RAV 4 5th Generation - Off Road

[Dave Alan]

I know this has been covered previously, but here are the stats for wading and off road.

 

Any good ''off roading'' pics here ?

 

Off Road & Wading Depth - RAV 4

WADING DEPTH 500mm

NOTE: 500 mm is just under 20 inches....

The Rav4 HEV brochure (2022) gives the wading depth as 500mm.

OFF ROAD

Min. running ground clearance (mm) 190

Departure angle (°) 20

Ramp break-over angle (°) 15.5

Limit angle of vehicle turnover (°) 52

Climbing angle (°) 18

Wading depth (mm) 500

[Nick72]

23 minutes ago, Dave Alan said:

I know this has been covered previously, but here are the stats for wading and off road.

 

Any good ''off roading'' pics here ?

 

Off Road & Wading Depth - RAV 4

WADING DEPTH 500mm

NOTE: 500 mm is just under 20 inches....

The Rav4 HEV brochure (2022) gives the wading depth as 500mm.

OFF ROAD

Min. running ground clearance (mm) 190

Departure angle (°) 20

Ramp break-over angle (°) 15.5

Limit angle of vehicle turnover (°) 52

Climbing angle (°) 18

Wading depth (mm) 500

Good summary.

 

One of the many reasons I got the car, for the occasional off road activities out in the wilderness.

R4P 2021. I've driven across a wide stream at about 250mm deep with no problems at all. No water ingress into the cabin. Been off road a few times. Up and down steep muddy banks a D slightly rocky trails. It's good with no problems but it was fairly light to moderate off-road. Just not great. Stock tyres though so with proper off-road tyres and smaller wheels it would be a lot better. Many Americans have gone this way. They've increased the ride height through mod kits, gone to a small diameter wheel so the tyres can be bigger (wall size), and put off road tyres on. But this crompomises handling on the roads so it's all a matter of what people find themselves needing the most. The car seems to perform well on moderate off road situations with the right kit on it. Plenty of YouTube videos.

Approach angle (climbing angle) is my main gripe. Could be better. I don't know if this is because of the front valance or whatever it is called on the PHEV. Stickyouty. Would have preferred that similar to some of the other RAVs with a guard plate. I can't remember what they're called. I'm making an assumption that the PHEV has a slightly worse approach angle than some other RAVs and I might be wrong.

Overall though it's a great road car with some reasonable off road capability with the AWD on some models, but better with good tyres as is always the case.

 

[philip42h]

The magic numbers from the PHEV technical specification are:

• Front overhang 925
• Rear overhang 985
• Ground clearance 18"/19" 180/190
• Angle of Approach (degrees) 17,5
• Angle of Departure (degrees) 20

They don't quote any other 'off road' figures. Wading depth is omitted and no longer appears on the HEV specs either.

Personally, I wouldn't take my RAV4 through more than about 190mm of water - but then I'm a wimp! 😉

 

 

 

[Dave Alan]

9 minutes ago, Nick72 said:

Good summary.

 

One of the many reasons I got the car, for the occasional off road activities out in the wilderness.

R4P 2021. I've driven across a wide stream at about 250mm deep with no problems at all. No water ingress into the cabin. Been off road a few times. Up and down steep muddy banks a D slightly rocky trails. It's good with no problems but it was fairly light to moderate off-road. Just not great. Stock tyres though so with proper off-road tyres and smaller wheels it would be a lot better. Many Americans have gone this way. They've increased the ride height through mod kits, gone to a small diameter wheel so the tyres can be bigger (wall size), and put off road tyres on. But this crompomises handling on the roads so it's all a matter of what people find themselves needing the most. The car seems to perform well on moderate off road situations with the right kit on it. Plenty of YouTube videos.

Approach angle (climbing angle) is my main gripe. Could be better. I don't know if this is because of the front valance or whatever it is called on the PHEV. Stickyouty. Would have preferred that similar to some of the other RAVs with a guard plate. I can't remember what they're called. I'm making an assumption that the PHEV has a slightly worse approach angle than some other RAVs and I might be wrong.

