I recently purchased a 2010 Toyota RAV4 V6 4wd to replace my (t)rusty old 1999 4Runner. I know the RAV4 can't go everywhere the 4Runner could go, but I'm fairly sure the RAV4 can go everywhere the 4Runner did go. My use is mainly for paddling/skiing/camping trips on snow covered, rutted, and muddy roads in NH/ME/VT, and driving through the dunes of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Useable interior space is quite similar to a 3rd gen 4Runner with the added bonus of under-floor storage for tools, jumper cables, air compressor, etc where the spare would go in most other CUVs (RAV4 has a full size spare mounted on the back door). My fuel economy so far is excellent (25 mpg mixed driving, as high as 29 mpg on long highway drives at 70 mph), especially for a vehicle with this much power (269 HP). There is a 4wd lock feature to engage the rear wheels fully at low speeds (<25 mph) which has proven to be quite effective while driving through deep, soft sand on the beach. The Downhill Assist Control feature seems like more of a gimmick, though.
First modification was a custom designed aluminum skid plate to replace the factory plastic splash guard. I designed and fabricated the skid plate myself. I'm making the design freely available to other RAV4 owners here for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The next modification will be adding a set of ARB Old Man Emu springs, part numbers 2539 and 2540. This should provide about 30 mm of lift, hopefully making the skid plate irrelevant. The springs have been ordered from ARB's west coast warehouse and should be here in a week or so.
The RAV4 had a brand new set of Bridgestone Turanza 225/65-17 tires when I bought it so I'll wait to replace those with a more aggressive tire. Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S are available in this size and seem to be well liked. I also picked up a set of four Firestone Winterforce 225/70-16 (nearly identical circumference as 225/65-17) on steel rims from Craigslist for $175. If I do upsize the tires it won't be by much (maybe 235/65-17?) to preserve fuel economy. Upsizing will also require purchasing 5 tires to keep a matching spare.
First modification was a custom designed aluminum skid plate to replace the factory plastic splash guard. I designed and fabricated the skid plate myself. I'm making the design freely available to other RAV4 owners here for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The next modification will be adding a set of ARB Old Man Emu springs, part numbers 2539 and 2540. This should provide about 30 mm of lift, hopefully making the skid plate irrelevant. The springs have been ordered from ARB's west coast warehouse and should be here in a week or so.
The RAV4 had a brand new set of Bridgestone Turanza 225/65-17 tires when I bought it so I'll wait to replace those with a more aggressive tire. Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S are available in this size and seem to be well liked. I also picked up a set of four Firestone Winterforce 225/70-16 (nearly identical circumference as 225/65-17) on steel rims from Craigslist for $175. If I do upsize the tires it won't be by much (maybe 235/65-17?) to preserve fuel economy. Upsizing will also require purchasing 5 tires to keep a matching spare.