2026 Toyota RAV4 GR vs VW Tiguan Turbo // Drag Race + Review

You're watching Throttle House. I'm Thomas. And I'm James. And the hot compact craze is spreading. Volkswagen and Toyota are the latest victims.

The Tiguan now gets a Turbo badge and our badges. And yes, even the RAV4, a car as interesting as pigeon only bird watching now gets swathed with GR

badges. So before we get into their livability and looks and all the other stuff, let's see if those letters mean anything. And if this goes anything like the race between the GR Corolla and the Golf

R, their younger siblings. Well,

Let that not be this day. For we have given spicy trims to economy crossovers, which is like giving a spliff to a six year old. It's wrong, but you want to see it and you want

to upload it to the Internet. And that's what's happening now. We've brought a GTI just as a bit of a reference point. Why? As we all know how quick a GTI is, that's going to tell us just how quick

these things actually are.

Oh, it looks like the Toyota has this, but that's only on paper. And German horsepower is often underrated and the car is even lighter, so it's anyone's game.

Three, two, one.

And we're off. Oh, that shift didn't feel good. All the EV torque off the line's got the RAV4 going. Oh, we are off. We're like off.

Oh, my God. It's extremely quick. Look at that thing go.

Wow. I'm in a different race. Gr.

That was a slaughter. Wow, wow, wow. I did not expect the difference to be that substantial. Different race, mate. I didn't think that it was gonna be that different.

You absolutely dusted me. Do we need a spicier reference frame car than the Golf? Who won at the end between? He was next to you. You beat a Golf

GTI in that by a country mile. Actually, that's inaccurate because the whole thing was a quarter mile, so. So it's literally not a country mile. Country quarter, country eighth of a mile. Significant, significant

change. I can't believe how quick that thing is. Yeah, I'm gonna switch out that Golf though. All right.

Yeah, we brought the Charger six pack along because it's here and it probably can't. But if the RAV4GR can get close to that, then, you know, stops being a lifestyle choice and it just becomes a legendary choice. All

right, I realize now, why am I in this race? We already know this. Anyway, front row seats to whatever the hell happens here. Three Two, one,

go.

Okay. Yeah. He's off. All right. We got too brave there. Oh. So the Charger's quite a bit faster. Yeah. But you know what? The distance between Me and the RAV4 is the distance between the RAV4 and the charger. We

got too brave. But look at the difference between the three.

Did you get a bit cocky with how quick the RAV4 was? It wasn't me. It was the souls of all GR fans across the world. Right. Not sure what that teaches us, but. Well, listen, I've got the electric torque off the line. Yes.

The charger has proved that I've lost the plot. So. Yes. All right, let's hit the roads. You give this a go. Okay. But first, I do think we should change our clothes.

Who am I now? You are matric wah.

Oh, like Patrick Wa. The goalie. Exactly. I see. Very clever. What are you implying exactly? I'm implying that WeatherTech liners are so good at protecting you, they should be able to deal with whatever a Canadian winter can throw at you. So

I found five of the angriest Canadian hockey players I've ever met and they said they're going to bring a winter down upon you. I think the idea is that WeatherTech liners are meant to protect the carpets in your car from salt

and snow. They're not meant to stop hockey pucks. Right, but this is one of those like, oh, if you want to get to my car, you've got to go through me things. And in which case me is use Thomas. And it is. Oh, we're gonna get

a big sample. It's gonna be science. You sure this is gonna work? 100p, you hoser. Okay. All right, lads, do your.

We'll get back to the rink and WeatherTech at the end of the video. All right, in the RAV4GR sport, it's time for you to experience sport mode. Okay.

That's quick though. It is quick. That's quite quick. It's already proved that it has. This has the same powertrain as the other normal plug in hybrid, the non gr. All the GR stuff is everything else. It

has beefed up suspension, it has sport tuned steering. When you're in sport mode, it has a performance front damper, it's got dedicated coil springs that are gr and obviously it looks cool. Well, they haven't ruined the ride.

