RAV 4 - why not? - Page 2

matt h · 02 February 2007, 19:28

td4 slow?? mine used to do 116, Slow !! you want to try pressing your right foot harder!! ha ha, they do suffer from lack of ground clearance but for what they are, they are pretty good!!!
at the time i had a Saladin Armoured car, think it was about 7 tons, pulled that ok when i ran out of fuel!!

Rich L · 02 February 2007, 20:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbw156

I seriously considered a RAV4 but discounted it on the grounds that you can't open the rear door with a trailer attached! This was too much of a limitation for me with a tow vehicle!

I bought a Nissan X-Trail 2.2 dCi Sport instead, which is a fantastic tow vehicle for my 6.5m RIB. In my view it is the perfect compromise between a car and a big 4x4.

Feel free to PM me if you want further details.

Interesting, I already have this problem with my Shogun. Is it likely to be any worse?

As far as I can see, the latest RAV has 2 advantages over the x-trail. 1. It looks more aesthetically pleasing to my wife

and 2. The newer version has an axle lock - which has got to help big time on a slippery slipway. The trouble is the later version is much larger and smaller would have been better.

Have you had any experience of the x-trail on sand or a poor slipway?

Thanks

Rich

donutsina911 · 02 February 2007, 21:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt h

td4 slow?? mine used to do 116, Slow !! you want to try pressing your right foot harder!! ha ha, they do suffer from lack of ground clearance but for what they are, they are pretty good!!!
at the time i had a Saladin Armoured car, think it was about 7 tons, pulled that ok when i ran out of fuel!!

must have been down hill with a breeze then as land rover themselves quote 102mph as the top speed for the td4, with a 0-60 time of 13.2 minutes/hours...real world mid range is equally speedy. 7 tonnes towing with a 1.8 tonne limit - how much of your rover was left after that then?

rich there's some useful (ish) banter on pistonheads about 4x4s including comments on freelander/crv/rav4 here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...&hw=freelander

Nos4r2 · 02 February 2007, 22:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimMcC

Anybody any experience with the Santa Fe ?.

Tim

I had a good nose at my Dad's new auto diesel Sante Fe last week. Impressive but the ridges in the bonnet would make it a bit 'odd' to drive for anyone short as they effectively make the car look 'pointed' from the driver's seat.

Hell of a car for the money but I don't think it had low range.4x4 is switchable though. Might be different in the manual version?

rbw156 · 03 February 2007, 07:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich L

Interesting, I already have this problem with my Shogun. Is it likely to be any worse?

As far as I can see, the latest RAV has 2 advantages over the x-trail. 1. It looks more aesthetically pleasing to my wife

and 2. The newer version has an axle lock - which has got to help big time on a slippery slipway. The trouble is the later version is much larger and smaller would have been better.

Have you had any experience of the x-trail on sand or a poor slipway?

Thanks

Rich

You mentioned that the newer RAV has an axle lock. My X-Trail has a switch next to the steering column that you use to select 2 wheel drive, auto 4 wheel drive or to lock all four wheels.

I've not driven it on sand, but have used the slipway at Warsash, which is usually good gravel. However, at a very low tide, the bottom of the slipway is steeper and fairly lumpy. I've not had a problem recovering yet!

My only complaint is that there is no low gear ratio. I found the "creep" speed of my old Series III Landy fantastic for reversing down a slip.

Regards

Rich

Searider · 03 February 2007, 22:36

I believe that it's only the non-turbo Imprezas that have a low ratio box.

Aidan · 03 February 2007, 23:04

I reckon the Hyuandi Santefe 4X4 2.2 diesel with select dif lock, leather, 7 seats (huge room with the back seats down flat).

Dont know whether your talking Diesel or petrol but the Hyuandi diesel will pull it fine...Do let me know if your find different as I plan on buying one as 2nd car just for that reason.

If on a budget the previous 2.ltr Santefe 5 seats will do.

Richard B · 03 February 2007, 23:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich L

what's the general consensus of the RAV 4?

One word....

Gay.

Rich L · 04 February 2007, 11:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard B

One word....

Gay.

Two words...

Insecurity complex

Searider · 04 February 2007, 15:27

My folks have just taken up caravaning

The caravan club reckons that the Kia Sorreto is a great tow car. Not mu cup of tea though.

Richard B · 04 February 2007, 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Searider

The caravan club reckons that the Kia Sorento is a great tow car.

So does Eupa.

And Honest John.

