2026 Toyota RAV4 review: Australian first drive

As Australia’s most popular SUV and the world’s best-selling new car, Toyota can’t afford to stuff up the new RAV4.

Spoiler alert: it hasn’t. This is a great family SUV, and one you should have on your consideration list.

But for all its major advances, it has taken steps back in areas it arguably shouldn’t have – and there are things its rivals still do better than the RAV4.

After a quick taste of pre-production prototypes in closed conditions last year, Drive has had a comprehensive first drive of the new RAV4 Hybrid on public roads, including a 1250km road trip from western Tasmania to Sydney to evaluate its long-distance ability.

All-new on the outside and inside, but related to its popular predecessor underneath, the new RAV4 brings tougher exterior styling, a contemporary cabin, massively upgraded technology, and an updated hybrid system with less power but lower fuel use.

First to arrive – and tested in this review – is the regular hybrid, ahead of the plug-in hybrid’s launch around July 2026.

Is the RAV4 Hybrid worth the price rises of up to $5930? Read on to find out.

There are no fewer than 11 variants of the new Toyota RAV4 at launch, split between six trim grades, hybrid and plug-in hybrid power, and depending on the trim, front- or all-wheel drive.

Prices start from $45,990 plus on-road costs for the entry-level front-drive GX Hybrid (up $3180), rising to $56,990 plus on-roads for the Cruiser FWD (up $5580) and $60,340 plus on-roads for the Cruiser AWD (up $5930) in the regular hybrid range.

Plug-in hybrids open at $58,840 plus on-roads for the XSE FWD, and top out at $66,340 plus on-roads for the GR Sport AWD.

We spent time in both Cruisers, as well as GXL and Edge AWD hybrids on this first drive, but the most kilometres were covered in the Cruiser FWD, which is likely to be the top, if not close to the top, seller in the line-up.

Those price hikes of $3180 to $5930 sting, especially at the bottom of the range where the GX is now dearer than a base Hyundai Tucson Hybrid ($42,850 plus on-roads), Kia Sportage S Hybrid ($44,450 plus on-roads) and in many states, the Honda CR-V e:HEV X ($49,990 drive-away).

The all-wheel-drive Cruiser is closer on price to its competitors: a Kia Sportage GT-Line Hybrid AWD ($60,370 plus on-roads), Hyundai Tucson Premium Hybrid AWD ($58,350 plus on-roads) and Nissan X-Trail Ti-L e-Power ($58,215 plus on-roads).

Standard features in the GX include 17-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights a 10.5-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, 12.3-inch instrument display, dual-zone climate control, fabric seats, six-speaker audio, and a suite of advanced safety systems.

Step up through the range and Toyota adds features such as leather seats, a leather-look steering wheel, power-adjustable heated and ventilated front seats, a larger 12.9-inch touchscreen, second wireless charger, JBL premium audio, panoramic sunroof, head-up display, power tailgate, and more.

Toyota claims fuel consumption of 4.5 litres per 100 kilometres for the front-drive RAV4, and 4.6L/100km with all-wheel drive, based on lab testing in mixed driving conditions – down from 4.7L/100km and 4.8L/100km, respectively, in the previous model.

Unusually, the figures are quoted for every variant in the model range, despite the additional weight and larger alloys on high-grade versions.

In the Cruiser FWD I spent the most time in, the trip computer settled on 5.9L/100km in a mix of conditions, though I saw as low as 4.4L/100km in suburban conditions, while more intensive driving on winding country roads pushed the reading closer to 7.0L/100km.

On the 110km/h drive from Melbourne to Sydney, I observed indicated consumption of 5.8L/100km – without making any attempt to hypermile.

Toyota mandates the use of 95-octane premium unleaded petrol – a change quietly made mid-way through the life of the old RAV4, and one that’s carried across to the new model.

The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid is covered by the brand’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, with the same assurance period on the high-voltage battery pack.

Service the car with Toyota dealers to pass annual checks, and the brand will extend the battery warranty to 10 years, while boosting the standard five-year/unlimited-kilometre engine, electric motor and driveline warranty to seven years.

