2026 Toyota RAV4

[AstulzerRZD]

I would have thought that usage in a Lexus would require that the engine is reasonably refined - I haven't driven one but every review I read of them calls out the terrible noise levels and refinement.

This is true for every country except for America, which is also their biggest market.

Lexus driven by very conservative people who buy them for their 'durability' and resale value but really their head is so far up their ass that they haven't tried or known anything else.

You have to be _really_ 'special' to blow 900 a month on a TX/RX350. An aged Cayenne GTS demo or Macan is the same cost... while a GLC350e is 370 a month and an M340i is 500.

https://forum.leasehackr.com/t/may-2...-taycan/674522

2024 Macan Demo CPO
Dolomite Silver, Standard Interior in Black, Premium Plus, 20" Wheels, and more
MSRP: $71,xxx
$5,000 Due At Signing Plus Tax, Title, Registration
39 Months: $945/mo, 7.5k miles

CPO Cayenne GTS
$4,000 Due At Signing Plus Tax, Title, Registration
12 Months/15,000 Miles: $9xx/mo

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by AstulzerRZD

You have to be _really_ 'special' to blow 900 a month on a TX/RX350. A Cayenne GTS demo or Macan is the same cost... while a GLC350e is 370 a month and an M340i is 500.

You just predicted Badhobz' future cars. The Macan being the most likely of them all.

[Badhobz]

a chinese E bicycle. Its reliable, its cheap, its the next best thing to having a Chinese EV (which they wont allow here).

[AstulzerRZD]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

You just predicted Badhobz' future cars. The Macan being the most likely of them all.

Nothing like paying extra for an even worse driving Golf R and EA888

[roastpuff]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Soooo that begs the question: What, if anything, is better than Toyota/Lexus for the same amount of money?

Define better

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by roastpuff

Define better

Everything not what these guys are crying about likes noises and loudness etc. Should be butter smooth and super refined like a royal princess or something.

Is this forum targeting geriatrics?

[trollface]

Rolls Royce

[supafamous]

So Toyotas have gravelly engines while Hondas have way too much road noise. (My RDX has way too much road noise for its price point IMO - it's not the volume but the sound quality).

[trollface]

Sound quality of the road noise?

Wtf you guys have carbon mono leaks in your exhaust getting into the cabin.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by trollface

Rolls Royce

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

So with Toyota and Honda being trash, all that's left is Mazda and Nissan. Are their engines better or equally just as bad as Honda and Toyota? I forgot about Mitsubishi. I've never owned a different Japanese marque besides Toyota, so I'm genuinely unsure of the competition.

If they are all equally trash, what options are there for you guys? Chinese eBike? Tesla? Some kind of EV? For sure there will be no engine noise, so.....

[Traum]

Nissan is probably all trash because most of their designs are ancient at this point.

Mazdas have really nicely appointed interiors for their price points, but I haven't ridden in anything new from them besides a Mazda3, and that isn't exactly a premium subcompact (although that's what it is trying to be).

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by trollface

Sound quality of the road noise?

Wtf you guys have carbon mono leaks in your exhaust getting into the cabin.

Ha. The road noise (on rougher surfaces) is very coarse and noise cancellation does a shit job with handling it - it goes from pretty quiet and calm to grind your teeth in a flash. It's definitely worse than say a CX-9 where the noise floor is higher but it doesn't rise as much over bad surfaces.

Basically I think Honda is using noise cancellation as their band-aid to not having good soundproofing but when noise cancellation can't handle something then things get a lot louder than in comparable cars.

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Soooo that begs the question: What, if anything, is better than Toyota/Lexus for the same amount of money?

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

So with Toyota and Honda being trash, all that's left is Mazda and Nissan. Are their engines better or equally just as bad as Honda and Toyota? I forgot about Mitsubishi. I've never owned a different Japanese marque besides Toyota, so I'm genuinely unsure of the competition.

If they are all equally trash, what options are there for you guys? Chinese eBike? Tesla? Some kind of EV? For sure there will be no engine noise, so.....

For something better I vote Honda's 4cylinder hybrid system, that's similar to how the Chevy Volt/diesel locomotive works. It's been widely lauded as good and supposed to be more efficient that Toyota's hybrid system.

