

13:20 That means it can either run just the internal combustion engine, just the electric motor

13:24 or both in unison.

13:26 And later on I'll do a 0-100 to show you what that means in terms of numbers but that means

13:30 you get combined propulsion and a little bit of extra pace.

13:33 Under the bonnet of the RAV4 you have a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.

13:39 That one produces 131 kilowatts of power and 221 newton metres of torque just on its own.

13:45 And it's a hardy 2.5-litre unit.

13:47 So having then the hybrid system added on top of it just gives you that extra bit of

13:51 push.

13:52 So in terms of the hybrid system, it's an 88 kilowatt electric motor that produces just

13:56 over 200 newton metres of torque.

13:58 When those two combine they produce a peak power output of 160 kilowatts.

14:03 And that gives this thing a really nice, urgent feel behind the wheel.

14:07 You never feel like it's lightning fast but you're confident when it comes to overtaking

14:11 and just getting in and out of traffic.

14:13 Now what does that mean in terms of fuel consumption?

14:15 Because the thing is off most of the time and when you're going down hills it means

14:19 that it's only using an official combined 4.7 litres per 100 kilometres.

14:24 That is seriously remarkable and you virtually hit that as you drive.

14:28 There's no sort of fluffery with the figures.

14:29 That is just what you get with normal driving.

14:32 Despite having just a 55-litre fuel tank that takes 91 ron fuel, it will do just over 1,100

14:39 kilometres on a single tank of petrol.

14:41 That is some really impressive range and it beats driving a diesel which you have to get

14:45 your hands dirty at the pump for every single time you fill up.

14:48 Under those back seats is a 6.5 amp hour battery.

14:51 Now if I've done my sums correctly and used the voltage, I think that equates to around

14:58 1.5 kilowatt hours, I think.

15:01 So to put that into perspective, something like a Tesla Model 3 is around 79 kilowatt

15:05 hours.

15:06 So it gives you an idea of how small the batteries are in these parallel hybrid cars.

15:10 Often with hybrids, brake pedal feel is really, really average.

15:13 Toyota's been at this game for a little while now so they've kind of nailed it.

15:17 As we come to a stop, that feels all good and it's really communicative.

15:23 There's never a point where you feel the switch over so that is all good.

15:26 Now if you're hoping to buy a RAV to do some towing, you're going to be a little out of

15:30 luck because the hybrid in two-wheel drive form will only tow 480 kilos with a brake

15:35 trailer.

15:36 So that is virtually nothing and it means that you're going to have to look elsewhere

15:38 if you do actually need to tow anything.

15:41 A few of you have asked, how quick is the RAV4 from 0 to 100?

15:45 Okay, let's give this a shot.

15:47 So we've come to a stop.

15:49 Pound that in sport mode, it all comes to life.

15:52 60, 80 and there's 100 k's an hour.

15:57 So it's about 8 seconds which is pretty impressive for a front-wheel drive car.

16:02 That's all assisted by that hybrid electric motor that is pushing us and giving us a little

16:07 bit more propulsion.

16:08 Now the ride is really impressive here.

16:10 So we're on 18-inch alloy wheels but the suspension is fantastic.

16:14 It just soaks up everything.

16:16 It's really built for Australian conditions which means it's been engineered to do gravel

16:20 roads, country roads, city roads and everything you throw at it.

16:23 So despite the added weight of all the hybrid components, it still feels nimble and agile

16:27 at low speeds and takes things like these speed humps easily.

16:31 You just don't even notice them.

16:32 How quiet is it in the cabin here?

16:33 Well the tyres don't really intrude too much.

16:36 The engine is quiet but then when you step on it, it tends to make a little bit of noise

16:40 but outside of that you really don't hear too much.

16:42 There's barely any wind buffeting and it is a really serene environment to be in.

16:46 Visibility out of the cabin is excellent.

16:48 Front I can see plenty there.

16:49 We've got front and rear parking sensors.

16:51 The side mirrors are huge so I've got really good visibility there.

16:55 At the back visibility is good as well.

16:57 In the wing mirrors there's also blind spot monitoring so if anyone does sneak up the

17:00 side of you, you will spot them in your wing mirrors.

17:03 Okay, this doesn't happen often but I am so damn impressed with this car.

17:07 It is my pick in the medium SUV segment because it delivers really good value for money.

17:11 It's incredibly efficient with no compromises.

17:13 It's not like the Subaru Forester Hybrid which just drives terribly.

17:17 This actually drives like a normal car.

17:18 It uses barely any fuel and it fits the bill for a family.

17:21 You've got heaps of room inside, a big boot.

17:23 It's cheap to service and it comes with a decent warranty from Toyota too.

17:26 So that is why I like it and I'm finding it really hard to give you any negatives.

17:30 Aside from the lack of heads-up display, I think this comes with virtually everything

17:34 you need from a medium-sized SUV.

17:36 So let me know if you do have your hands on a new Toyota RAV4.

17:40 What do you think of it?

17:41 Has it been reliable?

17:42 Are you enjoying it?

17:43 And if you've got one on order, let me know which spec you've gone for and whether it's

17:47 the Hybrid, what colour and all that kind of stuff.

17:49 If you found this video useful, I'd love it if you could please hit the like button.

17:53 Don't forget to subscribe and also press the bell icon because that's going to tell you

17:56 every single time we drive a car that blows me away.

17:58 Until next time, take it easy.

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