Driving the 2026 Toyota RAV4 Woodland

There is, of course, no perfect car. But the Toyota RAV4 is as close as you’re ever going to come for most people.

In 2025, the RAV4 was the best-selling consumer vehicle in America, not counting fleet sales. In total, the Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado outsold it. But that came thanks to fleet sales. If you simply count the number of Americans who went into a car dealership and drove out with each car, the RAV4 won.

And Toyota changed it. Completely. The 2026 RAV4 is an all-new generation of Toyota’s best-selling model.

That must be more than a little stressful for its designers. How do you improve on the most successful product of its kind without risking that success? Do you purify what is already working? Do you diversify and give buyers more options?

Toyota has chosen a little of both approaches.

More of what works — the 2026 RAV4 comes only in hybrid or plug-in hybrid form. There’s no longer a purely gas-powered model available. That decision is so consequential that Kelley Blue Book data scientists tell me America’s record hybrid sales in recent months are partly because every RAV4 buyer is now a hybrid buyer. People aren’t choosing more hybrids than ever. They’re still choosing RAV4s. Those are all hybrid now.

And more choice — the RAV4 now comes in several dedicated models, including a sporty GR edition and a Woodland model with some off-road capability.

I spent a week testing the 2026 Toyota RAV4 Woodland edition. I did not test it off-road. Instead, I drove it as most buyers likely will — for errands, in traffic, on highways, parallel parking in urban settings, and driving around the suburbs.

And yeah, honestly … this still strikes just about every note well.

It left me feeling sorry for other car designers. A mentor in this business once said to me about a rival compact SUV, “This is 94% as good as a RAV4. Which means people should just buy a RAV4.”

I’m happy to report that Toyota’s bestseller remains perhaps the most practical choice you could make … in several flavors now.

Which Trim Level

Toyota now builds six trim levels of hybrid RAV4 and four additional trim levels of plug-in hybrid RAV4. The company lent me the hybrid edition in Woodland form. It’s not meant to cross the Andes, but standard all-wheel drive (AWD), all-terrain tires, Rigid brand fog lights, a roof rack, and all-weather floormats and cargo liner mean you can take it into most light trail situations with confidence.

Mine had one accessory genuinely designed for real overlanding — a roof basket.

Favorite Feature

The powertrain in the 2026 Toyota RAV4 is a marvel. The new hybrid system is more powerful than either the gas or hybrid systems available last year — 226 horsepower for front-wheel drive (FWD) models and 236 in this AWD version. Yet it gets 38 mpg in combined driving in this, the least-efficient model available. Other trim levels get as high as 43 mpg. It’s smooth, responsive, efficient, and calm. Given Toyota’s reliability history, it’s likely to hold up well over the years.  

What It’s Like to Drive

The 2026 RAV4 is now one of the most powerful vehicles in its class. In AWD form, its 236 hp dwarfs the 204 of the Honda CR-V Hybrid. The Mazda CX-50 Hybrid comes close with 219 but, ironically, uses the Toyota-designed powertrain from the last-generation RAV4. Toyota built this one to replace that one.

Around town, it accelerates faster than most rivals. When passing on the highway, its continuously variable automatic transmission can drone a bit, but that’s not unusual at this price point.

Steering effort is very light, and braking is firm and predictable, with none of the slightly spongy feel you sometimes get with regenerative braking in hybrids.

The Woodland model specifically comes with an invisible hood view that shows what’s underneath the vehicle — a useful trick in tricky parking situations.

I didn’t have much opportunity to test the limits of its AWD system in a week of fair weather.

Interior Comfort and Technology

Toyota has gone with a rugged, boxy look in the 2026 RAV4’s cabin, even for non-Woodland models. Buttons are now big squares and rectangles suitable for use with gloves on, and the dashboard includes more storage cubbies than any other compact SUV I’ve driven — both a useful touch and a pain to keep clean.

Dual wireless charging trays allow both front-seat occupants to charge their phones at the same time.

The screens also give you access to a built-in dashcam that records a continuous loop of 90 one-minute increments and automatically saves what it sees in the event of an accident.

Most mainstream cars now use faux leather in place of cloth, even on affordable trims. Toyota’s SofTex version is soft and wears well over time. On my tester, it came in a mix of light and medium gray, divided by orange contrast stitching. Metallic orange trim on the center console added to the outdoorsy theme, and appears only on the Woodland model.

The driver faces an instrument screen that is not shrouded, but glare was never a problem, even in bright sunlight. A central touchscreen is mounted high enough that you don’t have to look down far to see it. Most features, including climate control and drive modes, can be accessed through buttons if you want to avoid touchscreen menus.

The Woodland model comes with all-weather rubber floormats that are among the best I’ve seen. The mat in the cargo area stretches to cover the backs of the seats, with accordion folds so that it protects them equally well raised or folded.

You get more rear legroom and cargo space in a Kia Sportage, but not the protection to keep it as clean.

Limitations

The RAV4 is the right answer for many buyers, but it’s a bit rare at dealers in mid-2026. Toyota builds it at three factories, but had to shut each down for two weeks to convert from building the old model to the new. That left dealers with a thinner supply than normal.

With a slower-selling car, that wouldn’t create a meaningful inventory problem. But, in one that sells this fast, it has left some dealers with few RAV4s on the lot and backed-up ordering systems.

That problem should self-correct later in the year. But it might make it hard to find the precise combination of colors and features you want.

I question the wisdom of spending more than a thousand additional dollars on the roof basket. It’s responsible for much of the mpg penalty — other models get up to five miles more out of each gallon of gas.

Key Considerations

The Woodland model offers off-road capabilities that few drivers use. Buying an SE model with AWD might give you all the capability you need.