2026 Toyota RAV4 GR Sport Is Genuinely Fun To Drive — And Hopefully A Trendsetter

When I reviewed the Aston Martin DBX S final month I pontificated about why efficiency SUVs are superior, and why embracing them will enhance your life, however after all it is simple to say that when the SUV in query has 717 horsepower and a base value of just about $275,000. There are many nice efficiency SUVs with five-figure value tags and extra cheap quantities of horsepower on the market, however over the previous few years solely a scant few have been really attainable for the common shopper and do not come from a luxurious model.

Toyota clearly noticed this wide-open gap out there and is filling it with the 2026 RAV4 GR Sport. This isn’t just a RAV4 with a bodykit and badges caught on — developed in partnership with the Gazoo Racing Division alongside the sixth-generation RAV4 with the intention of bringing the GR expertise to the widest viewers, the plug-in-hybrid GR Sport lives as much as its title in methods I wasn’t anticipating. This factor is genuinely enjoyable to drive, noticeably completely different from a typical RAV4 whereas nonetheless being one of the environment friendly SUVs on sale. And, I imply, simply take a look at it! The RAV4 GR Sport is the type of crossover I’ve been ready for.

Full disclosure: Toyota flew me to Phoenix, put me up in a lodge and fed me for 2 days so I might drive the whole 2026 RAV4 lineup.

No, significantly, the RAV4 GR Sport appears superior. It has a singular entrance bumper with an enormous decrease grille that is flanked by purposeful air curtains with vertical LED working lights, a design much like that of the GR Corolla. The 20-inch wheels are every virtually 5 kilos lighter than the 20s of regular RAV4s, and so they’re wrapped in Dunlop Sportmaxx summer season efficiency tires. Behind the break up five-spoke design are purple GR-branded brake calipers. All the outside trim is shiny black, after all, and the wheel arches are wider.

Best of all is the big rear spoiler, which does enhance downforce, although Toyota does not say by how a lot. More importantly, it appears sick, standing tall above the roof with a silhouette created by the form of the rear window edge. The GR Sport’s suspension is 0.6 inch decrease, and the observe is 0.8 inch wider, enhancing the RAV4’s already good stance. I believe I particularly like how the GR Sport appears as a result of it jogs my memory of the 2001 Toyota RSC, one among my favourite ideas, particularly within the face and the rear haunches.

Those are the modifications you possibly can see, however there are a bunch you possibly can’t. It will get model-specific coil springs and damper tuning together with a entrance efficiency damper, a rear suspension cross member brace and decrease management arm covers, and completely different energy steering mapping in Sport mode. Toyota additionally says it added static elimination materials on the entrance driver’s seat and aluminum tape within the headliner so the suede inside trim will not shock you, which is one thing I am unable to say I’ve seen referred to as out by an automaker earlier than.

The GR Sport makes use of Toyota’s sixth-gen plug-in-hybrid system, and whereas it is the identical setup and has the identical specs because the RAV4’s different trim ranges, that is fantastic — it is received 324 horsepower whole, in spite of everything. The naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-4 produces 186 hp and 172 pound-feet by itself, and it is paired with three motor-generators: the first one up entrance makes 203 hp and 201 lb-ft, and an electrical motor independently powering the rear axle has 91 lb-ft of torque. Toyota says the GR Sport has an estimated 48 miles of electric-only vary, which is best than virtually each different plug-in hybrid on sale, although weirdly in contrast to different 2026 RAV4 PHEV trims, it does not have the CCS port for DC quick charging or the 11-kW onboard AC charger. You’re caught with a J1772 charging port and a 7-kW onboard charger, which might take the GR Sport from 10% to 80% in about 4 hours.

All of that provides as much as a legitimately enjoyable time behind the wheel. The RAV4’s PHEV powertrain is superb; the electrical motors are all the time getting used for acceleration even when the interior combustion engine is working, so that you get an EV-style torque punch when flooring it accompanied by the whizz of the motors. Instrumented assessments of the outgoing RAV4 PHEV pinged it at about 5 and a half seconds, and the GR Sport feels a minimum of a pair tenths faster. Top pace in EV-only operation is greater than 80 mph, and now you can ground it in EV mode, so it feels fast even when the engine is not on. 

Toyota says it needed the GR Sport to be “confident and natural,” and the 4 key areas of enchancment have been cornering stance, driver suggestions, traceability and turn-in. After driving it back-to-back with the usual RAV4 PHEV, it’s noticeably higher in all of these facets. The suspension is firmer with out being any extra uncomfortable, physique roll is almost eradicated, and it is extra desirous to dive into corners. Those summer season tires are fairly grippy, and the all-wheel-drive system does a superb job of distributing torque between the axles, reacting rapidly to driver inputs. Sport mode makes extra of a distinction right here than within the different RAV4s in the way it tightens up the dealing with and enhances powertrain responsiveness, and the steering positively turns into weightier and extra communicative. It’s nothing just like the type of really feel or suggestions you get out of, say, a GR Corolla, however the GR Sport’s steering is direct and it is simple to make small corrections.