Toyota's system hasn't seen much innovation other than bigger motors, new battery formulation, and decoupling the rear with e-AWD. The planetary gear system is roughly the same as when it debuted with the Prius almost 30 years ago. It goes to show how innovative Toyota was when the same drive system is still competitive after 30 years. We'll just have to wait for the next big thing from Toyota.

Toyota's win with the Hybrid Synergy Drive is they've been building it for SO LONG with minimal changes that they've ironed almost all the issues. If you want a hybrid system that's reliable and will go 300k, look no further than Toyota.


Mazda's Skyactiv 4 cylinder was novel when it debuted in 2014 as they could easily beat the rated fuel economy. They haven't made much gains since as they've ran into multiple deadends. The Skyactiv D was much more money while not returning any better fuel economy. Skyactiv X kind of just withered away after getting a ton of fanfare. The Skyactiv T 4 cylinders look great on paper, but a lot of the tricks used in the NA engines don't translate to a turbo (high compression, 4-2-1 headers) and they are an also ran. Their new i6 turbos had a lot of promise, but just like Honda's V6T it's getting thoroughly trounced by BMW.

Nissan, why would you touch a Nissan? Their Rogue is decent being that you can get a car that is competent but doesn't excel for a low price.

Mitsubishi has the honours for being the lowest priced PHEV SUV with decent range in the Outlander. The Outlander Sport is 15 years old at this point, and the Mirage is a penalty box.

So uh... wait for the Honda hybrid system to show up in the Integra? It should have better NVH isolation than the Civic.

Or you know go get a 4 cylinder Audi or 6 cylinder BMW.

[roastpuff]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

So with Toyota and Honda being trash, all that's left is Mazda and Nissan. Are their engines better or equally just as bad as Honda and Toyota? I forgot about Mitsubishi. I've never owned a different Japanese marque besides Toyota, so I'm genuinely unsure of the competition.

Sounds like you should broaden your horizons. Get a Type R like Matsuda

I think Honda engines are far more refined and pleasing than the Toyota equivalents. Supa is complaining about sound deadening (or lack thereof) which Honda does suffer from. At least the K/J series engines sound good revving out.

[bcrdukes]

Damn, I put a deposit down for a Crown.

[Badhobz]

I think the crown is okay. At least it’s the same platform as the LC. Just unsure of how that engine will be for reliability

[EvoFire]

I have come around with the Crown's styling, and I think it's a great car. My parents are considering one as well to replace my dad's Genesis Coupe. The problem is there's no inventory around here and we couldn't test drive it.

[bcrdukes]

Toyota is garbage.

[radeonboy]

There's no non-electrified engine in the RAV4 segment that is smooth and sounds good per consensus here, but I don't think the majority of the buying demographic cares about engine sound either.

A hybrid powertrain removes most of the low-end grunt accelerating from a stop, and noise is minimal once you get going assuming you're driving the car smoothly and not gunning it everywhere.

I'm more worried about the aunties having access to 300+HP RAV4s when they mix the pedal again and ram another Richmond storefront. You know those aunties will get RAV4 Primes early because they have no problem or clue getting gouged by local dealers.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by radeonboy

I don't think the majority of the buying demographic cares about engine sound either.

Thank you for being the voice of reason. We're a very small minority among all the Richmond aunties and ah baks that exist out there who would happily pay the premium for a vehicle of this calibre. We're all just a bunch of old jerks going through a mid-life crisis on this forum now.

[JDMDreams]

Outlander phev, ride is good and quiet. I think the 25 version is even better. I dunno what wizardry they did but even the gas version was really quiet and comfortable.

[noclue]

On the subject of 4-cylinders, Avis gave me a subaru crosstrek rental and it wasn't too bad compared to a toyota 4-cylinder aside from the CVT drone climbing uphill. However I had to double check if subaru was still using boxer engines as it sounded exactly like a inline 4. Where's the unequal headers for the subie rumble?

[bcrdukes]

lol i forgot about Subaru

[JDMDreams]

I don't think headers are unequal from the factory

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

Outlander phev, ride is good and quiet. I think the 25 version is even better. I dunno what wizardry they did but even the gas version was really quiet and comfortable.

Too bad it looks like this:



That damn handlebar mustache.