Is the GR SPORT the ultimate daily driver? 2026 Toyota RAV4 PHEV Tested
It’s classroom time with the GR Sport. The first GR Sport ever in America for any Toyota. We have GR branded models like the 86, the Supra. Rest in peace, the Corolla. GR Corolla. All right, this GR Sport. We’re in the classroom classroom session. We have dedicated aero parts, more solid steel, 20 mm wire tires, front performance damper, light alloy wheels, uh about 4 lbs lighter per wheel. We have dedicated suspension pieces here. We have an additional rear suspension brace and you have a static elimination item uh which includes the aluminum tape on the ceiling. And then you have all the sport design differentiations like this GR Sport steering wheel, but most of it is going to be on the outside. So, let’s get on the outside of the new GR Sport for Toyota. Man, look at this. You know, when you think Arizona, you don’t think lakes. You don’t think water. Well, we’re at the Saguaro Lake. Um, this is in Tanto National Forest here. You might be saying, Kirk, I don’t see much trees. Well, the cactus count for the trees. But we’re here for the GR Sport, not for the pretty environment. Maybe you are here for both. The GR Sport is going to be the first of many upcoming GR Sport models throughout the Toyota lineup. No TRD here. TRD is for bodyonframe vehicles. All right. So, this is not something new globally. The GR Sport, there’s been a GR Sport for Europe and for uh Japan. And there’s a ton of GR Sports currently on sale in Japan. If you look right here, a Toyota badge blacked out. These daytime running lights are the same that you see on a Limited, for example. Uh this is, I believe, what’s called the supersonic red color. This is this is it. This is your flex. the GR Sport badge here, the wider front end. Okay, it looks very similar to the new wide front end on the 2025, 2026 GR Corolla, for example. It’s a little bit lower. We have I want to say it’s about 15 mm lower. Uh, and you can tell when you’re driving it. Okay. Um, the the ride height is just a hair lower. We have wider tires, wider stance. All right. And looking at it from the side, kind of reminds me of the XSSE models. We got that big wing in the back. On the right hand side is your 6.6 kilowatt hour level. Oh, sorry, not kilowatt hour, kilowatt uh charger. All right, as we come to the back here, GR Sport badge, no exhaust tips that are visible. You do have a dual exhaust back here. Little recovery uh point too, it looks like right there. Kind of cool. We also have the cool GR Sport red brake calipers. these exclusive wheels here, these 20-in wheels. And of course, these are summer tires, which are going to give you guys a little bit better grip. All right, you can still see they have um they’re going to be probably fine in the rain. All right, so you’re not going to be losing too much traction out there when there’s less than optimal conditions. All right, there’s no sunroof option on this, no panel roof option on this model. You guys probably want to know what’s under the hood. And the GR Sport for the the RAV 4 comes with one powertrain. All right, it’s the top-of-the-line powertrain. It’s the plug-in hybrid. 2 and 1/2 L naturally aspirated four-cylinder made it to two electric motors up front. One of those electric motors is a motor generator start the engine, a little bit of regen. Uh the second electric motor up front produces about 200 horsepower and around 200 lb feet of torque. Okay. And that powers the direct wheels, uh, the front wheels directly. All right. And then you have an additional motor in the back that provides around 90 lb feet of torque to give you that all-wheel drive. You get around 40 m per gallon uh once you run out of electric range. This does have a 22.7 kWh battery to give you upper 40s mile upper 40s, so 48 miles or so of electric range. So total combined horsepower here is 324 horsepower. all plug-in hybrids, including this GR Sport, the Woodland, the SE, the XSSE. They are all made in Japan for now. Um, but let’s go over some of the GR exclusive pieces in here. Um, I want to check the cargo. Well, again, here is the cool spoiler. There might be a a GR exclusive mat in the back. We’ll find out. There is. Love that. And unlike um the XSSE plugin or the Woodland uh models, this does not have the 1500 watts of accessory power. I would miss that personally. I like having that feature. Let’s get into the back seat. Okay, we have suede on the inside. Kind of feels like um yeah, taken out of like a GR Corolla sort of materials. Uh very nice red stitching and uh USBC’s back there. vents back there. Okay. Kind of a gray uh material on the door panel. I found these seats to be the most comfortable uh and out of all the Rad fours I’ve driven today. I don’t know if the bolster bolstering’s more aggressive or not, but I just feel like this suede surface has more give to it. You sit more into the seat compared to the other materials I’ve sat in today. You have some red piping. and the GR badge here on the headrest. Looks pretty nice. GR badged floor mats. This also has aluminum