Good tow car. More than sufficient on the flat. Could do with more lower end power on hills, but still performs well. Auto box once overdrive turned off copes very well. My car has 104000 miles on the clock, with no issues.
Toyota hybrid pulls extremely well with this Knaus sport and fun ( Knaus has been upgraded to 1500kg weight ).
Car cruises effortlessly and handles the van well, although the Engine does get noisy when under rapid acceleration or on a hill climb. But doesn’t affect performance as it has a 2.5 litre petrol engine with 222 hp electric motors for the drive. ( actually have to watch the Speedo as it will blast past 60mph going uphill ).
Only issue we have encountered is the low nose weight on the Toyota ( so have to watch the loading on the caravans nose weight ). But even with the low nose weight we are still above the legal minimum of 4%, and haven’t encountered any snaking . ( ps this is the only van Topgear pulled at 115mph with no stability issues )
Muy buen comportamiento del coche con esta caravana, knaus 580 qs del año 2018 y con una anchura de 2,50m, en llano hay que ir en 5 al poner 6 baja mucho de revoluciones a 100 km/h, el coche siempre va lleno, 2 adultos y 2 niños, con el maletero cargado al máximo.
I find the RAV very stress free. I get 35mpg towing the Omega. I love this car.
No problems at all the Rav pulls and and runs fine 👍👌
I tow a Swift Challenger 400se with my 3dr Rav4 D4D...
effortless road driving and brilliant in slippery/muddy fields.
hi if your having trouble with the handle of the alco take it off and but a 4x4 handle you just slip the handle over and pull down no opening the back door to hitchup cheers .tom
Rav 4 57 plate is the perfect tow car,the gearing & torque give it a real gutsy feel you will enjoy towing effortlessly with this superb vehicle !
The Rav 4 06 plate 136bhp is somewhat lights for this van as a little over 85% weight ratio, but have towed for 2 yrs ,and travelled around 200 miles on single journey's and the Rav has coped admirably and no problems. Important not to drive over the permitted speed of 60 mph as then feels more unstable. I have had the Rav chipped and makes massive difference towing, especially uphill. On recent journey Aug 13 back from Cornwall got 36 mpg so very happy.
have rav 4 towes great same as above lowe ti jockey wheel ,pumping sursprinion up may left body work up enough to cure it
I tow a Europa 480 with a weight of 1195kg (model not listed in programme) with a RAV 4 2.4 4wd (also not listed). Towing is not a problem although the tyres tend to get hot sometimes depending on condition and have a hot rubber smell. The car can struggle a bit in mountainous areas but some of our hills are a bit steep. Other than that it is fine
We have been towing with our Rav 4, 2 litre petrol for over 5 years now.Firstly with an Eldiss 482 Oddysey, then from last summer a new Lunar Quasar 534.
The Rav has performed very well indeed taking us on 10 to 12 towing trips every year. It has never let us down and i would say the only downside has been, towing on very steep hills where you need to use the gears more, but saying that the lunar loaded is over 90% of the Rav,s weight.
my weight ratio is 95% but the car pulls well and I have not been embarassed with the performance except when starting off on an incline --result clutch fumes.
I too find the rear door opening too restrictive, and I had spring assister inserts to raise the vehicle about 50mm
higher which avoids jockey wheel grounding.
Definately the most comfortable and stable car that I have owned.
I HAVE RAISED TOWSURE TOWBALL BY PUTTING A SCREW IN BOTTOM OF DOOR TOWBALL AT TOP SETTING AND ADDING SPRING ASSISTERS TOWS LIKE A DREAM 14 TO 17 INCHES NO JOCKYWHEEL GROUNDING
What a car this is, but never reviewed properly in the caravan press.
We have just toured france with the RAV and our Ace Jubilee Statesman, without any problems, until we had a tyre blowout on the caravan, before I could react the RAV4 had already taken control,traction control, Vehicle stability all working to control the vehicle.
The caravan never wavered, and we made it safely to the hard shoulder.
I would recommend The latest RAV4 to anybody, either towing or solo, amazing car. Oh nearly forgot to mention TYRON bands another life saver.
I have found this car very good for towing,I get about 28 MPG towing and sits at 60 MPH all day.Solo I return 47 to 52 MPG.If you have a detachable tow bar fitted I under stand there is only one type that fits.Mine is a Witter and goes in upside down then turns up 180 degrees to lock in.
I would question the last review showing 75% it was more like 87%
We have had no problems towing a Bailey Indiana from west wales all the way down to Newquay in cornwall providing it is properly loaded , there was plenty of power available from the engine and was very stable.
After a series of problems towing with a 3.0 Espace, our new Rav4 (albeit 3 years old) drove Vienna to Dresden without breaking sweat. So far, very happy with the towing capabilities of the Rav4!
I have towed with a Landrover Discovery 1993 200TDI and recently changed to a Rav4 2.0lt Auto this has a very stable and good ride towing my Lunar Lexon EB.There is plenty of power available and copes with steep hills without too much trouble. I have to says it suprised me thats its better than the Discovery.