Overall though it's a great road car with some reasonable off road capability with the AWD on some models, but better with good tyres as is always the case.

 

Thanks, I have already taken mine onto a light trail.  This is not my own car but it was a similar trail and mine is also a silver late 2021 model. I think the opportunities in the USA are often greater fortunately I live near the South Downs so I can do light trailing and see how the PHEV RAV 4 responds. 

 

 

[Dave Alan]

Wading depth - 500 mm is 20 inches or just under. I expect you could go a bit more in an emergency but to be fair I would not want to push it too far in this respect.

[Nick72]

6 hours ago, Dave Alan said:

Wading depth - 500 mm is 20 inches or just under. I expect you could go a bit more in an emergency but to be fair I would not want to push it too far in this respect.

I've not had the opportunity but I probably wouldn't risk it 😂

[Dave Alan]

32 minutes ago, Nick72 said:

I've not had the opportunity but I probably wouldn't risk it 😂

Yes I think I'd do it in an emergency , there is a Youtube of a guy off roading a PHEV and doing some quite difficult dry river bed stuff, I was quite surprised what he got it to do - I won't be doing this sort of off road 😇

[Strangely Brown]

52 minutes ago, Dave Alan said:

Yes I think I'd do it in an emergency , there is a Youtube of a guy off roading a PHEV and doing some quite difficult dry river bed stuff, I was quite surprised what he got it to do - I won't be doing this sort of off road 😇

This one is definitely worth watching, even if you'll never do it yourself.

[Dave Alan]

2 hours ago, Strangely Brown said:

This one is definitely worth watching, even if you'll never do it yourself.

Hey thanks. Yes doubt I'd do this to mine but good to watch !!!! 

 

[Dave Alan]

On 5/18/2024 at 10:21 AM, Nick72 said:

Good summary.

 

One of the many reasons I got the car, for the occasional off road activities out in the wilderness.

R4P 2021. I've driven across a wide stream at about 250mm deep with no problems at all. No water ingress into the cabin. Been off road a few times. Up and down steep muddy banks a D slightly rocky trails. It's good with no problems but it was fairly light to moderate off-road. Just not great. Stock tyres though so with proper off-road tyres and smaller wheels it would be a lot better. Many Americans have gone this way. They've increased the ride height through mod kits, gone to a small diameter wheel so the tyres can be bigger (wall size), and put off road tyres on. But this crompomises handling on the roads so it's all a matter of what people find themselves needing the most. The car seems to perform well on moderate off road situations with the right kit on it. Plenty of YouTube videos.

Approach angle (climbing angle) is my main gripe. Could be better. I don't know if this is because of the front valance or whatever it is called on the PHEV. Stickyouty. Would have preferred that similar to some of the other RAVs with a guard plate. I can't remember what they're called. I'm making an assumption that the PHEV has a slightly worse approach angle than some other RAVs and I might be wrong.

Overall though it's a great road car with some reasonable off road capability with the AWD on some models, but better with good tyres as is always the case.

 

so 250 mmdeep is almost 10 inches, which is reasonable, especially here where I live. Sorry to be pedantic on metric/imperial but as a Brit, as in the USA, a lot of us still think in feet and inches !!!!  I live near the South Downs, Sussex, we get a hard winter about every 5 or 10 years LOL. A ''hard winter'' tends to be about 6 inches of snow 

[Strangely Brown]

1 hour ago, Dave Alan said:

so 250 mmdeep is almost 10 inches, which is reasonable, especially here where I live. Sorry to be pedantic on metric/imperial but as a Brit, as in the USA, a lot of us still think in feet and inches !!!!  I live near the South Downs, Sussex, we get a hard winter about every 5 or 10 years LOL. A ''hard winter'' tends to be about 6 inches of snow 

You must be one of those 'foreign dwelling', north of the Downs types. 😉
The last time we (south of the Downs) had 6 inches of snow was rather more than 10 years ago. As much as I would love to see it the snow just never makes it over the Downs other than sometimes a 'light dusting'.
On the subject of wading, I very much doubt that I would drive my RAV through 500mm as per the manual but would likely be happy with a foot deep, at low speed.
The much bigger problem with standing water is that you don't know what's in it. Best avoided if there is an alternative.

