Matt16

Weld the centre diff.

JohnnyRanger54

ive seen one out with us.. It was as cute as a button!!!! lol

Adam F

It's still not worth the time and effort.

bleakhorizon

pretty much the same thing but the x90s are cool too

Adam F

Actually, the only thing that is even close to being the same is the body. The rest is COMPLETLY different.

Rav-4 is a unibody car based chassis. It uses a transverse mounted engine (like any front wheel drive car has) mounted to a transaxle that has an output that goes to a rear diff. Independent front and rear suspension.

The X90 is a body on frame design like our 4Runners. Solid axle in the rear and IFS up front. Rear wheel drive engine. Basically a mini-SUV, not a car based chassis like the Rav.

Taro

And you'd be even more surprised how far a stock 4wd will take you. A stock Toyota 4x4 pickup is extremely capable. Most never realize its potential.

There is no question you can take a Rav4 off-highway. But comparing it to a real Toyota 4x4 is no contest.

BornChaos

Well said. I don't have lockers and I have been able to do quite a bit with my 4runner.

As for the actual Rav4 going off-road. I think the consensus here is that without significant mods (new axles, etc.) It won't go too far. Its too much of a car.

Pursuade your girl into getting something different.. like a 4Runner :-P

SharpStick

Dudes.

Open your mind, Mr. Quaid. Perhaps I read the thread-head wrong - I got the impression it was wondering whether the Rav4 could go off-road. It can, and I've crawled the living shift out of mine doing it.

You're right about a lot of stuff. There's only two lockers on the Rav4 - the LSD rear diff and the electronic center locker, neither of which really LOCK lock. And it's short on power, but then, so are most 4Runners. The first-gen Rav4 only weighs about 2700lb, though. Of course, once the skid-plates are on it the somewhat limited clearance (just 10in front-center and 11in rear-center) won't be a big deal, and when the trucklet only cost a few $Gs, a few holes are no big deal.

With a little clearance and a little bit of tire, I bomb this Rav4 around off-road poseurs with four-times the investment and, as you probably know, a decent rig with a good pilot will almost always drive circles around some moneybags putz with no skill-set. And that's with my faded wanna-lockers and about as much powa as a CFL bulb.

My thesis is that the Rav4 is a decent off-road rig. It would be silly to compete with a prepped 4Runner (like the one I yanked two weekends ago). Give me a season of bending this Rav4 to my whims and it might get better. Stay tuned to the Toyota channel at off-road.com and you might even get inspired. And please stop hating, you're hurting my feelings.

I didn't buy this to make it a trail crawler, it just sort'a is one. Dudes.

STICK

Diesel_Freak

I'm curious as to how you came to the "Outback is tougher..." bit. Personaly I don't think thats the case. Scooby are great rigs, but they're still not nearly as bulletproof as Toyotas. Plus, as you stated, the Toy has a locking center diff that made it the winner in a recent C/D test of small "SUV's" because it was better "off-Road"...

I'm obviously aware of where you can take a stock Toyota 4x4 truck... I own one. I tell you what though, a Toyota 4x4 CAN'T go anywhere with a crappy driver. When I lived on Mt. Hood, I would consistantly fly past people stuck on Timberline road in 4x4's... even some with realy well built trucks... IN A VW FOX of all things...

The question was wether the Rav4 can handle any kind of abuse, and I surmise that it can take a bit. More importantly, since he's probably going to end up with one, I want to see what he'll do with it... Don't you???

Cheers

Dave

Adam F

I guess if you were considering a Rav for offroad, it would HAVE to be a manual trans with the center diff lock and lsd. The AWD mode on the automatics just doesnt work well for offroad. I bet with the center diff lock and the control of a 5 speed trans the rav would come alive offroad.

elripster

Exactly, that remark about the Liberty is downright ridiculous. The Liberty is a real 4x4 with low range and skid plate/tow point options

The Rav4 is a car and intended to be so. It's a very fast car for its class but beyond dirt or snow covered roads it's out of its element. Toyota makes other vehicles for wheeling.

Frank

wormhole

I took my rav4 offroad tonight.





Compliments of a 12" inch and 38's on an indepedent front suspension.

4x4YOTA

iTrader: (2)

lol nice I love that game 4x4evo

BAZ

Sorry to pull this back from the dead and I'm not sure what the specs on the rav-4 are but for comparison, I took my dads Honda Ridgeline off road (IFS/IRS, no low range, but had VTM4-lock and selectable traction control) and it did surprisingly well. The only thing that held it back was its lack of ground clearance which my dad plans on changing with a 2"Truxx lift and bigger meats. Just figured I'd put it out there...

Oh yeah, and I've seen a few old school early 80's Subies out on the trail before and they picked their lines right and kept truckin'. Definately a weird sight to see though.

ogreman

i have a 2001 rav 4 and that little thing is badass in the sand and mud its been to p.i.n.s. plently of times and only been stuck once the only problem i have with it is that it doesnt have a low gear range and isnt protected enough (skid plates etc) but i plan to make some myself some in the near future

from_CO_2_AK

Wouldn't knock it til you've seen it done my buddy would follow in his tiny stock Kia car not suv on trails up here that would have thought undoable just takes the right driver he made it through all the mud holes and creek crossing my taco with mudders did

sebastianholmes

first of all, this thread is like 2 years old why bring it back? second of all, why the hell would you wanna take a car offroad? when you rip everything off the bottom and cant get it home it would be cheaper to buy a 4x4 and sell your silly little car. Lastly, why does this thread still exist?

from_CO_2_AK

It's Alaska everything is abused and used for things there not supposed to

kneelo

I have a 1997 four door and it has never been stuck. I have video of water coming over the hood in a flooded dirt road in Baja, never got stuck.