pedals which is unique to this model. You also have little GR badge right there. GR badge here. Red stitching on your shifter. Love the shifter, but you can get this on the Woodland uh and the uh XLE model. And uh let’s let’s go and turn it off. Do we have a cool shutdown screen or anything like that? Charging schedule. Okay, that’s cool. All right, let’s start up. There’s our cool GR logo. This 12-in screen is standard throughout the lineup. Uh, this is the larger 12-in screen in here. I personally prefer the 12 the 10 and 1/2 in screen. This is a 12.9 auto dimming rearview mirror. Again, no roof options. But what does this sporty beefed up RAV 4 drive like? Is this a trend I can get used to? Should I get excited to look forward to more GR Sport products within Toyota’s lineup? Oh, let’s find out. 0 to 60 on the GR Sport. Let’s put it in sport mode. Let’s torque brake. Okay. Jeez, she pulls. She’s still pulling hard. There’s 60. So, that was a 2% slope downhill and we got a 5.5 second. It’s probably more like a 5.7 seconds 0 to 60. I got a 5.8 with a more flat surface on the GR. Sorry, not the GR, the Woodland plug-in hybrid. And they have the exact same horsepower. All right, so 0 to 60 is about 5.7 seconds and 0 to 100 km/h is about 6 seconds. There you have it. All right, so what does she handle like? Well, she doesn’t feel heavy. That’s the crazy thing. When you go up from hybrid to plug-in hybrid, at least when I did it with the Woodland, you could tell that the weight was there, especially when you get into the brakes. I’m going to hit the brakes hard. Yeah. Yep. There’s a lot less pitch and dive forward. And the brakes are better here on this GR Sport. I don’t know if it’s placebo effect, but it feels and and it could just be because of the suspension. It’s a little bit lower to the ground. It’s a little bit more firm, right? Wow, what a view. Like, holy cow. Just absolutely breathtaking. Um, yeah, it handles way the way I want the the rest of the models to handle. This is the best handling model. It feels really light and it feels Here’s the eerie thing. I’ve driven a lot of RAV 4s today. This is the last one. This feels about as light but way more composed. uh compared to the XLE. The XLE was frontwheel drive. It was definitely the surprise out of the bunch in terms of how well it handled. Okay, let’s get in the pedal here. Oh jeez, that is 60. I mean, it’s fast. It’s more than fast enough for a crossover. Like, is it twin turbo V8 fast or inline 6 turbo? Of course not. But we’re talking about a Toyota crossover here. It’s really, really fast. Um, and it’s instant. You get in the pedal and it just goes. All right. The standard hybrid, there’s a little bit of a delay, then it goes. A small delay, but it’s there. There’s no delay here. You put the pedal down and it just you’re off to the races. All right. And it powers out of the turns really, really nicely. It probably helps because this is a more firm, slightly lower, better grip as well, uh, sort of vehicle here. And yeah, the GR Sport I am I this is what I was expecting from it. Honestly, it can’t I have sand right here. I don’t want to fly off the mountain into some cactuses like you know the old like roadrunner the coyote and roadrunner. I don’t want to fly into a cactus and have to pick out the uh the needles. But like what are the downsides to this model compared to the let’s say the the Woodland that I drove? Well, I think the only downside here um is that the tire noise at times can be a little bit boomier, but on this road surface, I don’t notice it. All right, but with these lightweight wheels, gosh, this is just absolutely gorgeous with the lightweight wheels. Oh, we got a a ratchet strap. I couldn’t avoid it because there’s another Route 4 going the other way. Wish me luck, guys. Wish me luck. Hopefully I didn’t do damage to these tires with that ratchet strap in the middle of the road. All right. Anyways, um yeah, the only downside I found in my short time driving it is that sometimes there’s a little bit more boominess out of the the wheels. Okay. But that is just that’s a small that’s a small thing. Most people aren’t going to notice it. Like I said, as soon as I got in here, I noticed the brake the brakes are better and there’s less dive when you break. Um, and the the the seating height is lower, meaning this the the seat doesn’t go lower, but you sit lower because the car is lower just by a little bit, but you can notice it if you’ve been driving other models um in the in the RAV 4 lineup. All right. Hey, there’s a there’s a uh Limited right there. It’s hard to tell. All right, but that was the core front end. All right, so as we go through this turn, I think I mean, who is this for? And I, you know, here’s who this vehicle is for. If you have, you know, if your main car or what if you have a multi-car garage, all right, and you want an amazing daily driver, this is this is an elite daily. It’s still fun to drive. It’s not the funnest to drive, but it’s extremely economical. About 40 miles a gallon, about 50 miles of EV range. Uh, it’s comfortable. Again, I