No, the ride's not ruined. It's quite nice actually. Yeah. And even though we are high up when we drive because of that plug in hybrid stuff, there's three electric motors down low that keep that center of gravity low so you can hustle this. The

roads are a bit compromised today, but you can absolutely hustle this car in a way that a Toyota RAV4 should never be able to, or never needed to be able to, 100%. Except not only does it look cool, not

only does it have that ability to hustle, the insulation's still good, the ride is still good. And in auto mode, I have been getting 4 liters per 100 kilometers of this. That's insane. And there's 853 kilometers in a tank. Yes.

But because this is a plug in hybrid, you have a 48 mile or 77 kilometer EV only range that you can use as well. But you have to plug it in to get there. You have to plug it in to get that. Yeah, yeah. It doesn't have that self charging mode

if you just go into petrol for a while. Which is a bit of a downside. It is a downside and I'm sure it will reflect in the price, which as of filming, we don't know yet. That's the annoying thing about the plug in hybrids. They make sense until they're 20 grand more than the

next one. But you can only get the RAV4 in hybrid now, or plug in hybrid. There's no normal gas, only RAV4. So no matter what you get, this inline four is assisted. This one happens to be assisted by 200 horsepower

of electric motors. Yeah, it's quite nice to drive. And even though I'm in sport mode right now, I am just kind of cruising in it. Yes. Right. Does the CVT feel like

a performance car? No, no, no. And that is a kind of a, it's a weird way to ruin what was otherwise, you know, a decently sporty package. And I mean, listen,

Toyota's already stepping into dangerous territory by putting GR badges on things. I just want to say, like if you're gonna do this new Halo brand gr because the GR GT is just

gr. Yes. You gotta be careful with this stuff. Well, this is technically GR Sport, which means it's like Audi S, not rs. It's M Performance. Yes. And I have just as many choice words to say about them for

that as well. Yes. Right. You just got to be careful with your brands that you've put so much equity into by making really good cars with them. So I don't know, I don't know what to do. I really like this. And so first of all,

dads love this. Oh, they love this. You want to know why Dads love. This is. Because this is firmly within the camp of being a responsible family man. But it's. It's that toe. It's that

toeing the line of most responsible. Yeah. You know the horn. I'm picturing the dad from Stranger Things with the horn rim glasses. Yep. That very like. Yeah. Put together one with the hot wife she's banging. Yeah. This is the hot wife. This

is it. It's like. It's like he's got it together and he's hanging and he's able to have a little fun with it. Exactly. Yeah. But is this the car you're gonna go out on a Sunday and be like, I just need to go for a drive.

I just need to rip it, man. Just like. But I remember the Prime. You don't take one of these to cars and coffee. No. I think you've got a week when it's brand new. Everyone's like, that's a new gr. And then it will fall into non existence. Yes, exactly. But I remember when the

RAV4 prime came out, people were queued up like they just opened a new Cheesecake Factory in the neighborhood. The prime was hard to get. It was coveted. It was desirable. Yeah. This

still does do things like torque steer and the CVT with that inline four drones. But I forgive it. I forgive it because I've just got on so well with it. Yeah, this is good.

Yeah. But the Tiguan. I know, that's the thing. This is still on the wrong side of 50 grand. And the interior. I know that Tiguan's good inside. Let's take a look.

Damn. This is much nicer place to be, isn't it? Yeah. Listen, even though that one's pre production, the general design of this is very, very nice. Yeah. Little sneaky confession. Yeah.

I've done a little bit of nerding out over this car before today, in the months leading up, because I have thought that maybe if I was to give up the Golf R as a family car, that now that this has the same engine, that EA888,

that also sits under the bonnet of a Porsche Macan, it wouldn't be so undignified of a switch. No, it would. But it's okay, though, because this is quite a nice car and I can see how

you would want to live with it. And if I'm being perfectly honest with you right now, while we're doing confessions, I felt the same thing as well. Luckily, as far as safe spaces go, this is quite well appointed. Good segue,

James. I Thought it would feel quicker, though. This doesn't feel even close to my Golf R. No. And we've proved this. You know, it's far off. It doesn't have the EV that the RAV4 does. Right. So it just kind of needs boost.

