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Made in Canada: 2010 Chevrolet Equinox and 2010 Toyota RAV4

November 30, 2009

Fuel economy is front-and-centre in Chevrolet’s advertising for this vehicle, with EnerGuide ratings of 10.1/6.9 L/100 km city/highway for the four-cylinder AWD Equinox. It is a heavy vehicle — nearly 4,000 pounds (3,929 lbs/1,786 kg), and we will be interested to see if its real-world fuel consumption matches these numbers.

So far, the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox has been a pleasure to drive, especially on the highway, where its quiet engine and smooth ride approach luxury standards.

Made in Canada: 2010 Toyota RAV4 Base 2WD

2010 Toyota RAV4 FWD. Click image to enlarge

Toyota should invent a better name for the RAV4 Base 2WD. How about ‘RAV4 has-everything-you-really-need 2WD’? Perhaps a bit too long; but the point is that this base model is not what one would think a base model should be. It is not some base stripper whose primary role at the dealership is to up-sell you into something more appropriately equipped.

Our Pacific Blue Metallic 2010 RAV4, built in Woodstock, Ontario, is as cheap as it gets for a RAV4 with a sticker price of $24,345 (the RAV4 line tops out at $36,990). For that money, the car comes equipped with some standard features that you might think you would need to buy as part of an upgrade package. Here is the short list: air conditioning, power doors and windows, keyless entry, tilt and telescoping steering wheel, cruise control, power-adjustable and heated exterior mirrors with integrated signal lamps, variable intermittent wipers front and rear, windshield wiper de-icer, halogen headlamps, Toyota’s upscale Optitron gauges and an information display that includes fuel economy meter, dual trip odometers and outside temperature gauge, and a six speaker AM/FM/CD/MP3/WMA audio system with an input jack for portable music players.

Well, maybe it was a long list.

2010 Toyota RAV4 FWD. Click image to enlarge

One way to get the price down is the engine – a four-cylinder that displaces just 2.5 litres, but produces 179 horsepower and 172 lb.-ft. of torque. It has noticeably more useable power than the 2.4-litre engine it replaced in 2009. My initial impression is that the four-cylinder RAV4 has plenty of power, enough to spin the front wheels if you are too hard on the gas at a stop light.

It is paired with an automatic transmission, also standard equipment, as there is no manual transmission for the RAV4.

Another way to lower the entry point is to delete four-wheel-drive. I can’t say in the few days that I’ve had the car that I notice any difference, except for those spinning front wheels, but if history repeats itself, we’ll have snow before Christmas and I’ll get a better feel for the two-wheel drive RAV4. But with a limited slip differential, power should go to the front wheel that has traction.

Fuel consumption should be better than a 4WD RAV4. EnerGuide rates the 2WD RAV4 at 8.3 L/100 km in combined highway and city driving compared to 8.6 for 4WD models. Less weight and less moving parts translates into lower fuel consumption. We’ll be watching that over the next month to see how close we come to the EnerGuide rating.

Four-wheel drive has become increasingly popular in Canada, but for most Canadians who live within 160 kilometres of the U.S. border, two-wheel drive with decent snow tires is all you really need 360 days a year.

Toyota should call their 2WD model the ‘RAV2 has-everything-you-really-need’. Perhaps still a bit too long?

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