Toyota RAV4 2013 News

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Carmakers spend up big on the annual Super Bowl commercials, with a 30-second in-game spot costing $3.7m and even slots at the start and end of the game commanding premium prices. It's money well spent if they can attract attention – and turn it into sales. And a good ad can go far beyond the game day, turning viral and getting millions of views. Volkswagen's Darth Vader from the 2011 Super Bowl and the hot Adriana Lima commercial from the 2012 Super Bowl are just two of the stars that went on to become global successes.So which were the big contenders this year? Mercedes-Benz was early out of the gates with a teaser featuring swimsuit model Kate Upton 'washing a car slowly'. The shapely Ms Upton didn't actually get her own hands wet – except to blow a bit of foam around – and her role seems to be mainly distracting the footballers who are doing all the hard work. Merc followed up with what must have been a costly exercise for the CLA, with a pact offered by Willem Dafoe as Satan, and the Rolling Stones 'Sympathy for the Devil' as the soundtrack.Watch the Mercedes-Benz Kate Upton car wash adWatch the Mercedes-Benz Soul adWe reckon Coke filched ideas from two top Aussie movies. Their Coke Chase ad featured a gang of Mad Max baddies and a crew of showgirls in a pink Priscilla bus, vying with a Great Escape motorbike, a posse of cowboys and a camel-leading Arabian sheik – all in a race to a giant Coke bottle. The ad was the key creative in an online campaign that lets viewers vote to let three of the teams reach the bottle first – or delay the other teams by watching linked 'sabotage' videos. Watch the Coke Chase adThe early teaser for Toyota's 'Wish' spot featured The Big Bang Theory's Kaley Cuoco – it looked like fun and was backed up with the 'Careful What You Wish For' full ad, which gained much from Cuoco's perky personality as Penny.Watch the Toyota Wish teaser ad Watch the Toyota RAV4 Wish adKia's Space Babies teaser shows some fantastic CGI, and an even more fantastic answer to kids asking where they come from. The ad works well nearly right to the slightly lame ending, but it's doubtful it stacks up as something to rival their viral stars, the Soul Hamsters.Watch the Kia Space Baby adBut the Kia ad that had everybody talking -- including motoring journos -- was 'Hotbots', where a robotic motor show stand attendant (we don't call them booth babes here) gets revenge on a grubby guy.Watch the Kia HotBot adHyundai went all-out for the Super Bowl with several spots. The 'Team' one for Santa Fe was an early favourite, with some great performances from child actors -- and a very scary mum.Watch the Hyundai Santa Fe Team adThe 'Playdate' took you on an extreme day out of having fun and upsetting security guards, bikies and police, with the Flaming Lips providing the soundtrack.Watch the Hyundai Playdate adThe Genesis was talked up in 'Excited' with Hyundai touting its advantages over high end, and particularly German, luxury cars.Watch the Hyundai Genesis Excited adAnd then there was the aversion therapy of 'Stuck', showing some of the worst vehicles you can be stuck behind in traffic -- unless you have a Hyundai Sonata to overtake them, of course.Watch the Hyundai Sonata Stuck adVolkswagen ditched the Star Wars theme, and instead drafted reggae legend Jimmy Cliff for their 'Get Happy' teaser – and then got into a little hot water with the full ad, which shows Caucasian men taking off Jamaican accents. Perhaps it's still a Star Wars link ... the movie franchise faced similar accusations of racial stereotyping with the Jamaican-sounding Jar Jar Binks.Watch the VW Get Happy adWatch the VW Jimmy Cliff adVW then followed up with a low-key but effective 'bad dog' ad, showing what to do when the dog eats your car keys.Watch the VW Bad Dog adAudi tapped into every adolescent boy's fantasy with a lad heading off to prom night alone being tossed the keys to his dad's Audi S6, kissing the football jock's girlfriend and generally making it a night to remember.Watch the Audi Prom adFiat has launched a trio of ads for the 500L, all aimed at emphasising how much larger it is than the garden variety 500. Date, Sisters and Wedding are all flavoured with Italian dressing and – while not as scorching at the Catrinel Menghia Abarth ads – still manage to be cheeky.Watch the Fiat 500L Date adWatch the Fiat 500L Sisters adWatch the Fiat 500L Wedding adThe Chrysler group turned on the patriotism for their slightly saccharine ode to a farmer and Whole Again ads.Watch the Dodge Ram Farmer adWatch the Jeep  Whole again adAnd even snack food Doritos has got in on the car act, with one of the finalists for its Crash the Super Bowl ad playoff featuring the perfect solution to a back seat dog problem.Watch the Doritos Road Chip ad 