It needs time and gear, and it's also not got the fuel economy as a result. Right. It's actually not very good fuel economy, but it's not priced. I don't want to get into pricing too much, but it's not priced terribly the same way the Golf is not. It's a hair over 50.

Canadian hair. Yes. And again, we get it for a deal. I'm sorry, Americans. Yeah. We get these things for good prices in Canada. So I've been living with this. Yes. And it's been quite nice. It's difficult to argue with the space

that you get to sit in. It's difficult to argue with the power, the accessibility of it. Right. However, the ride's a bit stiff. Oh, is it? Even in comfort mode, the ride in the RAV4 is nicer.

I don't really know why. But you know what? This is the most fun crossover to drive in the Volkswagen lineup. So there's. I did really caveat that whole sentence. Yeah. I

can't get over how much sportier that RAV4 feels. Okay. So here's how I see this vehicle. I don't see this as an attempt at being an actual R. No. I see this more as bridging the

gap between what you would consider the non luxury brands and the luxury brands, because the thing that you separates them, especially in the modern era, with good insulation and all that is performance. Straight line power. Really. Yes. Right.

Because if you get into like even a basic X3, they're pretty quick. Yeah. And this is quick enough that this now feels like a full luxury car. Oh, it's absolutely quick enough. I say it's not as quick as my Golf R, but this is still two

seconds quicker than any Tiguan that's come before it. It's absolutely moving. Yeah. Other than, as I said, the hard impacts, but being a little bit too stiff. Yeah. I don't think that

there's any fault that I can give the way that this car drives. It's got that. That confidence, it's got that firmness, it's got that sense of solidity that an Audi, a BMW, a Mercedes gives you. And

a little bit of speed, actually. But you know what? It looks like a donkey's assault. No, it looks fine. It's. No, this Light bar is too high.

Okay. It's fine. The color doesn't. But. But they didn't. I just. Why is it. It looks so bulky here. It kind of bugs me and I don't actually care in this segment that much. Oh, God. I said segment. You said segment.

Oh, what have I done? What's happened? Go be ashamed in the corner somewhere. Okay. Oh, no, I just. I'm sorry for that. I was about to say that the RAV4 is mean, but you're right. Like a car in this class. Thank you. There you go. Yeah.

Doesn't have. It can only be so much. I mean, look, the RAV4's got a bloody spoiler on the back. It's got black roof spoiler, aggressive grill. No, I actually like it because it's. If it was the Ferrari,

Amalfi became an suv. Yes. That's what this would be. This is giving you pure Sangwei vibes. It's very pure Sangwei. Yes. Yeah. It's blocky and angular. You know what I mean? It's fine. Hey. This sits

just over half an inch lower than a normal RAV4. Giving it a full scale of Godzilla level aggression. It's wider. It comes with summer tires, performance tires. It otherwise just

looks like a RAV4. RAV4? Yeah. Yeah, RAV4. I think they've both done a good job with their updates. What's this? That's. That. Come on. That is sadness manifest. It's not even good on the actual R. No, no.

But it's really bad here. That's about as top trim as you can get for this. The R line stuff. Yes. Look, it's like. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's. It's someone who had a Golf and decided they

needed something. I don't know. Okay. There honestly isn't that much to say about these on the outside. They are what they are. If you like them, you like them. If you don't, you don't, who cares? What actually matters is what's going on inside. Okay. The big caveat is that

this is a pre production model. Yes. Which we can't get that to go away. And because we haven't got the price, it could be an absolute steal at 20 bucks. Bucks? Yeah. It could be 20 Canadian bucks. But I think

we could probably comment on the steering wheel, which has got all GR vibes going on. I like it. It's fun. It's nice. Yeah. The. I got a 12.9 inch screen here and a 12 point something else 3 inch screen here. Which means I got 25.2

inches of glorious screen. And it's. No, it's not as nice as the Tiguan. It just isn't, is it? No, it's just not. No. But listen, I'm a Toyota fan. I own a Toyota.

