2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road Review: Great for Playing in the Mud!

2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road

In Our Opinion:

The 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road is the newest member of the automaker's TRD family. While the off-road capability is a given, we were taken back by how comfortable this RAV4 is on dry pavement. It was a pleasant surprise to discover this off-road rig was still pretty good in the city. Although we are not sold on the exterior styling, the interior is sharp and that makes up for it.

Exterior Styling

74

Interior Layout

87

Driving Dynamics

91

Safety & Tech Features

86

Everyday Functionality

87

Pros

Comfortable

Off-Road Chops

Chassis & Suspension

Cons

Road & Wind Noise

Feels Top-Heavy Sometimes

85

Suffice it to say; we had a ton of fun with the 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road! During our week-long test drive, rain was often in the forecast across Southeast Michigan. We used the occasion to head north of Detroit and hit some muddy and washed-out gravel roads. With selectable off-road modes (Multi-Terrain Select), the RAV4 TRD Off-Road certainly has the off-pavement chops, but what about everyday driving?

While off-road capabilities have their allure, things like fuel economy and comfort are also important. How does the new RAV4 TRD Off-Road stack up? Here is what we found during our week-long test drive.

Toyota RAV4: What’s New for 2020? 

All RAV4 models receive Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Amazon Alexa functionality. The LE and XLE grades, both gas and Hybrid, receive a three-month trial of SiriusXM. Limited models receive a special JBL Audio package with an 800-watt amplifier. 

The TRD Off-Road is a new trim level for 2020, while the RAV4 Hybrid receives only minor updates.  

RAV4 TRD Off-Road Performance Upgrades

• Inspired by Ryan Millen’s Rally RAV4.
• 8.6-inches of ground clearance and off-road suspension.
• Multi-Terrain Select modes: Mud & Sand, Rock & Dirt, and Snow.
• Twin-tube shocks are re-valved and feature internal rebound springs.
• Bump stops maximize compression-direction and improve body control.
• 18×7-inch matte-black TRD alloy wheels with Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail tires.
• Tires are “Severe Snow Rated” with open shoulder grooving for harsh terrain.
• Standard Dynamic Torque Vectoring All-Wheel Drive with Driveline Disconnect.

Our 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road press vehicle. LED fog lights are standard on this model.

2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road Press Vehicle

Our press vehicle came from the factory with Dynamic Torque Vectoring (all-wheel drive), a TRD-tuned suspension, and the Multi-Terrain Select system mentioned above. Under the hood was a 2.5-liter four-cylinder.

The TRD Off-Road Technology Package gave us front and rear parking assist with automated braking, wireless charging, bird’s-eye view camera, and a cool digital rearview mirror. We enjoyed the Premium Audio, Dynamic Navigation w/ JBL Package (which is a mouthful!). That package includes niceties like an eight-inch touchscreen, 11-speaker JBL stereo with a subwoofer, and Toyota’s Dynamic Navigation system with a three-year trial.

Our RAV4 TRD Off-Road press vehicle included these helpful features from Toyota Connected Services: Safety Connect w/ one-year trial, Service Connect w/ 10-year trial, and Wi-Fi Connect w/ up to two GB on a three-month trial. 

The TRD Off-Road Weather Package added heated and ventilated leather seats and rain-sensing wipers with de-icer. Meanwhile, the Safety & Convenience package included the following safety feature as part of Toyota Safety Sense 2.0: 

• Road Sign Assist
• Lane Tracing Assist
• Automatic High Beams
• Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist
• Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection
• Full-Speed Range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control

Our 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road came standard with eight airbags, a blind-spot monitor with rear cross-traffic alert, and the LATCH system (lower anchor and tether) for car seats. 

Window sticker of our 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road press vehicle.

What Does The 2020 Toyota RAV4 Cost?

The base price for our 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road came to $35,180. With the packages outlined above, some one-off add-ons, and a destination fee of $1,120, total MSRP was $41,418 for our press vehicle.

By comparison, the 2020 Toyota RAV4 starts at $25,950.

Interior Highlights: Initial Impressions

The 2020 RAV4 rides on Toyota’s New Global Architecture, sometimes called the “TNGA-K” platform. On the one hand, this makes the vehicle more rugged and capable when the blacktop ends (sorry, I was listening to Keith Urban). On the other, it helps the RAV4 feel roomy inside, despite being smaller in stature.

Inside, the 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road looks sharp with its red accents and black SofTex leather seats. Stitched into the headrests is the TRD logo, and the all-weather floor mats are a nice touch. In terms of tech and connectivity features, everything about the RAV4 TRD Off-Road is solid. Our concern was not so much with things like this, but how it would ride on the open road.

