[ I would add to this that our winters get quite white and this year lots of freezing rain. I debated getting a set of rims and true winter tires but chose to stay with the factory all season tires and see what they would do. I have not been disappointed and have gotten around very well. Mind you I am very used to winter driving and take my time with the black ice / freezing rain. Just points that the AWD and factory set up is good. We also have the technology package and it is a nice add.
We put on Nokian Hakkapeliitta snow tires on my wife's 5 month old AWD Tuscon. I just don't trust all-season tires on snowy/icely roads. My private road can get pretty icy and the more traction, the better. I have Nokian Nordsman snow tires on my Subaru. I will say this, the Forester's AWD system is always in AWD. It will put more power to the tires that are not slipping, but it is always in AWD. My wife's Tuscon is mostly in front wheel drive (FWD) and only puts power to the rear tires when the front wheels lose a little grip. Her Tuscon Hybrid gets pretty good mileage (about 35 mpg) around town, but on a road trip the electric motor doesn't get used much and the 1.6 L Turbo only gets around 26 mpg on the highway. My 2.5 L Subaru routinely gets 32 - 34 mpg highway and 28 mpg around town.
Wife's Rav4 Hybrid is due for delivery in mid-April. Considered the Highlander hybrid, but if the weather gets that snarky, we'll use our ICE FJ. Why the Rav4 Hybrid? It is about a 40 mile drive to town, so the plug-in hybrid's advantages were nullified; the battery will be charged uflly going and coming, and the PHEV is heavier, meaning poorer mileage when operating on the ICE Even the winter time mileage of the hybrid will be better than my ICE FJ. It is cold here in winter, which can be a full 6 months long, and having the ICE for generating heat is necessary. The hybrid has 8" of ground clearance, so it'll not be dragging diffs in standard snow covered roads; the highway folk clear the roads as best they can so depths rarely exceed 6". RB
We have a 2021 XSE RAV4 Hybrid --- nice ride, solid feel, good on the higway and around town - best consistent milage is 39 US mpg.
Thank you, that is very helpful, and exactly what she wanted to know.
I would add to this that our winters get quite white and this year lots of freezing rain. I debated getting a set of rims and true winter tires but chose to stay with the factory all season tires and see what they would do. I have not been disappointed and have gotten around very well. Mind you I am very used to winter driving and take my time with the black ice / freezing rain. Just points that the AWD and factory set up is good. We also have the technology package and it is a nice add.
About those tires - We have a Toyota Highlander which is mostly a little larger version of the Rav4. Last year we sprang for a set of studded snow tires and we're very glad we did. We've been on some really nasty roads and they work great. All seasons aren't snow tires. Tests have shown that they're no better than highway tires on slick roads. The problem is that the rubber is too hard and they don't grab the road. If you do much winter driving, snows are well worth the money. The problem is getting extra wheels. Highlanders come with either 18 or 19" wheels and ours has 19" so that's what the snows are. If I'd known that 19" wheels were so hard to find at a reasonable price, I'd have got 18's. 18's are much easier to find.
So a bit of a clarification the RAV4 is not my only vehicle -- the trail on the tires for winter was city and highway drving for this winter in what I would call light snow (say up to 10 inches) --- I have a Ford F350 4x4 that comes out for the serious winter conditions.
I have one for a company car. The only thing I’m going to miss when I retire Jan. 28th. Will be the 2021 hybrid Rave4 I have for a company car. If I needed a car I would consider buying one. They are good cars, best company I’ve had and I bet I’ve had 15 or more over the years.
We have a 2021 XSE RAV4 Hybrid --- nice ride, solid feel, good on the higway and around town - best consistent milage is 39 US mpg.
Thank you, that is very helpful, and exactly what she wanted to know.
I would add to this that our winters get quite white and this year lots of freezing rain. I debated getting a set of rims and true winter tires but chose to stay with the factory all season tires and see what they would do. I have not been disappointed and have gotten around very well. Mind you I am very used to winter driving and take my time with the black ice / freezing rain. Just points that the AWD and factory set up is good. We also have the technology package and it is a nice add.
About those tires - We have a Toyota Highlander which is mostly a little larger version of the Rav4. Last year we sprang for a set of studded snow tires and we're very glad we did. We've been on some really nasty roads and they work great. All seasons aren't snow tires. Tests have shown that they're no better than highway tires on slick roads. The problem is that the rubber is too hard and they don't grab the road. If you do much winter driving, snows are well worth the money. The problem is getting extra wheels. Highlanders come with either 18 or 19" wheels and ours has 19" so that's what the snows are. If I'd known that 19" wheels were so hard to find at a reasonable price, I'd have got 18's. 18's are much easier to find.
Three times this winter, I’ve come up to 4WD /AWD vehicles stuck in the snow on county roads. All on “all season” tires. Every time, I could just drive around them. I run cheap Blizzaks....on my 2wd van. “It’s the tires, stupid”.
I would add to this that our winters get quite white and this year lots of freezing rain. I debated getting a set of rims and true winter tires but chose to stay with the factory all season tires and see what they would do. I have not been disappointed and have gotten around very well. Mind you I am very used to winter driving and take my time with the black ice / freezing rain. Just points that the AWD and factory set up is good.
Sounds like you have light winters and got lucky. Try it in the interior and you'll be in the ditch. The law requires winter tires, not all-season and it is enforced. RB
My parents had a hybrid Camry for the last 10-12 years. It was bulletproof and got 35-40 mpg. The just picked up a 2022 Venza a couple of weeks ago and love it. It’s a hybrid as well and getting around 40mpg. I do t see any reason you would have great luck with it.
ratsmacker; Good evening to you sir, I hope the day was decent to you.
As I mentioned to Bristoe the other night, my better half picked up a 2019 Rav4 Hybrid and it's been absolutely trouble free - as in not one thing has gone wrong.
