Be careful what you wish for. Many "Sport" owners don't like the very hard & harsh ride, some do.I understand that the Sport has a 'sport tuned suspension'. Does anyone have a comprehensive list of parts that could "sportify" the base model in these regards?
I looked up coil springs on spark's Toyota website for factory replacement parts and they list different part numbers along with different prices for sport and base/limited springs.....they also list different part numbers for 2wd vs 4wd and the 3rd row ravs get their own springs as well.....that tells me that the sport does have their own spring vs bast and limited......I would also caution against going 225/60-17 as that size is much smaller than stock and will add more miles to the odometer than you actually drive....Or, just buy a set of Sachs struts & shocks from Rock Auto. That will "sportify" your Base as it did my '11 Ltd. With all due respect to rav4system, you don't need to get new springs and such. After spending lots and lots of time on this site looking into "sportifying" my Ltd., I learned that the springs are the same. What's different between the Base/Ltd. and the Sport is the damping rates of the struts/shocks. The Sport has more rebound and compression damping. That's what you want. You will get that with Sachs. Sachs takes away the jiggles.
And, as you live in Maine with it's terrible, frost-heaved, semi-paved roads, I would not get the 18" wheels with 55 series tires. I run the stock 17" wheels with 255/60 series tires. The ride is still comfortable and there's more control when driving at high speeds, i.e., 85+mph. >D: on "The Airline" (some Mainah insider humor) and through the twisties; body roll is slightly reduced.
Suspension preferences are subjective of course. That said, I think you'll be satisfied with what I've suggested if you are looking to tighten up the suspension. Plus it won't cost nearly as much as buying Sport springs, struts/shocks, and wheels and tires. My wife has our RAV in Maine at the moment :doh: and she hasn't complained about the Sachs setup. Nossa Bub.
i think the sport, limited and base all had the same rear springs.....base/limited with 3rd row had another set for them (sport was not available with 3rd row if i remember right).....also i do believe the 4 and 2 wheel drives had different springs.....they are all around the 60 dollar mark from sparks toyota.....i went on their site and searched for factory replacement parts.....you can find them there.... click this linkI knew the Sports had different springrates, but didn't know the sport+3rd row had unique springs too. Wonder what those cost from the dealership?
Dr J