With all the excitement from the return of the Supra and the generational redesign of the iconic Corolla, the news about the RAV4 finally getting its first Toyota Racing Development trim level might have gotten lost in the shuffle. But this news is true and astoundingly exciting; there is a brand-new 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road in Palatine IL available! TRD has been around for several years, but the big three has remained the Tacoma, Tundra and 4Runner. A couple of years ago the Sequoia finally joined the fray, but it wasn’t until just now that the RAV4 got its own TRD grade.
The RAV4 itself has been around since way back in 1994, making waves as one of the earliest compact crossover utility vehicles on the market. The CUV has undergone four total redesigns, with the most recent being in 2019 as the vehicle entered its fifth generation.
The RAV4 TRD Off-Road was designed for weekend warriors ready to tackle the trails and paths of the road less traveled. It’s built onto the existing RAV4 Adventure grade, which was the previous stab at creating an off-road-ready RAV4, but the RAV4 TRD Off-Road takes everything to the next level, with suspension, wheels and tires all uniquely engineered to take the RAV4 out onto the trail.
This RAV4 TRD is powered by a 2.5L engine capable of generating 204 horsepower alongside an 8-speed automatic transmission with selectable driving modes and a Dynamic Torque Vectoring All-Wheel Drive system. Suspension is enhanced by red coil springs specifically tuned for the off road, as well as revalved twin-tube shocks and new bump stops. As for the feet, 18x7” matte black alloy wheels wrapped in Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail tires are much light and more rigid than the wheels of the RAV4 Adventure.
Plenty of TRD-exclusive design cues and accents were added throughout the vehicle as well, as with all Toyota Racing Development trim levels. We are truly stoked about the new TRD Off-Road trim level for the 2020 Toyota RAV4, and hope that it is only the beginning of what TRD has planned for the RAV4.