2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road interior layout. Photo: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

Interior Highlights: Surprised In a Good Way!

The concern for us was how the 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road would feel on dry pavement. We were skeptical at first, but the TRD Off-Road is surprisingly smooth and comfortable on the highway, despite its off-pavement leanings. While wind and road noise will enter the cabin on occasion, the RAV4 TRD Off-Road was remarkably pleasant for us on I-75 through the Detroit metro.

The TNGA-K platform makes all the difference here in our minds. The RAV4’s unibody chassis is 57 percent more rigid than the previous model, and it makes a significant difference on the open road. While off-road, this rigid structure has numerous benefits for sure. On the interstate or during normal road conditions, however, it helps the RAV4 TRD Off-Road feel more composed from the driver’s seat.

The RAV4 TRD Off-Road may feel top-heavy at times with the additional ground clearance, but backing off a few mph will mitigate that, especially through tighter corners on the highway. Otherwise, the interior is stylish and functional, and pleasantly surprising in terms of ride comfort.

While the RAV4 TRD Off-Road can handle the dirt and mud, it’s surprisingly smooth when you find concrete again.

2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road Powertrain

The 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road employs a 2.5-liter four-cylinder with direct injection, dual overhead cams, and variable valve timing. Complete with an aluminum alloy block and cylinder heads, the engine produces 203 horsepower (6,600 rpm) and 184 lb-ft. of torque (5,000 rpm). Attached to the engine is an eight-speed automatic with a differential radio of 3.177.

When properly equipped, the 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road can tow 3,500 lbs.

EPA fuel economy ratings are 25/32 city/highway and 27 combined. During our week-long drive, we were right at that and even a little better at times.

• Related: Everything you need to know about Toyota’s warranty.

Driving Dynamics: When The Going Gets Fun!

The week we had our RAV4 TRD Off-Road was a rainy one in the Detroit metro. Given the weather and the off-road upgrades of our press vehicle, we started at the Stone Railroad Bridge on Indian Lake Road, just off M-24 near Lake Orion, Michigan. Indian Lake Road is unpaved and twists around a wooded area past Indian Lake and another unnamed inlet lake.  

It was the ideal place, especially in the rain, to test our RAV4 TRD Off-Road press vehicle. We placed the Multi-Terrain Select system into Rock & Dirt and hit the gas! 

2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road: In The Mud

Through the rough and muddy corners, Toyota’s Dynamic Torque Vectoring system shined for us. When necessary, it can send up to 50 percent of the engine’s torque to the rear wheels, but it can also distribute torque between the left and right rear wheels. Despite giving the RAV4 some grunt through the wet corners, Toyota’s torque vectoring technology kept us balanced. Likewise, the meaty Falken Wildpeak tires dig in and don’t let go. 

Once again, the rigidity of the TNGA-K platform is critical when trouncing through the dirt and mud. The same platform, chassis, and suspension that gave us a composed ride on the way up I-75 was now taking hits from the rougher, wet terrain. Based on our drive, we believe the chassis, suspension, and tires work in unison with the torque vectoring and Multi-Terrain select systems to deliver a confident (and fun) ride when the pavement disappears.

The video below was filmed with our Garmin Tandem dash camera.

Should You Buy a 2020 RAV4 TRD Off-Road?

The 2020 Toyota TRD Off-Road is a blast when plowing through the north forty, but it’s comfortable enough for city cruising. Add to that a stylish and sporty interior, and Toyota has a winner here. If you don’t need all the performance upgrades, we recommend looking at the RAV4 LE or XLE. Both of those trim levels offer all-wheel drive but have a lower MSRP than the TRD Off-Road.

However, if you don’t mind spending the extra dough, the 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road is one fun machine.

Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Association and the Society of Automotive Historians. He serves on the board of directors for the Ally Jolie Baldwin Foundation, is a past president of Detroit Working Writers, and a loyal Detroit Lions fan.

Original article: 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road Review: Great for Playing in the Mud!

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Krugger adds street smarts to the Triumph Scrambler

We love show bikes for their cutting edge design concepts, wild engineering and straight-line performance—but they’re not much use in the real world. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are customs that aim for maximum usability, by cleverly blending form and function.

Most builders stick to just one of those camps, but Fred ‘Krugger’ Bertrand plays at both ends of the field. The Belgian maestro has won multiple AMD World Championships, but he’s just as happy to build ‘practical’ bikes—especially when the brief and budget both call for restraint.

Krugger has just finished working his magic on this brand new Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE, as a corporate project for Triumph Benelux and the motorsport-focused watchmaker Rebellion Timepieces.

The idea was to make the off-roady Scrambler a little more road-focused, shed some weight, and leave it with a polished factory-like feel.