You know you're getting old when car comfort is more important than a stoplight sprint. Either that or, like me, you've recently spent too much time with doctors and comfort suddenly becomes the single most important thing in your driving day.I love the Ferrari 458, but right now I would hobble straight past the rip-snorter Italian thoroughbred on the way to a cushy Jaguar XJ limo. It would be the same situation for my first-choice funster, the Porsche Cayman.I've recently driven a race-prepared Fiat 500 Abarth and the pain was almost - almost - worse than the pleasure of romping the pocket rocket around the high-speed swoops and curves of Phillip Island. I was more than happy to slide back into the cushiness of a Chrysler 300 for the drive home, even if the seats in the motown monster don't give as much support as I normally like.The ride back to the airport got me thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of a number of vehicles that have recently passed through the Carsguide garage, focusing on how they make you feel in the body instead of in the head. Every week there are emails to CarsGuide from people of age, asking about upgrading - from a conventional passenger car into something in the SUV style that's easier on the hips and legs at mounting and dismounting time.An SUV can look like a good idea on the comfort front, but lots have bench-flat seats, crappy ergonomics and nowhere near enough suspension compliance. The Subaru Forester has a nice ride, but I prefer the seats in the Toyota RAV4. On the car front, the new Nissan Pulsar has seats that do nothing for me, but the Renault Clio is surprisingly comfy for a little, affordable car.My top favourite seat is a Recaro racing bucket that is almost shrink-wrapped to my shape, like a bathtub full of jelly that provides perfect support. But it's just about the toughest seat to get into or away from. So, right now, the first-choice comfort car is a Range Rover. It's stupidly expensive, but everything works for me, from a body that drops down on its air springs for easy access to beautifully-shaped front buckets finished in lovely leather and even a user-friendly automatic gearbox that means my left leg never has to move out of its comfort zone.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

Competition in the compact SUV market is hotting up and even a five star safety rating won't make the choice any easier. Toyota's new RAV4 wades back into battle wearing a five-star Australian New Car Assessment Program crash test rating, joining a growing list of little soft-roaders - including the new Subaru Forester, Mitsubishi Outlander, Mazda CX-5 and Ford's Kuga - that score full marks.The RAV4 - previously a four-star car when last tested in 2006 - now has dual front, side and curtain airbags, as well as a driver's knee airbag, as standard. Also on the safety features list are seat belt reminders for all seating positions, while some of the top-spec models can be had with adaptive front lights, blind spot warning system and reversing camera.ANCAP CEO Nicholas Clarke says strong sales volumes are anticipated for the new Toyota compact SUV and will improve on the already-high percentage of five-star SUVs on the market in Australia. "This means more and more motorists will be driving in 5 star safety," he says."The RAV4 will be competing in a very competitive segment of the market and its 5 star ANCAP safety rating brings it to a new level," Mr Clarke says. The results, from crash tests performed on a European left-hand drive Toyota RAV4, scored 89 per cent for adult protection, 82 per cent for child occupant protection and 66 per cent for pedestrian impact protection.The RAV's result was let down by the driver's airbag, which the test report says "was not sufficiently well inflated to prevent the dummy's head from flattening the airbag and making contact, through the airbag material, with the steering wheel."The report said the resulting contact was not hazardous but "the car was penalised and protection of the head area was rated as adequate. The tests rated pedestrian protection as good apart from the front edge of the bonnet, which scored no points as it offers poor protection to the pedestrian's pelvic region, says NCAP.Two veterans at the other end of the SUV segment have been given full marks in recent tests - the Toyota LandCruiser and veteran Mitsubishi Pajero were both upgraded to five stars after equipment and trim upgrades.A change in standard equipment across the LandCruiser 200 Series range added dual front knee airbags as standard across the range, a safety feature previously only available on the top-spec models.Mitsubishi's Pajero models built from April this year will rank as five-star SUVs after trim and equipment upgrades - the steering column undercover has had energy-absorbing material added to the underside and the addition of a passenger seatbelt alert. 

The RAV4 has been a popular compact SUV, but the seven-year-old design of the current third-generation vehicle now looks markedly out-of-date against the fresh metal in the field, including the Mazda CX-5 and coming Ford Kuga. So Toyota needs to play style catch-up to keep the RAV4 in the front lines of the sales race, and the 40-second teaser video hints that the new RAV4 will have a much more stylish approach. It’s taking the best of new cues from the rest of the family, with a redrawn grille, bumpers and light clusters. There’s no information yet on what’s under the skin, but while you can depend on a four-cylinder engine continuing for the base models, Toyota is unlikely to persevere with the outdated four-speed automatic gearbox on the current 2.4-litre. Expect to see either a smoother, economy-focused six-speed or a continuously-variable as the auto option. The current 3.5-litre V6 engine could also be an endangered species, and is likely to be replaced by either a higher-tuned version of the four-cylinder, or an economical small diesel. We’ll have more details as they’re revealed on the RAV4 and all the other highlights of the LA motor show leading up to its opening on November 28.  

