Hello, all.
My wife has been interested in a Rav4 for a time now, and today we finally had the chance to drive a 2020 FWD model.
In all honesty, we both came away a little underimpressed. Thought I'd solicit some opinions.
While I realize they crank up the RPM's to make that little 4-banger put out the power, I was more than a little aghast to see the thing hit close to 6000RPM just accelerating to highway speed! Good heavens, I thought it was because the sales guy who followed us along put the thing in "Turbo" mode when my wife drove it, but when I took my turn and put it back to "Normal" it did essentially the same thing. How long to they expect those little engines to last if they're hitting that kind of RPM in what I would consider fairly normal acceleration? Have these engines been in service long enough to get a feel for how well they're going to hold up long term?
Both of us felt that, despite the high RPMs, the thing still seemed underpowered. Not badly, but enough to notice. Now, in fairness, we're comparing it to a 12-year-old Sienna with a 2GR-FE 6Cyl that has just purred for 138K miles, so I know it won't have that kind of power...but I was expecting more than I got. Anyone else feel the same way?
Lastly, one thing I did not know was that (at least in the model we drove), the PCM shuts down the engine when stopped at an intersection, and then just restarts it on acceleration. Yes, I know you can turn that (annoying) feature off, but I'd prefer to disable it permanently. Anyone do that? Can it be programmed out?
Whenever we "drop the hammer," it will be my wife's daily driver, so its more important to please her than me, but she seemed genuinely disappointed to me - and she's been looking at Rav4's at least casually for a while now. We're starting to think more about going back a few years and looking at a used Highlander, preferably pre 2GR-FKS, in the alternative. Any thoughts? Am I/are we being too picky?
Thanks for any feedback.
-sd
My wife has been interested in a Rav4 for a time now, and today we finally had the chance to drive a 2020 FWD model.
In all honesty, we both came away a little underimpressed. Thought I'd solicit some opinions.
While I realize they crank up the RPM's to make that little 4-banger put out the power, I was more than a little aghast to see the thing hit close to 6000RPM just accelerating to highway speed! Good heavens, I thought it was because the sales guy who followed us along put the thing in "Turbo" mode when my wife drove it, but when I took my turn and put it back to "Normal" it did essentially the same thing. How long to they expect those little engines to last if they're hitting that kind of RPM in what I would consider fairly normal acceleration? Have these engines been in service long enough to get a feel for how well they're going to hold up long term?
Both of us felt that, despite the high RPMs, the thing still seemed underpowered. Not badly, but enough to notice. Now, in fairness, we're comparing it to a 12-year-old Sienna with a 2GR-FE 6Cyl that has just purred for 138K miles, so I know it won't have that kind of power...but I was expecting more than I got. Anyone else feel the same way?
Lastly, one thing I did not know was that (at least in the model we drove), the PCM shuts down the engine when stopped at an intersection, and then just restarts it on acceleration. Yes, I know you can turn that (annoying) feature off, but I'd prefer to disable it permanently. Anyone do that? Can it be programmed out?
Whenever we "drop the hammer," it will be my wife's daily driver, so its more important to please her than me, but she seemed genuinely disappointed to me - and she's been looking at Rav4's at least casually for a while now. We're starting to think more about going back a few years and looking at a used Highlander, preferably pre 2GR-FKS, in the alternative. Any thoughts? Am I/are we being too picky?
Thanks for any feedback.
-sd
. More truthfully, you went from mid-7s 0-60 times with your Sienna to low-8s 0-60 with the non-hybrid Ravs. Neither were fast, but what you were probably perceiving is the longer torque curve of the smaller engine coupled with the delayed throttle response of modern eco cars.