Aidan · 04 February 2007, 22:16

Kia Sorrento is fine and dandy, the engine is not as refined as the new 2.2 Hyuandi.

prairie tuber · 04 February 2007, 22:30

Why all the itty bitty engines over there?

Biggles · 04 February 2007, 23:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

Why all the itty bitty engines over there?

Coz fuel costs a fortune and we pay a Tax on the size of the engine. I pay £195 for one year on a 2.2 Diesel, on top of insurance and fuel duty. Also its the easiest way for the government to collect tax to pay for its social engineering. Road tax is not spent on roads in this country !!!! Tony Blair might be a warmongerer and supporting the US, but he's also a Socialist, and by golly if you are lucky enough you are going to pay for some fat/useless/lazy/good for nothing man/women /baby producing women to sit at home and procreate from any man she fancies having a good time with. Apparently in the Us you have given these people 5 years to get a job. We have just given them carte blanche to get even lazier. Fuel is the easiest way to get this money so we gotta be carefull what size engines we have.

Apologies if I have upset some genuine needy people but the people who abuse the system have really peed off the people who pay the tax through there hard work.

Stoo · 05 February 2007, 03:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

Why all the itty bitty engines over there?

Fuel prices and nowhere too far to go... It's interesting reading this thread though. Some of the tow vehicles you refer to (RAV, Sorrento?

) would never be considered as tow vehicles here... at least not for anything bigger than a 4M SIB. I see that a number of them are diesels though which would make a difference.

Over here in the Great White North, anyone I know drives a full size truck for towing. My own vehicle is a 5.3 l V8 GMC Yukon. It pulls my Hurricane beautifully, even at 120 kph+ on the major freeways... Pass everything but a gas station as they say! Our fuel is about .80/litre at the moment... about half of what it is in the UK I imagine, if not less than that.

I had a V6 in an Isuzu a couple of trucks ago and after blowing three sets of rings in two summers, I ditched it...

Stoo · 05 February 2007, 03:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

Road tax is not spent on roads in this country !!!!

Biggles, if it makes you feel any better, it isn't over here either. On the upside, at least someone is benefitting from the fuel prices...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11098458/

prairie tuber · 05 February 2007, 05:17

Hee hee - and once they put a couple of nuclear reactors up in Northern Alberta we'll be extracting so much oil from those tar sands, that it will be as plentiful as water. Sure the leader of the opposition party here is a socialist who keeps on railing about the environment and the Kyoto accord (

), but he does not speak (intelligible) English, so fortunately nobody listens to him.

Richard B · 05 February 2007, 07:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoo

Some of the tow vehicles you refer to (RAV, Sorrento?

) would never be considered as tow vehicles here... at least not for anything bigger than a 4M SIB. I see that a number of them are diesels though which would make a difference.

The Nissan is rated at 2000kg for towing (for the 2.2 diesel) and the Kia Sorento is rated at 3500kg (auto only). I couldn't find a trailer rating for the RAV4 on the Toyota web site so presumably it's only intended for pulling a handbag! In the UK, 3500kg is the most you can tow without fitting coupled hydraulic or air brakes on the trailer.

Found the Rav4 towing spec now... it's a limp-wristed 1500kg for petrol models, and a slightly more butch 2000kg for diesel models.

Rich L · 05 February 2007, 08:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard B

Found the Rav4 towing spec now... it's a limp-wristed 1500kg for petrol models, and a slightly more butch 2000kg for diesel models.

"Gay", "Limpwristed", "butch" - definately a pseudo machoism thing going on Richard..... Bet you wear Louises underwear at weekends (you don't have to answer that...)

TimMcC · 05 February 2007, 08:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

Coz fuel costs a fortune and we pay a Tax on the size of the engine. I pay £195 for one year on a 2.2 Diesel, on top of insurance and fuel duty. Also its the easiest way for the government to collect tax to pay for its social engineering. Road tax is not spent on roads in this country !!!! Tony Blair might be a warmongerer and supporting the US, but he's also a Socialist, and by golly if you are lucky enough you are going to pay for some fat/useless/lazy/good for nothing man/women /baby producing women to sit at home and procreate from any man she fancies having a good time with. Apparently in the Us you have given these people 5 years to get a job. We have just given them carte blanche to get even lazier. Fuel is the easiest way to get this money so we gotta be carefull what size engines we have.

Apologies if I have upset some genuine needy people but the people who abuse the system have really peed off the people who pay the tax through there hard work.

You think thats bad try €755 for a 2.2l and around €1400 for a 3.1 Trooper
over here

and very little of going towards road upgrades .