Full time all the time...........might be a bit under powered for towing heavy stuff regularly though as all 4.1s are a 2 litre 4 cylinder.......fine for occassional use .

 

The one I am looking at looks like the one on your profile.

Yeah I am kind of leaning towards the towing, or else I think an outback or all trac would do me the same as a rav4. I got a truck but more of a classic side with a 22r.

 

As i said the Rav would be fine for occassional use..........to be honest if you were towing regularly i would get something bigger.Not putting the Rav down at all,but personally i think towing a car plus trailer would be a bit hard on it.

 

You don't want to use the full time 4wd in the 4.1 if you're going over lke 45mph i believe as well. At least that's what I was told. And Brox is right, if you're looking to haul stuff I would choose a vehicle with a few more ponies under the hood.

 

You don't want to use the full time 4wd in the 4.1 if you're going over lke 45mph i believe as well. At least that's what I was told. And Brox is right, if you're looking to haul stuff I would choose a vehicle with a few more ponies under the hood.

Well, i honestly think you don't have much choice there.
The RAV 4.1 is 4 WD unless it's specifically front wheel drive version.
It is always 4 wheel drive, no matter what speed you are going.
Not that it hurts going a bit faster, done a long time (1,5 hour straight) 90 miles per hour without the car sweating or acting strange in any way. Was a few months ago and haven't found any problems occurring since then.
And hence, i found the 130 ponies under my hood an impressive collection, but there always could be more of them together i guess.
For regular towing of heavy trailers you for sure need a better suited car though. Unless the weight of the trailer is within the specified limits in the paper (which aren't that broad).
Greetz

Pim

 

You don't want to use the full time 4wd in the 4.1 if you're going over lke 45mph i believe as well. At least that's what I was told. And Brox is right, if you're looking to haul stuff I would choose a vehicle with a few more ponies under the hood.

Never had a problem with speed tbh........i can happily cruise at 80mph all day long with the awd/4wd model.I really don't notice much difference between it and my cars during normal road use.

EDIT**that is of with the Diff Lock off btw.

 

You don't want to use the full time 4wd in the 4.1 if you're going over lke 45mph i believe as well. At least that's what I was told.

Not that it hurts going a bit faster, done a long time (1,5 hour straight) 90 miles per hour without the car sweating or acting strange in any way.

Never had a problem with speed tbh........i can happily cruise at 80mph all day long with the awd/4wd model.

I suspect bgsymalone refers to the engagement of the diff lock as "full time 4wd".

He owns a 4WD Rav as well and I doubt he has NEVER driven it over 45mph.

Not to mention that if it was unsafe/damaging to drive the Rav4 over 45mph, Toyota wouldn't publish a top speed of around 100mph for this vehicle...

 

You don't want to use the full time 4wd in the 4.1 if you're going over lke 45mph i believe as well. At least that's what I was told.

Not that it hurts going a bit faster, done a long time (1,5 hour straight) 90 miles per hour without the car sweating or acting strange in any way.

Never had a problem with speed tbh........i can happily cruise at 80mph all day long with the awd/4wd model.

I suspect bgsymalone refers to the engagement of the diff lock as "full time 4wd".

He owns a 4WD RAV as well and I doubt he has NEVER driven it over 45mph.

Not to mention that if it was unsafe/damaging to drive the RAV4 over 45mph, Toyota wouldn't publish a top speed of around 100mph for this vehicle...

Yes Yes Yes, I WAS meaning the "full time 4wd" being the center lock differential engaged. Thanks for clearing that up.

I still stand that you should not drive it over around 45-5-mph with the centerlock differential engaged.

Also I myself have had my 4.1 up to around 100mph and it handles just fine. But with the center lock diff engaged around 40+ it doesn't sound healthy.

One more thing, I don't believe you can consider the 4.1 full time 4wd can you? I believe my 4.1 the passenger side rear and driver side front were the propulsion/driving tires UNLESS center lock diff was engaged. And my maybe I'm wrong, but I don't consider that "full time 4wd"

 

Ok, that clears things up.
The centre differential lock is ONLY meant to get you out of difficult terrain situations. It shouldn't be used with driving at speed, and for sure not with cornering.

The RAV4.1 is all time 4 wheel propulsion/ drive. On demand however it can get power adjusted to a 50-50 situation to get you out of slippery situations or situations with low grip.
http://www.majormedia2.com/4WDSimplifiedv5/4WD.html for a clear informative explenation of this from Toyota University.
Greetz

Pim

 

Full time 4WD is the Rav system.

You have to have three differentials to make it work, which the 4WD Rav has.

Basic part-time 4WD systems have a gear lever that selects 2WD or 4WD.

Some part-time 4WD systems rely on a viscous coupling that on wheel spin of a front wheel, causes the viscous coupling to transfer some of the engine torque to the rear wheels - Honda CRV, Landrover Freelander v1, Ford Explorer/Maverick (Mazda produced variant).

The really clever full-time 4WD systems start to have limited slip differentials - no decision by the driver.

You then get to lockable differentials for hardcore off-roading.

Rav lockable centre diff is a good compromise that will deal with most situations, except for the really rough/loose stuff. But you would be talking about a sheer gradient over 1:5 - serious off-roading.
Unless it's towing heavy trailers, with extra weight on a very muddy field.

 

If you can travel at 45 mph, you don't need the centre diff-lock. It is to get you rolling and as soon as you are sure you have good traction again, you unlock it.