RAV4 PHEV GR Sport

[Nick72]

1 hour ago, Doubletalkjive said:

Picked up the new GR sport PHEV last week.

The revs take some getting used to. I’m certainly finding that. At 20 or 30 in town you can get the revs when the traction battery is around 30% - from time to time. It almost feels as if you haven’t engaged the clutch fully and the engine is delivering only some power to the wheels. My wife looks over at me and says that doesn’t seem right. I say, I know, it’s the eCVT and… then her eyes glaze over uninterested 🤣

I gave it a bit of oomph the other day having driven over 600 miles and the official break in period. Sport mode and some moderate acceleration on the A3 coming out of London. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever really need to floor the car. So much power and effortless. The thing is so smooth when it is not in crazy rev mode that I found myself at 30mph in a 20mph zone for some time and then noticed the police van behind me. You know that feeling when you try to ‘innocently’ slow down but not obviously… luckily there weren’t interested in me…

Suspension is great, firm but not too firm. I just find that you really need to hold things in place in the boot or they fly around. Getting a boot liner + some of those cargo storage boxes which can be fitted in place.

I’m sure you will enjoy it just as much as me!

 

Got a cargo net in mine covering the floor pan. And a cargo net that hangs vertically from the back of the rear seats. Keeps everything in place.

Would love it if you could post interior photos especially in the boot area. Left and right of the inner boot area. Intrigued as to what they've done differently.

[Flatcoat]

2 hours ago, Doubletalkjive said:

Picked up the new GR sport PHEV last week.

The revs take some getting used to. I’m certainly finding that. At 20 or 30 in town you can get the revs when the traction battery is around 30% - from time to time. It almost feels as if you haven’t engaged the clutch fully and the engine is delivering only some power to the wheels. My wife looks over at me and says that doesn’t seem right. I say, I know, it’s the eCVT and… then her eyes glaze over uninterested 🤣

I gave it a bit of oomph the other day having driven over 600 miles and the official break in period. Sport mode and some moderate acceleration on the A3 coming out of London. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever really need to floor the car. So much power and effortless. The thing is so smooth when it is not in crazy rev mode that I found myself at 30mph in a 20mph zone for some time and then noticed the police van behind me. You know that feeling when you try to ‘innocently’ slow down but not obviously… luckily there weren’t interested in me…

Suspension is great, firm but not too firm. I just find that you really need to hold things in place in the boot or they fly around. Getting a boot liner + some of those cargo storage boxes which can be fitted in place.

I’m sure you will enjoy it just as much as me!

 

Somewhere on here there is a link to a PetrolPed report going into quite some detail about how the eCVT works. You will soon get used to the sound, most of the time it’s unobtrusive. 

[Nick72]

Definitely get used to it as @Flatcoat says.

If you're driving around normally and under 50mph it's barely noticeable. Hard acceleration and or above 50mph then you notice it. I don't mind it.

[Torrox]

15 hours ago, Doubletalkjive said:

Picked up the new GR sport PHEV last week.

The revs take some getting used to. I’m certainly finding that. At 20 or 30 in town you can get the revs when the traction battery is around 30% - from time to time. It almost feels as if you haven’t engaged the clutch fully and the engine is delivering only some power to the wheels. My wife looks over at me and says that doesn’t seem right. I say, I know, it’s the eCVT and… then her eyes glaze over uninterested 🤣

I gave it a bit of oomph the other day having driven over 600 miles and the official break in period. Sport mode and some moderate acceleration on the A3 coming out of London. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever really need to floor the car. So much power and effortless. The thing is so smooth when it is not in crazy rev mode that I found myself at 30mph in a 20mph zone for some time and then noticed the police van behind me. You know that feeling when you try to ‘innocently’ slow down but not obviously… luckily there weren’t interested in me…

Suspension is great, firm but not too firm. I just find that you really need to hold things in place in the boot or they fly around. Getting a boot liner + some of those cargo storage boxes which can be fitted in place.

I’m sure you will enjoy it just as much as me!

 

When I drove the Phev GR sport, EV mode wasn't available so that why I noticed the noise. Are you going to change the oil at 500-1000 miles? The care care nut guy suggested it so  think I will do mine at around 600-700 miles. 

Other thing I noticed that the interior of the GR Sport is quite dark. Not only it has tinted glass but also the whole interior is in dark grey. I am glad that mine comes with the panoramic sun roof, it's much airy when you slide the under screen out.

Tested wireless charging on my iPhone on two Rav4 gr sport and no problem.

[Doubletalkjive]

On 2/4/2024 at 12:17 PM, Torrox said:

When I drove the Phev GR sport, EV mode wasn't available so that why I noticed the noise. Are you going to change the oil at 500-1000 miles? The care care nut guy suggested it so  think I will do mine at around 600-700 miles. 

Other thing I noticed that the interior of the GR Sport is quite dark. Not only it has tinted glass but also the whole interior is in dark grey. I am glad that mine comes with the panoramic sun roof, it's much airy when you slide the under screen out.

Tested wireless charging on my iphone on two Rav4 gr sport and no problem.

I'm around 800 miles now. But might just stick with it for a few 1000 miles. Lots of conflicting info out there and I'm guessing Toyota know what they are doing when they say 10,000miles for the oil change. I watched the car care but guy video too. 

I really like the dark interior personally. I went without the panoramic sunroof. I see the pros and cons to both options. 

Yes, wireless charging has been faultless. Although it is slow.

I'm still getting a noise when it switches to HV mode and it seems like it happens when the accelerator pedal is depressed a very exact amount. It is a high pitch whine for a few seconds. I'm only hearing it around town. I have not actually charged the car yet (so hectic lately) so am running around 30% Battery all of the time. The noise is still bugging me a little. But to be honest I don't want to take it to Toyota yet in case it is just normal.

Will post some photos when I get round to it. Boot fully of stuff already! Need to clear it out.

[Cyker]

One of the biggest differences with the hybrids to normal cars is how the engine responds to the accelerator.

In a normal car, you learn to push it in more than you need and wait for the engine to catch up, to get the engine to pick up quicker, then back off when you get to the desired speed.

In the hybrids, the engine will pick up *immediately* to where you are pressing the pedal; This is why a lot of auto journalists complain about it being revvy, because their club feet are too used to flooring the accelerator everywhere.

It's taken me a while to unlearn that habit, but now I am much better at modulating how much I push the accelerator, and find I can still get fairly brisk acceleration with much less pedal pressure than I would use in the past, even in Eco mode, and without the engine revving up, but just gently climbing, almost like in a normal car.