think these are the most comfortable seats in the RAV 4 lineup. I haven’t tested the cloth seats in the Ellie or the SE. I might change my mind then. Um, but if you if you this is your daily driving on the weekends, you have a GR86 or you have a GR Corolla or you have a Supra or whatever it is. Okay, this is for Toyota people who want something that’s not entirely a snoozefest. The normal RAV 4 is boring to drive. Is it quick? It’s quick enough for its class and it’s very economical. It’s very practical. This just has a little bit of spice to it. And it’s great that we are finally getting this spice in the the GR Sport lineup here. It’s all new. Okay. Meanwhile, I’ve been licking my chops at uh like the all the GR model like the GR Aqua, like sorry, the GR Sport Aqua, things like that over in Japan that we can only dream of here. Well, now we’re getting in on it. And why? Because AO Toyota wants to continue to promote Gazu Racing. GR stands for Gazu Racing. That’s their motorsports team. That’s also their sports core development team. And you know, oh, I accidentally triggered the the voice assistant there. So, Toyota is going to hopefully I’m driving the right way. I think that’s where I need to go. Oh, shoot. This could be bad, guys. Using the new software here. Can I pick it? Can Can we go? 34 minutes. All right. I think I’m I think I’m okay. Also, the steering the steering is is um is pretty accurate for a RAV 4. Um what I can tell the steering though is that you can you can feel a lot better what’s going on with the road. All right. They they seemingly want you to feel the vibration in the road, the the the deviations in the road. You can do that a lot with this steering wheel. I did notice that I have a better connection with the road because of how they’ve tuned the steering wheel and haven’t taken out all the vibration from it. That’s just what I, you know, maybe it’s more apparent here because I have skinnier tires. I’m not quite sure, but I like that in a sports car. I like having a strong connection to the road through the steering wheel. Now, would I change anything about this vehicle? Um, would do I want something more out of the GR Sport? And the answer is, well, at what point then does it become a full-blown GR? And could Toyota make a GR RAV 4? Of course they could. But there’s no way it’s going to happen unless they put like a new 2.0 turbo 4 cylinder that they’re working on. Okay, that could happen, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Let’s just keep it here with the GR Sport. 324 horsepower, 0 to 60, let’s say 5.7. It’s a It’s a quick car. It’s an efficient car. It’s a versatile car, just like a It has all the RAV 4 DNA, but it just drives how you would want a RAV 4 to drive, at least if you have half of a performance heart. Okay. Um the the body pitch and roll and dive is really really subdued here. It feels much more glued to the road. Um, and the brake the braking experience here is a lot better as well. So, um, speaking of which, I’m going to hit the brakes one more time here. And we get on the brakes hard. Yeah, those are really good brakes. Is the GR Sport what I would be picking out of all the plug-in hybrids? I don’t know. I really like the Woodland. Um, you know, some people might not like the looks of of this GR Sport. It’s a little much. It’s a little over the top. It’s a little racer boy for me. It’s cool, though. I’ll give it that. It’s cool. I’m glad Toyota’s doing it. I personally give me the Woodland uh with the accessory power in the back. Um, the cool roof rails, the all-terrain tires. That’s more my speed at least for a RAV 4. Okay. But let me know. I’m I definitely was not impressed with the XSE and I didn’t drive the plug-in hybrid variant of it, but I don’t think my opinion would change to be honest. Um, so Woodland is still my pick of the bunch. XLE Premium’s right up there with it. Um, it’s all going to come down to price. Um, and what is this? We don’t know what this car is going to cost. Again, my guess is like $50,000. It could be more. It could be 55. Is this a $55,000 car? Would you rather have a Lexus NX. Oh, I Oh, that’s a tough question, right? Right. So, hopefully I’ll revisit you guys with with the RAV 4 once once we get pricing, I’ll make a follow-up video because I’m kind of flying blind here and driving blind, not knowing the pricing of any of these RAV 4s. Um, and they launch in about two months. Not the plug-in hybrids, they launch in the spring of 2026. So, we’re still about a half year away from these made in Japan um Rav 4s landing on our shores. So, yeah, stay tuned for more. I got a lot more to share with you guys with the Rav 4. If you enjoyed today’s content, I appreciate a little like button. Hit Arusals. And it’s time to sign out from Tanto National Forest. See you guys. Be safe out there. Peace.
#toyota #grsport #rav4 #phev #gazooracing
In this first drive, I test out Toyota’s all-new 2026 Rav4 in the new GR SPORT trim. Is this the home-run redesign that the industry has been worried about? Here’s my impressions on this 6th gen Rav4.
