BACK in 2013 when the 40 Series RAV4 launched, it pleasantly surprised critics who were bowled over by Mazda’s all-conquering CX-5 and left wanting more by other Japanese mid-size SUV stalwarts such as the Honda CR-V, Subaru Forester and Mitsubishi Outlander.

The RAV4 quickly started showing its age against an early CX-5 update, while all-new contenders such as the Nissan X-Trail and Hyundai Tucson further raised the game in this segment and made the Toyota look expensive.

Meanwhile, Toyota has quietly gone about improving the RAV4 for this facelifted model, with numerous updates adding up to far more than the sum of their parts. It’s still at the pricey end of the segment, but this popular SUV has definitely found a new lease of life.

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