Can the 2026 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Complete our Off-Road Challenge?

Today we finally get to put the all-new 2026 Toyota RAV4 to the test, right here at our Peninsula Proving Grounds. With this new generation of RAV4, the powertrains have gone all hybrid. You have a choice between either a high-output plug-in electric hybrid, or you can pick what we're driving today, the standard hybrid. This includes three electric motors mated to a 2.5-liter gas engine, and altogether they produce 236 peak horsepower. Of course, the rear wheels here are driven solely by one of those electric motors, so it is an electric form of all-wheel drive. Today it's all about the off-road capabilities in the rain with this new RAV4, because it is pouring! The trim that Toyota sent us is a top-end limited. This includes synthetic leather seats with both heating and cooling, a heated steering wheel, surround-view camera system, advanced safety features, adaptive cruise control, a digital gauge cluster, a large 12.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system with support for wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You also get two wireless charging trays, which is really nice. Plus it has dash cam recording, nine-speaker JBL audio, rain-sensing wipers, and an electronic transmission controller to manage the eCVT. Prices, you see it here, $46,458 including destination and options. As you can tell, it is raining today, hard, so we need to add one more option, and that's a set of premium mud mats from our sponsor, LastFit. Yes, if you have a 2026 RAV4, LastFit has a set of precision-fit mud mats available to pre-order right now. This provides complete coverage for your vehicle, with mats for front, rear, cargo, and even seat backs. Like all of LastFit's mud mats, these are quick and easy to install, and they provide complete coverage to keep your vehicle looking great, even in the worst weather conditions. Compared with the OEM mats that came on this limited trim, you can see there is simply no comparison. Only the LastFit mats will protect your floors from water and dirt. Every LastFit mat is made from quality TPE, making them flexible and durable. To upgrade your vehicle and save 20%, go to lastfit.com and use the discount code DSTV. You can also click the link in the description below, or scan this QR code. Now that this RAV4 is ready for the elements, let's start this off-road test. One thing I was very pleased to see is that Toyota sent us a limited with the standard 18-inch wheel tire package. So often they just upgrade to the biggest wheel possible, and you can option a 21 in this setup. Now this has 8.1 inches of ground clearance, which should be enough to get us into the fun forest. To set up the vehicle, I am going to go ahead and engage trail mode, get a cool graphic up there, and I'm going to turn on my front view camera. Now the significant difference between this vehicle and the Woodland, other than the Woodland coming with a set of basic all-terrain tires, this one doesn't have the off-road trail camera system. Which is kind of annoying. I mean, they're all identical, basically, across the board in terms of trail features and whatnot. I guess there has to be a reason to buy a Woodland. There it is. We're just going to inch forward. Now this is a hybrid that, of course, will switch between electric and gas as necessary. This is not the plug-in, so there's no plug-in that you need to worry about. Basically, just drive it like a normal vehicle. Already lifting a wheel in the back there, I think. Just inching my way in. Okay, cool. So far, so good. Now down here, we're going to lift a wheel and see how power is shifted around the system. Continue down into the hole. At this point, we're lifting up wheels, and I'm just adding a little throttle. Now, the way these systems work is you basically just keep the throttle in. It'll use brakes to shift power across the system and get you out. Nice. Line up right by the tree here. We're going to go down into the hole here. Watch that tree, watch the stump, which we can see very clearly in this nice surround view camera system. And then this is going to be the more challenging climb out. Going to remove traction off this wheel and that wheel. Just adding a little throttle. Can it shift? It can. Nice. Okay, let's move on to the next test. Ooh, I see we have a hill descent button. Let's use that. So now we have hill descent control. There's a button right over here. Press that, and it puts me into descent mode. Now, there's no real controls here on this vehicle. It basically will just take the approach speed and then use that as my descent, and let's see how slow we can go. Because usually you want to go like one, two mile per hour, but typically these systems and crossovers don't allow that. So let's see. It's not really grabbing. Oh, there. Now it grabs. Have to have a full rotation of the wheels. So I would say as a hill descent control system, not terribly useful. It just requires too much roll before it kicks in. Really the type of systems I like are the ones where you turn them on and they work instantly. It's really funny because Toyota, like they make the 4Runner. It has an excellent hill descent and crawl control system. We don't have it here. But it kind of makes sense because really you're not going to do anything too extreme here. If you're going to include a feature like hill descent control, I would like it to work better. Now we got moguls. And they are muddy. Okay, so we're going to do basically the same thing. Keep it in trail mode. Put on that front view camera. And it's detecting a shrub next to me and freaking out. So let's turn that audio off. And let's go on and see how this does. Now this is a more extreme side to side. It's also a little bit on a slant. And it's more slippery because it's a little muddy. Just going to inch in. We're not going to use momentum. Momentum is fun until you break something. So we're going to just go easy tiptoe. Kind of like you own this vehicle. Okay. First real challenge. Just keep throttle in. Shifts power side to side. No problem. Cool. Now we're going to have the big tip. Not do 3D. Just regular power shifts around the system. Keeps us moving forward. Good job. I would like wheel tracks. That would be nice. I don't think that's asking too much. Come on. Keep that throttle in. We're going to have the big tip. And there we go. Overall this thing is doing pretty good. I can sense that there will be limitations on something actually even more extreme. Oh look. It's sand slide. More extreme. Let's see how it does here. This might be a challenge. I'm going to go as high as I can. I mean reasonably. Really lift up that rear tire and the back tire. Now it's going to probably be digging in some mud. So it really needs to push us forward. And it worked. Just keep the throttle in. Can it lift us? Can it dead lift us up? Yes, it can. Actually, that did remarkably well. You know this has done so well, we're just going to continue down the ridge. We've got this big hole here. Yeah, that's why we don't take everything up here. Because of the approach angle actually can be a problem on this hole. But so far this one's doing great. How's departure? Okay, it's a little gravelly. Can we get our way through with these all-season tires? Progress, progress, progress. And boom. No problem. The only problem being those parking sensors are super annoying. Right. Well, let's hit the water crossing and then wrap this up. Incident detected. Saving 20-second clip. It basically triggers a recording every time there's what feels like an impact or a real rough movement in the vehicle. Use the hill descent system here. A little grinding. Actually, forget the hill descent. We're just going to do it. This is looking finally a little deep-ish. How are we going to do? Nice. And that wraps this very wet review of the new 2026 Toyota RAV4. Overall, pretty impressed with this package considering what it's intended for. It is a supremely economical daily driver that has all-wheel drive and enough capability to get you to the ski slopes, trailhead, or even a remote cabin. Now, you're not going to do anything extreme with it. If you want to do more extreme stuff, Toyota also makes the 4Runner. For Driving Sports TV, I'm Ryan Douthit. Thanks for watching. Be sure to like, subscribe, share videos. Make them for you. Hope you enjoy them. And we'll see you again right here on the next one.