Chris K 
2015 Toyota RAV4 SUV XLE 4dr SUV AWD (2.5L 4cyl 6A)
20 years of RAV4's
 I owned an original 1996 RAV4 as my first car and was curious to drive the newest version 20 years later. The original RAV4 was like all the other small SUV's of the day. Cute, compact, good mileage and a fair amount of utility. Mine was the forest green, but the hood paint was flaking off for whatever reason. The radio only worked in one speaker and I couldn't tune too high on the radio dial or I got static. If I floored it, not a whole lot happened and I had to carry around a can of WD40 in the winter, because the locks froze open. But it ran like a champ for the most part and was cheap to maintain. My wife and I got a 2015 Toyota RAV4 AWD XLE on loan from our local dealer thanks to a recall on my wife's 2008 Scion TC. So naturally, I was curious. How did 20 years of evolution measure up to the original? The new one is a lot bigger than the old one. I was impressed with the space in my RAV, but this car has to be twice as big. It's really wide too and the driving position is a lot higher. It almost feels like you're sitting on a milk crate, with a wide view of the road and your surroundings. The load floor in the back is still low and I imagine there isn't much you can't fit in the back. There's some neat cubbie holes in the dashboard and console as well. The acceleration is definitely better than the original, thanks to about 50 more HP, but a bigger car carries more heft and you can feel it. From the numbers, it's dropped about 1.5 seconds in 0-60, but it could use more oomph. The handling leaves something to be desired too. The new RAV4 is easy over bumps, stops well, is very quiet on the road and the wheel is light and easy. But man, is it boring. Sport mode just means a feeling of more power, but nothing else. My old RAV4 was mostly unremarkable. It had its flaws, but for the most part it got me where I needed to go with minimal issues. I put 145k miles on it and only traded in because the AC failed and would have cost more than the car was worth to fix it. I saw it a couple of weeks ago actually and has to be well over 200k in miles by now. It's great great grandson seems poised to do more of the same. Makes sense as that's what Toyotas are these days for the most part. If you want something to get you to where you need to go with minimal effort, this is the car for you. If you need something that moves the needle a little more and gives you some driving excitement, this may not be the best choice. Perhaps that's why I traded in the old RAV4 for a Subaru.