The Scrambler 1200 XE is one hella capable bike—both on the tarmac and off it. But it’s also tall, with a big front wheel to keep it surefooted in the dirt. So Krugger started by swapping the 21F/17R rims for a set of 19F/18R Excel hoops, laced to the stock hubs.

They’re wrapped in Dunlop DT3-R tires—the street legal flat track items that come standard on the Indian FTR 1200. Krugger then tweaked the stance further by lowering the stock (and adjustable) suspension at both ends.

The bodywork has been tightened up without losing the Triumph’s distinctive shapes. The tank is a modified and retrofitted Triumph Bobber unit, adorned with a flush mounted gas cap.

Krugger also trimmed the Scrambler’s subframe, and topped it with a new seat that’s actually a touch thicker than stock. Wild Hog in Italy handled the upholstery, even though they were operating under a nationwide stay-at-home order due to COVID-19. So Krugger asked them to include a small plaque with the Belgian and Italian flags, as a sign of solidarity.

Another standout piece is the new exhaust system. The original setup has both pipes exiting high on the right side, but Krugger built a new stainless steel arrangement, with twin pipes flanking the tail. And that meant crafting a few details around the exhaust to make everything fit well visually.

The original right hand side cover needed filling in where the twin headers once ran, and the left side cover needed a cutout to make room for the new pipe. Krugger also hand-shaped a pair of aluminum ‘number boards’ to wrap around the mufflers, and a series of skinny heat shields to offer some protection.

The Scrambler retains some of its stock trim bits—like its bash plate—but just about everything else has been replaced or modified.

The stock fender’s still in play up front, but it’s been mounted higher. And rather than retain the original plastic fork guards, Krugger formed a new set out of aluminum, integrating the new fender mounts in the process.

The rear fender is custom too, and just underneath it is a small custom tail light arrangement with two LEDs.

Moving to the cockpit, Krugger kept the stock LED headlight but modified the stock supports to shave off the turn signal mounts. Then he fabricated a small nacelle, to blend with the headlight and hide the stock display.

The switches and bars are original (the Scrambler has a lot of onboard features), as are the heated grips. But the Triumph’s sporting a set of Bobber riser clamps, along with LED bar-end turn signals from Kellermann.

Keen eyes will also spot a pretty unique set of Beringer controls on both ends of the bars. Krugger replaced the entire brake system with Beringer components, and even installed a thumb brake for the rear, which neatly shares space on the bars with the hydraulic clutch control.

When asked, he says he did it mostly to show off the Beringer parts and the fact that the mod was possible, with the added benefit that the area around the front sprocket is now cleaner. Other touches included removing superfluous bits like the heel frame protectors, and lightening up a number of other parts.

For the final livery, Krugger settled on black with a Rebellion logotype and gold detailing. But there’s more than just a paint job going on—parts like the swing arm were redone in black too, and there are custom decals on the rims.

With a vibe that’s a little more street tracker than scrambler, this Scrambler 1200 XE is everything it was supposed to be: clean, dynamic and better than factory. It also strikes us as a sort of blueprint for a Triumph response to the FTR 1200, if the British marque ever goes down that route.

And it’s irrefutable proof that Krugger always brings his A-game, no matter what the brief is.

Krugger Motorcycles | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Thierry Dricot.

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Ford Performance Introduces 3 New Ranger Off-Road Packages & Here’s What’s Included

• The Ranger off-road packages were put together by Ford Performance.
• FOX monotube shocks and Rigid LED light bars are among the upgrades.
• Packages are dealer-installed and available for both 2019 and 2020 trucks.

Ford Performance is offering three new off-road packages to enhance the Ranger’s off-pavement chops. Between the three dealer-installed packages (which Ford calls “levels”), buyers will find things like BFGoodrich tires, FOX shocks, leveling and light bar kits, and painted tow hooks. Ford Performance says these options should give drivers more opportunities for personalizing their Ranger.  

The new Ranger off-road packages vary in cost and equipment. Let’s take a quick look at what each level offers in terms of off-road goodies. 

Ford Performance Level 1 Package

Level 1 includes 17-inch Dyno Gray wheels, a leveling kit, bed graphics, and a windshield banner. Monotube front and rear FOX 2.0 Performance shocks are the headliners here. Specially tuned by Ford Performance engineers, the shocks feature an internal floating piston design to optimize performance in all conditions. 

MSRP: $2,495 before installation. 

Level 1 Package Gallery

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Ford Performance Level 2 Package

Level 2 includes everything listed above but adds a slight engine modification courtesy of Ford Performance. The Ranger’s 2.3-liter EcoBoost gets bumped to 315 horsepower (4,500 rpm), an increase of 16 percent. Meanwhile, torque receives a substantial 20 percent jump to 370 lb-ft. (2,500 rpm). 