She had a Forester prior to this and while she initially thought it was a bit better in icy conditions with similar snow tires on, she said the other day that it's too close to call as to which was better.
The turning radius on it might be a bit bigger than the Forester, but it's way, way more economical to drive.
Hopefully that was useful, good luck whichever way you decide.
Whatever you want, you're probably going to have to get on a list. Toyota of Lexington has exactly "one" new RAV4. (2021) It's in their showroom on display. It's a hybrid. I suppose they would sell it for enough money.
I've been watching Swope Toyota's inventory lists, I've been checking them daily. I think I'm gonna pay cash and see if they will move a little quicker. They had four or five yesterday, but one was already spoken for, and it wasn't a Hybrid anyway, which is what she wants. We might as well order it, since we want certain things that we can't get on the plainer models. I think it's the XSE Hybrid AWD that she wants, and she's been spoiled by heated seats and eight-way adjustable driver's seats, etc. That means two options packages as well.
Ah well, my sister has gotten over 10 years worth of hard use of her Prius's without any maintenance issues at all. Maybe the savings from less fuel use will help pay for the added costs. Doubt it, but maybe over time....................
I think I'm gonna buy another Nissan Frontier soon, since they want to give me 5K more than KBB says it's worth. I'll have to see what they can get, but since we're only 3 hours from the assembly plant, I should be able to get exactly what I want.
I'm not totally positive. But I think this is the one at Toyota of Lexington. They list some others on their web page. But I was there 3 days ago and the only one I saw there was the one in the showroom.
Most of the complaints about the RAV4s are about lots of road noise.
Road noise, thy name is Rogue. We went for a test drive in one and I wanted to break out the earplugs, it sounded like it was going to blow up, and it was only going about 60. I suspect the noise is coming mostly from the CVT transmissions on both the RAV4 and the Nissan Rogue. If it were up to me, I'd skip those things and try to find something with a real transmission. But, I'm not buying it for me, so my opinion isn't the primary thing here.
You can roll a turd in peanuts, dip it in chocolate, and it still ain't no damn Baby Ruth.
I would add to this that our winters get quite white and this year lots of freezing rain. I debated getting a set of rims and true winter tires but chose to stay with the factory all season tires and see what they would do. I have not been disappointed and have gotten around very well. Mind you I am very used to winter driving and take my time with the black ice / freezing rain. Just points that the AWD and factory set up is good.
Sounds like you have light winters and got lucky. Try it in the interior and you'll be in the ditch. The law requires winter tires, not all-season and it is enforced. RB
Looks like you missed reading the clarification post that I also have a F350 for the serious winter conditions. The RAV is my in town run around car and this winter was to test the AWD which has turned out well. If I went on a road trip to BC it would be in the truck.
No luck involved just a test of a new vehicle. Next winter it will have a complete change over set as that is what I do.
Hugh; Top of the morning to you sir, I hope the day's looking decent on your side of the big hills and you're all well.
Having lived with BC winters now for 38 years, we've never been without at least one 4x4 rig in the family.
As life progressed in our family now there is my '03 Dodge Cummins 4x4, wife's '19 Rav4 AWD, daughter #2's '03 CRV AWD, daughter #1's '87 Cherokee 4WD and her husband usually drives the '09 Forester AWD that they bought off of my wife. Being "that guy", I've got a spare set of wheels and snowflake rated tires for all the rigs, even the pickup which gets to wear out the older snowflake tires in summer and fresher ones go on in winter.
We've got family living down in the big smoke/Greater Vancouver area and have had to make some interesting runs across the Coq and the Hope Princeton to get there. Our son in law is on the local ski patrol and is up and down pretty much every weekend too.
At one time I would have agreed that a 4x4 pickup would be better on ice, but that's no longer my opinion having run them all in a variety of absolute crap conditions.
Funny when my wife bought the Forester, one of my neighbors said to me, "Just wait Dwayne, when the roads turn to s....t like they do, you'll take it and not your truck."
Now Les had an '05 Cummins equipped like mine with a limited slip rear, etc and I was surprised he said that, but again in the fullness of time I see things his way more and more.
Anyways sir, that's not meant as a criticism or bladder pressure test or anything of the sort. Many roads to Mecca and all that, some of them likely snowy too, you know?
Oh, I'll add we had pretty decent luck with Winterforce snowflake rated tires on the SUV's but ended up with a set of Hakkapellitta studded tires now on the Rav4 and that's what's going on next time if we can find them.
I know that the Nokian Hakkapeliitta studded tires are marketed as AWD SUV tires. But a pair of 245/R70-17 Hakkapeliitta 8s on the rear of a rusty, redneck 2WD 2005 F-150 will turn it into a very good snow slogger. (with 500 lbs of sand bags over the rear axel)
I encountered a steep incline packed with snow at a 4 way stop recently while driving said vehicle and was wondering how it would respond.
In first gear with a bit of judicious applications of the clutch it walked up the incline and away from the intersection without a bit of wheel spin.
Bristoe; Good afternoon to you my cyber friend, thanks for the reply.
For sure they're "a notch above" anything else we've tried.
We're in an area where it usually snows when it's just so freezing which tends to make for great skating or curling conditions, but not super for driving.
On top of that Bristoe, the average ditch here in our part of BC is either a cliff or a lake - or a cliff with a lake at the bottom, so staying on the road increases one's longevity.
The Nokian folks apparently have the studs sitting in some different rubber compound which makes them quieter than other studs. That's a big thing that kept us from using studded winters before this as they'd scream so loud on the road.
Anyways yes sir, after using them for the 3rd winter now, the studs are about done and we're looking at getting 4 new ones for next winter.
All the best to you folks down there in Kentucky Bristoe.