RAV4s – and most Toyota hybrids, in fact – have always been considerably cheaper than their competitors to maintain across the warranty period, but the gap has narrowed for the latest model.

Each of the first five services is priced at $325, a 20 per cent increase on the $270 quoted for its predecessor, for $1625 in total over five years/75,000km.

That is now more expensive than a Honda CR-V ($995 for five years/50,000km), but still cheaper than a Hyundai Tucson Hybrid ($2072 for five years/50,000km) and Subaru Forester Hybrid ($2299.04 for five years/75,000km).

A year of comprehensive insurance coverage with a leading provider is quoted at $1516 for a RAV4 Cruiser Hybrid 2WD, based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The same parameters return $1636 for a Hyundai Tucson Hybrid Premium.

The Toyota RAV4 was originally planned to arrive in Australia by late 2025, so it could be tested by ANCAP – and receive a safety rating – before the safety organisation switched to more stringent test criteria for 2026.

However, delays attributed to quality control pushed its launch into 2026, so it must now face the tougher protocols.

Toyota is seemingly not confident it can earn five stars in the new RAV4’s current form, so it has confirmed plans to roll out "passive and active" safety upgrades in the second half of 2026, with the aim of achieving top marks.

It has revealed few details of what will change, but it says the crash structure will be left untouched – and vehicles built in the meantime will be “unrated”, with no ability to be retrofitted with the safety upgrades due later this year.

For more details on why this has occurred – and when the safety changes are due – read our news story here.

In its current form, Toyota says its new SUV is the “safest RAV4 ever”, and offers a broader suite of advanced safety features, including front cross-traffic alert – a first for the model – and more advanced autonomous emergency braking and lane-assist systems.

Eight airbags are standard, now including one between the front occupants to prevent head clashes in side-impact crashes.

On the road, the safety features are – for the most part – well tuned. Adaptive cruise control is smoothly calibrated, as are the lane-keeping and lane-centring systems, and the resolution of the parking cameras is not amazing but not as bad as some earlier Toyotas.

Nifty features include a more advanced highway driving assistant known as Proactive Driving Assist, which modulates its speed based on traffic and can slow down for toll booths ahead.

The adaptive cruise control has gained an ‘Eco Run’ mode, which not only dulls its responses to save fuel, but presents a ‘leaf score’ out of four to show how much of a slipstream you’re getting from the car in front.

It is greyed out if the accelerator pedal is touched – you can’t tailgate to beat the system – but following a truck at 110km/h on the shortest following distance will return full marks.

The team is let down by an overzealous driver attention monitor, which is keen to beep at the driver after only a brief glance at the road – whether that’s looking left and right while creeping towards an intersection, or using the climate controls on the touchscreen.

On numerous occasions, the system chimed despite looking straight at the road ahead.

Even more frustrating is that Toyota does not allow the driver monitor to be disabled unless the vehicle is stationary, and while there is an ability to turn down its sensitivity to Low – rather than switching it off completely – it always resets to High when the car is restarted.

It is a surprising miss from Toyota, which has implemented driver attention monitors in other vehicles without this level of intrusiveness and annoyance. We hope it’s something that can be improved through an over-the-air update.

The 2026 RAV4 is a similar size to its predecessor and riding on familiar underpinnings – something Toyota claims was an intentional choice based on the popularity of the outgoing version.

At 4600mm long in most model grades, it is shorter nose to tail than a Tucson or Sportage, and fits between the old and new Mazda CX-5s in footprint.

The styling is tougher than before, with a body-coloured front grille akin to the new HiLux ute on all variants bar the Edge, which gains a unique off-road-inspired fascia and wheel-arch flares to cover a 20mm-wider wheel track.

Wheels between 17 and 20 inches in diameter are available depending on the variant.

The RAV4’s cabin has taken a step forward in technology and design – for better and worse.

Larger screens are fitted – 10.5 or 12.9-inch touchscreens depending on the model grade, plus a standard-fit 12.3-inch instrument display – but the number of physical controls has been cut.

