With an epic ice storm hitting the PNW in January 2024, I took my 2023 Toyota RAV4 LE AWD for a spin on the icy roads around the neighborhood, to see how well it handles in these type of slippery conditions.
i am super impressed at the awd capability of the car! I always think you need some kind of super handling awd or quattro to tackle stuff like this with all season tires.
hi, I have exactly the same car, a silver Toyota Rav4 LE 2023, only Canadian assembly. I have heated front seats and body color silver mirrors. I have one question for you. What kind of roof rack do you want to install? It is no longer possible to install from RAV4.
Having good tires on vehicle helps also on the driving conditions to go along with brakes, abs and AWD systems. If you have cheap Chinese tires … doesn’t matter what type (All seasons, snow etc) you wouldn’t make it through any of this 😂🤣
You said it right, the tires are so important. In these conditions I always recommend winter tires. If someone slides through an intersection you have much better steering and braking with a winter tir, and that can make the difference in hitting them or avoided an accident. The all season tires can look to be okay when driving in a controlled manner as you showed but when traffic is around you there are a lot of idiots and they do stupid things. This is where the difference will be enormous. You will also see a bigger difference on steeper hills that you see in Camas, Washougal, and parts of Portland. My daughter has a Rav4 Hybrid with the all season tires like yours and the difference in her Rav4 and mine with winter tires, Bridgestone Blizzacks, is very noticeable. I live east of you where the hills are much steeper than what you showed and I always prefer to have a best possible tool for the job. In this case, a winter tire. 😉
Thank you so much for the video. I just bought a 2024 Rav4 XLE Premium with AWD (gas), and was wondering for well it would do in the weather. I used to live in Troutdale and I know how nasty it can get in your part of the country when it freezing rains. Thanks again.
I cannot believe the Tacoma moved like that. I guess you need legit blocks. We just had a significant (for our area) snow fall in my area. My wife's 2013 FWD Camry and my 2014 FWD Camry handled it with no issue (for unavoidable slow driving). We have new (within the last year) all season tires that definitely helped. But I was impressed with the FWD only. There is such a small amount of conditions that would require AWD. So we stick with FWD. Love your videos of the 2023 Rav4. Keep them coming.
Glad that awd system is decent. I recently found out that the lower rav 4 models have an inferior awd system compared to the higher models. Torque control vs torque vectoring
No the lower rav4 don’t have inferior awd. the hybrid awd is inferior due to its not connected to the engine or transmission. The standard awd is connected to the engine and transmission.
Next time you have ice storm like that, when its over, try throwing some sand on top of the ice surface very close in front of the wheels(or behind, depending on how you parked it) and my guess is that ice is not gonna be a problem anymore.
U are driving way too fast on pure ice. What if a kid runs out in front of you. U will not be able to stop in time. You are thinking that the anti slip can help u if the car gets into a full slide down hill. Nothing stops a car on pure ice. Watch what the hell you are doing!
For grip on wet ice like that you need studded tires. Second best would be ultra-soft rubber tires like the Bridgestone Blizzak tires. After that, regular winter tires like the Michelin X-ice Snow is not as good, but still better than the stock all-seasons that come with the RAV4.
Man, that ice storm was not fun! At all...! Glad to see another PNW'er with a RAV running in this weather! I'm currently in the build phase with my RAV. So far I'm loving it! Great vid!
You don't need awd for those roads, look at the other cars around you that don't have it. The sand does all the work. If you had hard ice a 4 wheel drive wouldn't work.
