No longer worried about being eaten by wolves, humans have developed a desire to carefully reintroduce a little excitement into their lives now and again. Sometimes, just the illusion of excitement is sufficient.
The compact crossover crowd isn’t exactly a pulse-quickening segment, so the 2018 Toyota RAV4’s Adventure trim, exposed Thursday at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show, didn’t need to do backflips to stand out. The Adventure is essentially an appearance package with some tow prepping performed at the factory. However, Toyota’s current hit-or-miss styling seems to have made its mark on the RAV4, and is further improved by trim-specific upgrades both inside and out.
Mechanical changes are modest. The adventure-enhanced RAV4 increases ride height and upgrades the radiator while adding coolers for both engine oil and transmission fluid. It doesn’t improve the 2.5-liter four-cylinder’s 176 horsepower rating, but it more than doubles the towing capacity of the base model RAV4. All-wheel-drive Adventures can tug 3,500 pounds and front-wheel drive units can pull 2,900 lbs.
Exterior chances are noticeably more abundant, starting with Toyota’s use of flared wheel arches. The Adventure also has wheel well liners that nicely reduce the unsightly gap on the raised crossover and unique lower-body cladding, too. These are supposed to be protective elements for when you kick up a bunch of gravel while off-roading this puppy, but they serve an equally important role by toughening up the RAV4’s image. Black wheels, bezels, and roof rack round out the Adventure’s exclusive exterior touches.
Inside, Toyota has added a leather-wrapped shifter, door-sill protectors, all-weather floor mats, a and 120-volt power outlet in the cargo area. There is also an optional Cold Weather package that adds a heated steering wheel, heated cloth front seats, and a wiper de-icer.
Obviously, obligatory trim-specific badging will appear inside of the vehicle and out.
The Adventure is definitely not an off-roading behemoth, but it is the RAV4 trim you’ll want to take camping and it’s not a bad looker. Toyota didn’t give up pricing details but we expect it to come in just under $30,000 when it goes on sale this September.
[Images: Toyota]
I guess black rims are officially a thing now.
And the sooner the trend ends, the better.
Black accents can be fine. All-black rims have never quite looked right, although they’re better in an off-road-ish context than anywhere else.
“And the sooner the trend ends, the better.”
Not a fan of the black wheels trend myself.
yep. and as my avatar would say, “No sir, I don’t like it!”
I don’t mind ones painted black but with machined spokes. all black? no thanks.
My SIL got a new Silverado Midnight with EVERYTHING black.
Do not like the appearance at all, but I do see a good number of them.
I like the black bowtie though. That needs to go on more things (the Bolt especially). Or body colored bow ties one everything.
When you see a styling trend on something as mainstream and milquetoast as a RAV-4, that’s when the trend has jumped the shark. (See also: Altezza lights on the Lexus RX350)
How to make an already goofy looking vehicle look totally ridiculous. it sucks because this package actually includes meaningful function upgrades, but you have to surrender your dignity to get them.
In my view the basic RAV4 is pretty cute, but this version is not good. Although if buyers can be found, the profit margin on this upgrade has to be pretty impressive.
In Costa Rica the rental-grade Rav4s had black steel wheels with hubcaps removed, and the entire front fascia was unpainted black plastic. With a bunch of trail dust on it, this generation of Rav4 finally looks good in that guise and in that environment.
Ok.. I obviously dont know enough about towing so I am going to need some guidance from you guys. So this thing with 170 plus ponies can tow 3500lbs. My 08 CX9 with 270 hp is stated to tow 3500lbs. However the Australian CX9 which seems to be completely identical is rated to tow 2000 kg (around 4400 lbs). I dont get this.
Help please.
American sue-happiness, that’s all really. I seriously doubt there are any mechanical differences between US/Aussie spec that would justify the discrepancy. Install a B&M external transmission cooler and keep it out of overdrive on hills and I’m sure your CX9 can tow just fine.
When comparing the higher Euro tow ratings, which basically convert at a rate of 1 pound = 1 Kg, we used to say, “Well in America we tow longer distances, faster, in hotter weather.” Would that be true in Australia?
A transmission temp gage wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to add either. Nice when towing long distances close to your max.
There’s a wide range of camp and travel trailers in the 2,000 to 3,000 pound range. There’s the teardrop-shaped T@B, the Scamp/Casita fiberglass trailers, and innumerable pop-ups. It’s always good news for those owners when there’s another tow car available. When I had one of these, I didn’t want the best and biggest tow car; I just wanted an efficient everyday car that would legally tow several times per year. This looks like a fine option.
Or the new Airstream BaseCamp:
https://gearjunkie.com/airstream-basecamp
Nice looking Rav4. The blacked out area of the hood just seems like it would become annoying after awhile.
Especially after some white car wax residue gets on it.
I like it, more important is I fit in the thing.
Looks like a good move for Toyota. Many small trailer owners would like something like this – reliable, versatile and relatively fuel efficient.