In addition to the engine updates, the Level 2 package also includes BFGoodrich KO2 tires (265/70/R17), Rigid fog light kit, blue tow hooks, and a stainless steel license plate frame. 

MSRP: $4,495 before installation.

Level 2 Package Gallery

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Ford Performance Level 3 Package

In the Level 3 package, the Rigid 40-inch LED light bar is attached to a chase rack. If you’re accustomed to driving off-road at night, you know that you are the light source once the sun does down. If you hit the trails at night, this package will suit you best with the Rigid fog and LED light bar combination.  

Other updates include red tow hooks, an ARM winch-cable front bumper, and a sport exhaust. Naturally, Level 3 includes everything from the previous Ranger off-road packages as well.

MSRP: $8,995 before installation.

Level 3 Package Gallery

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Ranger Off-Road Packages Availability

The Level 1 and Level 2 packages will be available in August with the Level 3 coming next summer. The Ranger off-road packages are available for both 2019 and 2020 trucks, which should make current owners feel included in the off-roading fun.

Emily Pruitt is fascinated by the current changes in the automotive industry, from electric cars and infrastructure, to fully autonomous vehicles. Outside of the automotive world, she can be found writing poetry or unraveling the latest mystery novel.

Photos & Source: Ford Motor Company.

Original article: Ford Performance Introduces 3 New Ranger Off-Road Packages & Here’s What’s Included

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2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA: Quick but Detailed Walk Around This Sleek SUV

The 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA is certainly a stylish little guy. He’s the latest in what has been a busy year for Mercedes-Benz when it comes to their SUV and crossover lineup.

We saw the new GLB roll into town, a compact city cruiser with a third row (it even has an AMG variant because why not). From there, Mercedes-Benz released the new midsize GLC, followed by the three-row GLE (we like the Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 Coupe). After that, the larger GLS entered the fold with a whopping 500-plus lb-ft. of torque. 

Now the 2021 GLA, our favorite one in the bunch, joins the party. It’s an entry-level SUV (or “gateway” vehicle as Mercedes-Benz calls it) with an attractive price point. Here is a quick but detailed walk around the new GLA.

A Little Bigger for 2021

The new GLA is slightly taller and wider than before (+ 3.6 inches and + 1.2 inches, respectively). Combined with a longer wheelbase (+ 1.1 inches), the 2021 GLA now provides more front headroom and rear legroom. Likewise, cargo space increases as well.

The redesigned GLA is more sporty and aerodynamic, with a little more room inside versus the outgoing model. Photo: MBUSA.

What Does The 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA Cost?

The 2021 GLA 250 (front-wheel drive) starts at $36,230 with the GLA 250 4MATIC (all-wheel drive) starting at $38,230. Tack on another $1,050 for the destination charge.

What Engine Does 2021 GLA Have?

Under the hood of the new GLA is a 2.0-liter in-line four-cylinder. The turbocharged engine creates 221 horsepower and 258 lb-ft. of torque. Attached to the engine is an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. Mercedes-Benz says the new transmission is more efficient and smoother, especially at lower speeds.

The top speed is electronically limited to 130 mph. Zero to 60 time is 6.8 seconds or 6.6 seconds with the optional 4MATIC system.

2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA under the hood. Photo: MBUSA.

2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA Fuel Economy

2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA Fuel Economy
Engine & Drivetrain	City	Highway	Combined
GLA 250 FWD	25	34	28
GLA 250 AWD	24	33	27

Styling Treatments & Interior Tech

Mercedes-Benz tried to muscle up the 2021 GLA with new side panels, roof rails, fog lights, and dual exhaust. We like the sloping roofline as it makes the GLA look sporty.

On the inside, the standard MBUX interface makes the GLA feel like a little rocket ship. The MBUX interface employs a powerful computer to support smartphone integration, natural language voice controls, and bright, colorful graphics. Everything runs through a dual touchscreen display.

2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA interior layout. Photo: MBUSA.

Availability & Competitors

With any luck, the 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA should be available already. Mercedes-Benz didn’t specify an exact date, only that the GLA would arrive in mid-2020.

If you are shopping for a smaller, but still higher-end SUV like this, the GLA is not the only option. The Audi Q3 and BMW X1 are both solid offerings. While we like the new GLA, we recommend looking at both of those vehicles before making a final decision.

Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Association and the Society of Automotive Historians. He serves on the board of directors for the Ally Jolie Baldwin Foundation, is a past president of Detroit Working Writers, and a loyal Detroit Lions fan.

2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA Gallery

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Photos & Source: MBUSA.

Original article: 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLA: Quick but Detailed Walk Around This Sleek SUV

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