How good will be the 2019 Toyota RAV4?

MANILA: Toyota’s “Go 4 Bold” crossover will be arriving on the Philippine shores as early as in February 2019. While the Japanese automaker will launch the crossover before Valentine’s day, the customers will only be able to get their hands on the 2019 RAV4 from the month of March. With no information whatsoever about the newest iteration of the RAV4 for the Philippine market, the next two weeks would be quite long for the Toyota fanboys and the people who are looking to purchase a new crossover.

In order to keep the price down and highly competitive, we expect the new RAV4 to house a 2.0-litre M20-FKS motor which makes 172 PS of maximum power and a peak torque of 203 Nm. With this smaller engine, the 2019 RV4 will only feature a front-wheel drive as all-wheel-drive is only available with the bigger 2.5-litre motor. The transmission should be a Direct-Shift CVT unit and a 0-100 kmph run will take around 10.7 seconds. Underpinning the 2019 RAV4 will be the Toyota New Global Architecture (GA-K).

Surprisingly enough, the new RAV4 will come with stuff like ventilated discs, MacPherson Strut up front and Double Wishbone at the rear, and a generous water wading capacity of 500 mm. The “Go 4 Bold” crossover should also feature dual exhaust pipes, automatic LED headlights with DRLs, and LED taillights. 225/60 R 18 wheels and tyres should replace the 225/65 R 17 setup on the currently selling RAV4. The 2019 RAV4 should also come with features like an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, digital gauges, auto dimming rear view mirror, push-button start/stop, power folding side mirrors, and dual-zone climate control along with a powered tailgate.

While the safety features will certainly include 7 airbags, ABS with EBD, and electronic stability control, the inclusion of Toyota Safety Sense would be the cherry on the cake. Driver aids like lane departure warning, forward collision warning with automatic braking, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high beam assist should make the new RAV4 the crossover to bring home. At Php 1,450,000 to Php 2,174,000, the on-sale Toyota RAV4 is a great deal, however, the inevitable hike in the prices will only shift the customer interest towards other options. Toyota might consider trimming down the number of variants of the 2019 RAV4, just like the new Camry which now comes in 2 variants as opposed to 4 before. February ain’t too far, and so is the launch of the 2019 Toyota RAV4. Let’s be patient and wait for the covers to be taken off.