[Dave Alan]

3 hours ago, Strangely Brown said:

You must be one of those 'foreign dwelling', north of the Downs types. 😉
The last time we (south of the Downs) had 6 inches of snow was rather more than 10 years ago. As much as I would love to see it the snow just never makes it over the Downs other than sometimes a 'light dusting'.
On the subject of wading, I very much doubt that I would drive my RAV through 500mm as per the manual but would likely be happy with a foot deep, at low speed.
The much bigger problem with standing water is that you don't know what's in it. Best avoided if there is an alternative.

Mark,

 

LOL, I was thinking back to 2010, which of course is 14 years ago LOL. No hugging the South Coast here in West Sussex.  Totally agree with you on the water depth etc. Keep out (near us is the Dutton Aquacar place and yes he still makes them to order I believe?).

Dave

[Nick72]

Snow almost every year in the north lakes. And always on the mountain passes. Anywhere from a few inches to 18 inches.

Not had an issue yet with the R4P and stock Yokohamas but I will be getting CC2s and plastic snow chains (as extra back up for emergency) on the new R4P coming in September. Peace of mind more than anything.

[ernieb]

I’ve noticed, as we all probably have, that sometimes it’s not the average depth of snow but the drifting that can cause the issues. A few years ago we were going to Derbyshire for a week and were advised that our final destination was impassable. I later saw a video of the road we’d would have used a few inches on side and a couple of feet on the other.  Almost impossible to plough as there was nowhere for it all to go. (Stone walls on either side, single access. How the wind had conspired to achieve this I’ve never worked out)

[Dave Alan]

On 5/25/2024 at 12:01 PM, ernieb said:

I’ve noticed, as we all probably have, that sometimes it’s not the average depth of snow but the drifting that can cause the issues. A few years ago we were going to Derbyshire for a week and were advised that our final destination was impassable. I later saw a video of the road we’d would have used a few inches on side and a couple of feet on the other.  Almost impossible to plough as there was nowhere for it all to go. (Stone walls on either side, single access. How the wind had conspired to achieve this I’ve never worked out)

Yes, on the few days every several years in Sussex we get snow, that can be an issue. I was in the High Peak District in 2022 and fortunately when we were there the worst had gone.  Some of the roads were a week or two previous to our visit impassable. 

[J2024IE]

On 5/18/2024 at 9:39 AM, Dave Alan said:

I know this has been covered previously, but here are the stats for wading and off road.

 

Any good ''off roading'' pics here ?

 

Off Road & Wading Depth - RAV 4

WADING DEPTH 500mm

NOTE: 500 mm is just under 20 inches....

The Rav4 HEV brochure (2022) gives the wading depth as 500mm.

OFF ROAD

Min. running ground clearance (mm) 190

Departure angle (°) 20

Ramp break-over angle (°) 15.5

Limit angle of vehicle turnover (°) 52

Climbing angle (°) 18

Wading depth (mm) 500

hi  is the ground clearance the same on the Rav4 HEV  and RAV4 PHEV?  do all the Rav4 PHEV  trim levels have the same ground clearance?

test drove the GR Sport PHEV today, the comfort was much better than the Corolla TS. drivers seat much more comfortable.

[philip42h]

1 hour ago, J2024IE said:

hi  is the ground clearance the same on the Rav4 HEV  and RAV4 PHEV?  do all the Rav4 PHEV  trim levels have the same ground clearance?

test drove the GR Sport PHEV today, the comfort was much better than the Corolla TS. drivers seat much more comfortable.

Ground clearance on all HEV grades given as 190mm.

Ground clearance on all PHEV grades given as 180mm, except GR-Sport which is given as 190mm.