The volume dial remains below the touchscreen, as do air temperature and demister buttons, but fan speed, heated/ventilated seats and other climate-control functions have moved into the touchscreen.

Toyota has pinned them to the bottom edge of the display, but the icons are small and hard to tap on a bumpy road – especially the seat ventilation, as the shortcut activates heated seats by default, so an additional tap is needed to switch it to ventilation.

In the place of the outgoing RAV4’s chunky air-conditioning dials and buttons are two pods: on the right side, drive mode and EV mode, and on the left, either Trail/Snow mode in all-wheel-drive cars, or a huge ‘Auto LSD’ traction-control off button in front-drive examples.

Moving fan speed onto a fiddly icon on the touchscreen, yet fitting a massive physical switch for turning the traction control off, feels like a misjudgement of priorities in a family SUV.

Front occupants sit in new-design seats with plenty of room for wider-backed humans, decent support on longer drivers, and up to eight-way position and two-way lumbar adjustment.

Heating and ventilation come on higher grades, as well as fabric, synthetic leather-look or perforated “leather-accented” upholstery depending on the variant.

Visibility is improved thanks to a lower dashboard, and the steering column has greater reach adjustment for improved comfort behind the wheel. Said steering wheel is now only trimmed in leather-like material on the GXL grade and up, but the GX’s ‘urethane’ (polymer) unit is surprisingly nice to the touch.

Higher model grades also get a Braun shaver-style shift-by-wire gear selector in place of a traditional gear lever, plus four USB-C ports – two of which deliver up to 45 watts – and features such as wireless chargers and a sunroof.

Storage is a standout in the RAV4. The glovebox is huge, the tray on the passenger-side dashboard is handy, there’s sunglasses storage overhead, a rubberised tray sits below the dual phone chargers (in Cruiser and XSE), and the door pockets are generously sized.

I'm a fan of the centre console storage box lid, which can open towards the driver or front passenger, or can be removed entirely, flipped over, and re-installed to serve as a tray table. It’s not rubberised, so it’s best used only while parked.

Build quality is not as impressive as we’d hoped. The lid mechanism is somewhat flimsy, and the centre console and drive mode pods in our main Cruiser test vehicle moved a bit when pushed and prodded, though at a lighter touch, it is generally well assembled, and other examples we tested were better.

Leather-like materials are used on the doors and dashboard, but the outboard armrests aren’t very soft underneath the leather-look covering, and there are hard plastics on the centre console and upper dash where cheaper competitors are increasingly using more luxurious finishes to make their vehicles feel worth the price.

Space in the back seats is respectable, with enough knee room, head room and toe room for my 186cm (6ft 1in) tall frame to fit behind my driving position, but it is not as spacious for adults as a Tucson or Sportage – if that’s a priority for you – and the seats don’t slide, though they recline.

Rear air vents, two USB-C ports, bottle holders in the doors, a fold-down centre armrest with two cupholders, and dual map pockets feature in the rear, plus heated outboard rear seats on high-spec variants for the first time in a RAV4.

Absent are features such as window sunblinds and seatback phone pockets, as in some rival SUVs, while the door openings are not as wide as a Nissan X-Trail, so accessing outboard ISOFIX and three top-tether points for child seats is trickier than it could be.

The boot is big, with Toyota claiming “up to 705 litres” of space – a figure it now measures to the roof rather than the top of the rear seatbacks, as is the industry norm.

It is large enough for suitcases, prams and all other day-to-day items, and the floor can be adjusted in two (albeit similar) positions in all bar the base GX with the full-size spare wheel optioned (a space-saver is standard).

There is a net on the side, a light, and a 12-volt socket, while the tailgate is power-operated on certain variants.

Without a doubt, yes: the new RAV4’s multimedia system is a big improvement.

Named Arene, the new software is much more logically laid out, easy to navigate, and finally has a home screen, unlike the clunky system in the outgoing RAV4 that had confusing menu structures and felt like it was developed sitting still.

Arene runs on 10.5-inch (GX and GXL) or 12.9-inch (all other models) infotainment touchscreens, with improved response times, and cool tech such as an in-built dashcam that allows drivers to record what the car’s cameras saw over the last 10 seconds, either manually or automatically in the event of a crash.