Currently towing a Bailey Discovery 400 with my 2001 Rav4 D4D. Love the car and it tows the Bailey easily. The 4 wheel drive is a godsend on grass pitches and slippery fields. I have a removeable Witter tow ball which works OK but the caravan angle is wrong. It doesnt ground the jockey wheel but the caravan isnt being towed level which I dont like. I love the RAV4 D4D and as I say it does tow well so I wont change it but I am looking for a solution. Next weekend I am changing the Bailey Discovery 400 for an Abbey 418 GTS which is a heavier van (at 1490 MTPLM) which is close to the RAVs max allowed towing weight of 1500kgs. I am confident the RAV4 will be happy towing this van but I am talking to garages about modifying the towbar and bottom of the back door to raise the tow ball height so that the van is towed level.
I will report back how the RAV4 tows the Abbey 418 GTS and how I get on with the modification. (The tow bar is easy as the Witter removeable tow bar lends itself well to raising it with two strong brackets but the door customising is not so easy.)
I have had the same problems as above, so i got myself a detachable tow ball, but had problems when trying to hich up as i have ths alco hitch. when the handle is in the vertical position it catches the spare wheel cover, so iam still try to sort the problem.
I have a Dethleffs 540SK and have towed with a 57plate rav with no problems at all. You hardly know you're pulling one and a half tons and would recommend the rav as a cracking tugging motor.
We have just come back touring France with our Rav 4 with a Bailey Pagent Bordeaux S6 and we found the car did its job very well.
My only concern was the height of the tow ball but i took it to my local towbar fitter and he solved the problem by raiseing it from 14inches to 17 inches and took a bit out of the rear door at the bottom and you cannot tell and the door still opens ok.
I cannot fault the at all for towing it did a good job.
Our 2003 Rav 4 diesel pulled the Swift challenger caravan well. You cannot open the rear door without
removing the towball. So anything left out has to be
put in through the rear passenger doors. Looking into
buying a removable towball for the future. A great car
though as we had the older petrol version for
10 years. Extremely reliable.
I tow a Bailey Ranger Series 5 2 berth.It handles this with no problem in general. The only time it gets a bit tricky is pushing backwards on grass or bumpy ground, its does it but can struggle.
I have towed with the RAV4 all over England and through France in the last 18 months, with no problems at all. It is an excellent tow car and I would recommend it to anybody.
The power is there when you need it, motorway driving is a breeze. The car feels stable in all condition.
The comfort level of the RAV4 is also very good, high driving position giving you brilliant vision.
With combination I have I like to run with a about 85Kgs on the nose weight this make for a very comfortable journey.
I have heard complaints that you can not open the rear door when hitched up, but this is not true, and you do not have to change the handle on the AL-KO stabliser.
All the above info is exactly true. I think the RAV is a great towcar. The only problem and its quite annoying is the towbar height is very low. Due to the fact the back door will not open with a proper hieght towbar fitted. I find the jocky wheel will scrap the ground now and again (my nose weight has been checked and is perfect). The only solution I seem to have found is rear Air Suspension. Basicaly the van is hitched on. The rear suspension is then adjusted upwards to provide the correct ride hieght. Unsure how much they are or who fits them, but I am looking. I like the jeep too much to change it for another.
We have a 2 year old Lunar Quaser and a new Rav4 2.2D-4D and we have been right down into England and the match has been perfect. I have been a caravanner for 25 years and i would say that the RAV4 is up there with the best tow cars i have owned and that includes good old Ford Granadas, Senators and Jaguar X type. We are in the process of waiting for our new Swift Challenger 540 so will write a report on that outfit when we return from our holidays.
I have towed my gypsey down to the coast 1300 km.and it pulled like a dream. 5th gear usability was low on any up gradient. a Bit of swing over 130 km/h or passing big trucks
I have towed with a Toyota Rav 4 for nearly 9 years, & I have driven in some very rough conditions ie: very muddy & very windy, without any problems, in fact it out performed our friends much heftier & more powerful engined Vauxhall Frontera 2.8.on a very muddy slope on a camping field that we were both on, even though it was horendous conditions both wet & extremely muddy & others were being towed of by tractors & even they had problems at times. The only thing that the Rav4 misses out on is steep hill climbs & by that i mean from a standing position or very slow run up to the hill with a gradient of approx 17%, which believe me was a little daunting but it managed to cope in first & second gears fairly well & we have done this climb many times over the years, so it was not just a one of time at 17%. It is also good when you are overtaking which is know made even better with the new Alko 3004 Stabiliser a real god send. All in all i have nothing but praise for the Rav4 & I will certainly keep on towing with one as long as they carry on making them.
We have recently purchsed a 56 plate 2.2 diesel RAV4, which has got approx 5,500 miles on the clock. Our Bailey Pageant Champagne is a 2005 model. I'm very impressed with the towing capacity of the RAV4, and the way it controlled the Bailey Pageant.
There is ample power and strong acceleration, which felt effortless for the RAV4.
This is our fisrt caravan and having not towed a caravan before, I was a little bit nervous on our first outing.
But the RAV4 filled me with great confidence and I can't wait to get away again.
Overall I think the RAV4 and Bailey Pageant are a perfect match.
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