EV, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Solar & more 21st century mobility!
2024 Toyota RAV 4 Hybrid Woodland Edition: Mild in the Country
Friday, Sep 22, 2023 9:44 PM
For its sophomore outing, Toyota is updating the RAV4 Hybrid Woodland Edition, an outdoors-oriented hybrid version of America’s most-popular compact SUV, and priced from $34,695.
For 2024, it now comes with a standard 1¼-inch rear activity mount that accommodates a cargo carrier or tray style bike rack. The mount is in addition to the Woodland Edition’s black roof rails and standard cross bars for hauling stuff. There’s also new optional two-tone paint schemes, Army Green or Ice Cap, matched with a Midnight Black Metallic color roof. As you might expect, front and rear mudguards are standard, while its exterior trim is finished with black badges, side mirrors, door handles, rear hatch garnish and dual black chrome-tipped exhaust. Finishing off its look is some fine trail tread: 18-inch, bronze-colored six-spoke TRD alloy wheels with Falken WildPeak AT tires.
Toyota also added an optional Weather Package for 2024, which cranks up the warmth when it turns cold, with heated front seats, a heated leather-trimmed steering wheel and rain-sensing variable intermittent windshield wipers with de-icer.
But this is more than your Mom’s RAV4, and we’re not merely talking about its it Woodland-logoed all-weather floor mats or 120-volt outlet in the cargo area.Â
The Woodland Edition’s suspension is tuned for trail work, with coil springs, dampers, twin-tube shocks and unique valving tweaked to enhance body control once the sidewalk ends. And while the Woodland Edition’s upgrades help with mild off-roading, it does lack the added half-inch of ground clearance nor its off-road specific all-wheel-drive system given to the off-road version of the non-hybrid RAV4 TRD.
But the latter is excluded due to the presence of the Woodland Edition’s gas-electric hybrid driveline, which pairs three electric motors and a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that provides 219 horsepower to all four wheels. Toyota fits all hybrids with selectable Eco, EV, Sport, Normal, and Trail drive modes. In particular, Trail Mode acts as a virtual limited slip differential, controlling the all-wheel drive, brake, and drive force systems to maximize traction.
An 8-inch touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard; Google-based navigation is available. A 10.5-inch touchscreen offered on other RAV4s is not available.
The Woodland Edition makes for the perfect mild hybrid off-roader, one that’s a notch below the TRD, but should still prove quite capable.