Dynamic RAV4 GR SPORT
For drivers looking for intuitive handling and passionate design, there is the first-ever GR SPORT grade. Developed in partnership with the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (GR) Company, the model is exclusively available with a PHEV powertrain and carries forward Toyota’s vision of making ever-better vehicles through the rigors of motorsport.
The GR brand launched in U.S. in 2019 with the GR Supra, but its story started long ago with Toyota Motor Corporation founder Kiichiro Toyoda. His view was that racing was essential for product development. “Automakers use racing as an opportunity to push a vehicle’s performance to the limit and to compete for supremacy, enabling them to discover new ways of advancing automotive technology,” said Toyoda.
Flash forward to 2007 and this concept kicked into high gear with Akio Toyoda, Kiichiro’s grandson and current Chairman of the Board at Toyota Motor Corporation. At that time, Toyoda was actively developing skills as a racecar driver and wanted to expand the company’s use of racing in its car development activities.
The RAV4 GR SPORT carries this spirit forward by taking the high output 324 horsepower PHEV system and working with the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing company to tweak its dynamic drive to a new level. It is equipped with functional components like a front lip and rear wing spoiler for balanced downforce; air ducts in the front grille and bumper to help channel air and reduce drag; offset wheels with performance tires for maximum grip; and drive battery placement that lowers its center of gravity and stabilizes the chassis. It also has one additional inch of overall width due to wider fender flares. The following components are unique to the RAV4 GR SPORT:
GR Functional MATRIX Grille With Upper and Lower Bumper Active Cooling Ducts.
Exclusive Power Steering Mapping for Sport Mode
20-inch Wheels Equipped with Dunlop Sportmaxx® Summer Performance Tires (2.2kg Less Weight Than The RAV4 XSE Model); Additional 20mm Offset and 15-mm Lower Ride Height (7.5-inch Ground Clearance).
Dedicated Damper Tuning and Coil Springs
Rear Suspension Cross Member Reinforcement and Lower Arm Cover
Front performance damper
Front Lip and Rear Wing Spoiler
Static Elimination Material on Front Driver’s Seat Aluminum Tape in Headliner
Rear Diffuser
The RAV4 GR SPORT also has unique interior and exterior features that give it standout style, select standard features include:
Performance/Capability
Plug-in Hybrid with AWD
6th Gen Toyota PHEV System
324 Net Combined HP
37 MPG Combined Manufacturer Estimated Rating
48-mile Manufacturer Estimated All Electric Driving Range Rating
7-kW Onboard AC Charger
Exterior
20-in. Black Alloy Wheels with Black Pearl Machined Finish and Increased Offset with Black Lug Nuts
GR Functional MATRIX Grille with Aggressive Design and Active Sport Ducts for Aerodynamics & Cooling
Front Lip and Rear Wing Spoiler
Wide Piano Black Overfenders
GR Badging on Front Grille
GR SPORT Badging on Rear Hatch
LED Headlamps with LED DRL with Integrated Turn Signal and LED Clearance Lights
Unique Vertical LED Front Bumper Accent Lights
Piano Black Power & Heated Rearview Mirrors with Puddle Lamp, Camera, Turn Signal and BSM Indicators
Red-Painted Brake Calipers with GR Logo
Rear Diffuser with Lower Rear Bumper Valance
Optional 2-Tone Exterior with Black Roof
Power Liftgate
Interior
Brin Naub® Synthetic Suede & SofTex Sport Seats with Wide Bolsters
Front Seats Feature Black/Red Duo Tone Perforation with GR Logo on Headrests
Heated Front Seats with Power 8-Way Driver & Manual 6-Way Passenger Adjustments
12.9-in. Toyota Audio Multimedia with 6 Speakers
12.3-in. Digital Gauge Cluster Feat. Exclusive GR Start-Up Screen
Leather Wrapped Heated Steering Wheel with Sport Paddle Shifters and GR Logo
Red Stitching Accents Throughout Interior
Exclusive Leather Trimmed Shift Boot with Red Stitching
Aluminum Sport Pedals
GR-Branded Front Door Scuff Plates
5 – USB-C Ports: 2 Front USB-C Charging Ports, 1 Center Console Media USB-C Charging Port, & 2 Rear USB-C Charging Ports
1 – Qi-Compatible Wireless Phone Charger
Automatic Rain-sensing Windshield Wipers with Deicer
Auto Dimming Rearview Mirror with HomeLink Garage Opener
00:00 – Intro
00:57 – Walkaround
03:16 – Powertrain
04:20 – Interior differences
06:32 – 0-60 GR Sport
07:14 – What is the GR Sport Rav4 like to drive?
15:13 – Which grade is best?