The new 200 Series LandCruiser wasn't the only new Toyota model launched at last week's Australian International Motor Show.The company's little RAV4 SUV got a big kick in the grunt department with the addition of a V6 to its range. The four-cylinder option still remains.The RAV4 V6 now packs a 201kW punch that Toyota is hoping will bring plenty of new compact-SUV buyers into the market via a Toyota showroom.The 201kW of power arrives at 6200rpm and 333Nm of peak torque at 4700rpm, Toyota is claiming 10.5 litres/100km for an ADR fuel-consumption figure.The engine is shared with the Aurion, Kluger and Tarago; a 3.5-litre all-alloy quad-cam V6 with dual variable valve timing; and delivers 76kW and 109Nm more than 2.4-litre RAV4 four-cylinder unit.Toyota says it's the most powerful naturally aspirated engine it offers in Australia and the RAV4 V6 is the most powerful compact SUV.The entry-level RAV4 CV6 starts from $39,990, with the mid-spec SX6 priced from $43,990 and the flagship ZR6 carries a $49,990 price tag.The new CV6, SX6 and ZR6 models all use five-speed automatic transmissions and have power steering, filtered airconditioning, reach'n'rake steering adjustment, cruise control, power mirrors, power windows, 17 inch wheels and six-speaker MP3-compatible sound system with wheel-mounted controls.The SX6 adds dual-zone climate control, six-CD changer, leather-bound steering wheel and gear knob, alloy wheels, fog lamps and roof rails.The ZR6 tops the list with leather-trimmed seats and door inserts, heated driver's seat with power adjustment and sat-nav.Toyota says the braked towing capacity has risen by 400kg to the 1900kg.Toyota Australia senior executive director, sales and marketing, David Buttner says the V6 launch is the most significant step for RAV4 since its Australian launch 13 years ago.“The addition of the 201kW V6 models significantly alters the dynamic of RAV4 and the profile of people who buy it,” he says.“Compact SUV buyers who have had a connection to RAV4 styling and Toyota brand values but wanted extra performance now have that option available with the RAV4 V6.”The sales figures show compact SUVs are the fastest-growing SUV segment, with a 19.1 per cent sales increase year-to-date. Small torqueRAV4 V6: from $39,990Engine: 3.5-litre DOHC 24-valve alloy V6.Power: 201kW at 6200rpm.Torque: 333Nm at 4700rpm.Transmission: Five-speed automatic; all-wheel drive.Economy:10.5 litres/100km, tank 60 litres.Emissions: 246g/km.Performance: Top speed 210km/h, 0-100km/h 7.4 seconds.Brakes: Four-wheel discs, ventilated front, with ABS, EBD, BA, traction and stability control systems. In its classFord Escape XLT Sport V6: $37,190.Mazda Tribute V6: $36,900.Land Rover Freelander: 3.2 Si6 SE, $49,990.Mitsubishi Outlander VR:, $38,490.Suzuki Grand Vitara V6: $30,990.Hyundai Tucson V6: $30,990.Kia Sportage V6: $30,990.Subaru Outback 3.0R: $46,990. 

The countdown has begun for Toyota's push into Ford and Holden's heartland. The new TRD contenders will be in showrooms within four months and the Aurion V6 and HiLux have been out for final verification work, as they are prepared for battle against SS Commodores and XR Falcons. More signs are also pointing to a V6 RAV4, that shares its 3.5-litre engine with the Aurion, becoming the third TRD model. The two confirmed starters are familiar to anyone who has been to a major motor show this year, but still the HiLux looked impressive when photographed last week. The TRD operation is now moving from test and development into full-scale assembly work being done in Melbourne by Prodrive, which also holds the rights to fast Ford road cars in Australia. The Aurion will be out first and, even though the HiLux is confirmed for November, Toyota Australia is still trying to keep full details secret. The car is likely to be available from September; the press preview drive is scheduled for late August. “The car is coming in the third quarter. At this stage, that's all I can say,” Toyota spokesman Mike Breen says. “It's all done. It's ready to go. You have basically seen it at the motor shows. It's supercharged V6 et cetera.” The first TRD Aurions have already been ordered, Queensland police taking 11 for highway patrol work. They will join a batch of regular Aurion Sportivo V6s already in police paint. The HiLux is more subdued than that unveiled at the Melbourne Motor Show in March, but still promises plenty of go with a similar supercharged engine. “The HiLux is in November,” Breen says. “It is undergoing final testing. It's the 4.0-litre petrol engine, supercharged.” Toyota has confirmed the TRD Aurion is quicker than expected, using a new Eaton twin-vortices supercharger packaged in Melbourne by Harrop Engineering. “Total engine performance is one of the key positives of the TRD Aurion package,” TRD Australia chief engineer Stephen Castles says. “The TVS unit has performed really well and definitely helped deliver the engine performance we need.” Work on the engine has also been done by the Orbital Engine Company in Perth, which focused on testing and component development.