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The GR Sport has a simulated shift mode for the digital CVT, full with paddle shifters, and whereas clicking by means of the “gears” does not enhance the expertise to me, “downshifting” is a strategy to emulate sturdy regenerative braking, although the noise from the engine is not all the time nice. Toyota match the brand new RAV4 with its first electronically managed brake system, which mixes friction braking with regenerative braking to recuperate as a lot power as doable whereas retaining good pedal really feel (and the pedals themselves are good aluminum sport items), however there aren’t adjustable ranges of regen to gradual you down when letting off the accelerator.

On twisty roads surrounding the Saguaro Lake space the GR Sport has me grinning in a approach that compact SUVs not often ever do. The incontrovertible fact that I’m in a brilliant purple Toyota crossover with a giant spoiler is unquestionably a part of the explanation for the grins, however this actually is an pleasing automobile to hoon even whenever you aren’t taking full benefit of its foolish quantity of energy. It helps that it is rattling environment friendly, too. In addition to that lengthy EV-only vary, Toyota estimates the GR Sport will get 41 mpg metropolis, 34 mpg freeway and 37 mpg mixed, higher than all of its rivals even regardless of the summer season tires. It’s a really cheap, logical buy, then.

The GR Sport additionally fixes among the new RAV4’s inside issues. The heated steering wheel is wrapped with perforated leather-based, so it is really good to grip in contrast to the traditional one. Heated and ventilated entrance sport seats with thicker bolsters have Brin Naub artificial suede facilities, plus purple stitching and piping, after all. Sadly, the GR Sport suffers from the identical laborious plastics, uncomfortable armrests and iffy materials and construct high quality as different RAV4s.

This newest era of RAV4 debuts a model new infotainment system that is an enormous step up for Toyota. The GR Sport comes with the bigger 12.9-inch central touchscreen and the identical 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, working software program that is very customizable and has beautiful graphics, easy-to-use menus, cloud-based navigation and a a lot larger degree of performance. You get a particular GR animation upon startup, as nicely.

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There’s a brand new voice assistant that is much more helpful, a wi-fi telephone charger and a bunch of USB-C ports (annoyingly solely 15w ones as a substitute of the stronger 45w ports of different trim ranges), and many active-safety techniques like automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise management, blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure warning with steering help, and a 360-degree digital camera view. The GR Sport additionally has normal options like dual-zone computerized local weather management, an influence tailgate, rain-sensing wipers with a de-icer, and keyless entry and pushbutton begin. But it misses out on among the new RAV4’s fanciest options just like the panoramic sunroof and head-up show which might be on different trims.

Toyota hasn’t priced the RAV4 GR Sport but, however it’s not gonna be that low cost. A 2025 RAV4 XSE plug-in hybrid begins at $50,135, so it will definitely be slightly greater than that a minimum of. “Daniel, that definitely disqualifies this from being an ‘attainable’ performance SUV,” I can hear you saying, and I perceive and considerably agree with that sentiment. But the common value of a brand new automobile within the U.S. simply handed $50,000 for the primary time, and the RAV4 GR Sport does not actually have any competitors at or under that value level, and even barely above it. I imply, probably the most fundamental BMW X3 you may get is $50,900. A beginning value with a 5 on the entrance does make the brand new RAV4’s low-rent inside bits much more egregious, however the remainder of the GR Sport is compelling sufficient that I do not thoughts it as a lot.

I do not actually know what kind of individual goes to purchase the RAV4 GR Sport, however I hope folks really do, and that it will not be relegated to a forgotten chapter of the historical past books. Despite its silliness — actually, due to its silliness — it deserves to be taken significantly as an actual fanatic machine. And if the GR Sport good points traction, here is hoping it conjures up different automakers to get in on the motion. I’d like to see a Honda CR-V Si, a Hyundai Tucson N, a Subaru Forester STI. You know you desire a Mazdaspeed CX-5. And possibly down the road Toyota will do a fair crazier GR RAV4… A person can dream.

Y’all won’t wish to hear it, however there are tons of individuals on the market who get pleasure from driving and, for no matter causes, wish to or want to purchase an SUV. They should not should miss out on nice efficiency due to that — and with the 2026 Toyota RAV4 GR Sport, they will get nice effectivity, too.