Included are features such as wireless and wired versions of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation with Google data for points of interest, and Spotify music streaming built into the car.

The voice assistant has also improved, called upon by saying Hey Toyota, though I found it too prone to activating when saying completely different phrases while driving.

The 12.3-inch digital instrument display looks more contemporary, offers plenty of customisation, and can now show a widescreen map linked to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, no matter whether you’re using Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.

A head-up display is fitted on more expensive grades, while the nine-speaker JBL stereo in more expensive models is good.

The new RAV4 benefits from an updated myToyota phone app, which allows owners to open or close the sunroof remotely, control locks and lights, and send navigation routes to the car’s in-built system.

Other upgrades include additional data points sent to Toyota call centres in a crash, such as which airbags were deployed and if the car has rolled, to then be passed onto emergency services.

The RAV4 is the first Toyota with a digital key, allowing your phone to unlock and start the car without the key fob present.

Included in the base price are features such as SOS emergency calls and remote vehicle odometer and fuel readout, with the digital key and stolen vehicle tracking among the features packaged into a $9.95/month subscription, once a 12-month free trial ends.

The new RAV4 is an evolution of its predecessor to drive, not throwing out the rulebook but not blowing your mind, either.

It gains a new hybrid system, with more powerful electric motors and an updated lithium-ion battery pack, but tailpipe emissions laws have cut power from the RAV4’s engine, so the combined output is now 143kW – down from 160kW with FWD or 163kW with AWD.

At low speeds, the RAV4 runs on electric power, and it feels perkier than before – though it still requires a gentle touch on the accelerator pedal to prevent the petrol engine firing into life, something that also occurs if the battery runs low.

The transition from electric to petrol does not send a shockwave through the car, and the engine is quieter than before, but it is still loud and groans under hard acceleration as the transmission holds a constant RPM to extract peak performance.

Toyota claims the new RAV4 is about as quick to accelerate as before, but it does not feel as effortless when accelerating onto freeways or overtaking on country roads, and the surprising zip of the old model has been muffled somewhat.

There is a more intentional feel to the way the RAV4 drives. The steering is heavier than I remember of the outgoing model, and builds a noticeable amount of weight as the wheel is turned, but it remains accurate at speed without ever being cumbersome in car parks.

The Cruiser now rides on 20-inch wheels with low-profile tyres, rather than 18s, so occupants feel more of the bumps on the road surface below, but cheaper models on smaller wheels are beautifully supple and serene to drive.

The Dunlop or Bridgestone tyres on the Cruiser also produce more noise than the Yokohamas on more affordable versions with smaller alloys. All models deliver good grip in the wet or dry, such that there’s not much of a need for all-wheel drive unless you frequent unsealed roads.

Wind noise is well suppressed in all variants and visibility is excellent.

On country roads, the RAV4 wafts over crests and dips and feels settled without the sporty, buttoned-down feel of a European car. It is not a dynamic car, with plenty of body roll in fast corners, but it does not feel out of its depth on winding tarmac.

The transition between the electric motors’ regenerative braking and the ‘friction’ discs behind the wheels is well judged, and the brake pedal is easy to modulate.

The new Toyota RAV4 is an evolution of its popular predecessor, rather than a game-changer in the mid-size family SUV market.

If you liked the old RAV4 – perhaps you’re an existing owner looking to upgrade – you will love the new one. It looks fresh, the interior is more practical, the technology is a big step up, and it’s even more fuel-efficient than before.

That’s backed by the reputation for reliability and resale value associated with the Toyota badge

If you were hoping for improvements in cabin space, performance or interior quality, you may be disappointed.

The reduction in physical switches is not a welcome change, the driver attention monitor is overzealous, and the price rises sting given there have been not been significant leaps in space or standard equipment.

There is no doubt tens of thousands of Aussies will continue to flock to the Toyota RAV4 – and it is worth shortlisting – but we’d advise taking a test drive of its rivals from Hyundai, Kia, Subaru and Nissan before signing on the dotted line, as they may offer more for less.

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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