Watch that damn bus (Toyota RAV4 GX)

Member Name: sympatic

Product:	Toyota RAV4 GX
Date:	27/09/08 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good brakes

Disadvantages: Lack of acceleration

While on holidau in Cyprus recently we decided that we definately needed a hire car as we wanted to explore the island at our own pace and did not want to be trapped in a resort depedant on organised trips to get about, we also knew that we would be driving in the mountains so wanted someting with a bit of power that could handle poor roads, oh and a soft top would be ideal so we could soak up the sun and the Rav 4 on offer proved ideal. I never realised that RAV stands for ecreationally Active Vehicle and this little baby certainly helped make us active holiday makers.

Driving this car was quite enjoyable, I found that it did have excellent road holding and it took bends smoothly, this was a good job because the twists and turns combined with some very scary drops in the Trudos mountains made having good road holding essential especially as some of the locals seemed to drive with reckless abandon. This driing is made all the more scary when they are behind the wheel of a bus or lorry.

It handled the steep gradients admirably and the gear shifts were smooth and reliable, another important factor when driving up a steep gradient. I also found the braking to be very smooth and also very reliable as many a time either my boyfriend or myself found ourselves having to stomp on the brakes to avoid other drivers and pedestrians whose minds were elsewhere.

We did not take the car off road as such although some of teh tracks we used were tough on the suspension and I have to be honest the car was not the most comfortable of rides on such surfaces, also it has quite a low road clearence so again this is a 4x4in design appearence only and not functionality.

The other slight downside to this car is that it lacked any real acceleration and certainly took a while to get going which made over taking tricky, I expecetd it to be better than this because it is not a heavy car to drive however our model was a couple of years old and as such probably has been driven quite hard as a a hire car. The car is very manouverable though and easy to park.

The interior was basic but comfortable and verall it certainly did a good job for the duration of our stay, never really got a handle on fuel consumption, certainly the first tank lasted us for most of the hire period. Some of the dash board looks a little cheap in the design but the dials were visible and easy to read while driving.

I would not buy this car in the UK but it was ideal for what we wanted while on holiday. It has good handling and s easy to drive, while it lacks a bit of acceleration it does handle steep inclines really well and the brake system certainly works after the number of work outs we gave it.

Summary: Decent enough car

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