Okay? And there it is again. And I don't really care. I'm more concerned about usability, ergonomics, comfort, durability, reliability. And that's what

you get with the Toyota. Right. So maybe the materials aren't as nice. Maybe it doesn't look as good. Maybe there's no ambient lighting or all. Anything. But it's. It's. It's just gonna work. It'll be fine. It's got a proper shifter. Yep. I like that Tiguan. Good. This is

a bit, you know, gr. It's a gr. Yeah. We've tested the back seats. Harrison R. 6 foot 6. Sound engineer has more headroom in this than the Tiguan, Although the knee room is allegedly the same. Noted

otherwise. Yeah. Not a very fancy roof situation. Just a little sunroof rather than the full glass thing. And I just. I think that, as usual, this is not news. Toyota is ever so slightly behind in interior tech, design

wise. It's got the rugged thing, you know, this whole blocky. Yeah. But I. And I. It kills me to bring this up because I just. I hate mentioning the CRV hybrid, but

I like that CRV hybrid a lot. It's basically the civic interior. It's very simple, clean design. It's got a good interior. The interior is where this car is let down. But I really, really, really like it everywhere else. Yeah, no, it is everywhere. It is a very good

vehicle. And if you bought one, I would be like, good choice. Yes. However, if you want something that's just a little bit more luxurious, maybe you should look at a Tiguan. This is nicer. No, a lot nicer. Like

a lot. Like a lot. Like a lot a lot. Yeah. Massaging seats. Rolls Royce level art display there. It isn't. No, it's not. But I kind of wish, you know, when you said the badge is cheap on the side, it's all

gone into this instead. That's where. That's where you get to enjoy it. The gallery. No, listen, a little bit of hard wood goes a long way. Does this count as open, Paul? I believe it does. That's what I would tell people. I

wouldn't even say, will. It's got the open paw. Oh, it's open pour. This technically has. It's not real. I think this has got screen superiority because this is a 10.25 inch screen and a 15 inch screen, which leads it to a 25.25 inches screen, which

means this has 0.05 inches more screen and therefore is a premium. I just want you to know you'll never get that time back. Like, you can't. It's too late. I live in the pixels, man.

This is what it's all about. So obviously the steering wheel has. This is the updated VW steering wheel without the stupid little, like, haptic buttons. This is not the updated steering wheel. This is a false truth. Here we go. It is not an updated

steering wheel. Well, it's updated because they went back on themselves. They went back on themselves. No. Ferrari, for example, have done a fully new updated steering wheel that you can now retrofit to the shitty capacitive touch ones. This is them

using the base version of the wheels. Because, anyway, long story short, a Golf R still has haptic buttons because it's an R button. They haven't got an R specific wheel. So on the Golf GTIs, they just went back to the normal TSI. You know what a Golf doesn't have, though, is

a volume knob like this one. We've got this lovely. I still don't use it. Yeah, but you would if you. No, I wouldn't. No, you would. No, because that's stupid. No, it's not so good. So much better. No, it's so, so much better. And

you can switch. Look, you click it and it becomes the drive mode selector. I like that. And then the functions are triptych. You can select atmospheres. Yes. And

you just have an array of incredibly manly options for the interior of this car in terms of lighting, lounge, nature. I'm going to click it again. Energetic. Minimal.

My biggest issue with the Golf is nothing to do with volume knobs or anything like that. Or even the steering wheel, which I do sometimes turn the heated seat on. It's a heated steering wheel. It's that the fact that my software never, ever works. Oh,

that's great. Because this has been completely flawless. So that's. That was the thing I wanted. Yeah. No, it's not. Right. Yeah. The wireless Apple CarPlay is literally not usable. It glitches constantly. And when you have wireless carplay

connected, none of the other stuff in the screen works either. It's also completely glitchy Volkswagen when you plug it in. It's fine. I need you to get your shit together because you are otherwise so strong in so many places.

But That I hate it. I get so upset with it. It's very, very frustrating. Even my wired carplay, by the way, has stopped working on my Golf. Oh, good. And I've asked Volkswagen about this and they

were like, yeah, it seems to be happening. That's not an answer. And what's weird is the mark 8.0.5. We get off topic here is in a weird adolescence where they've stopped caring about it because the new Golfs have this stuff, which

means they're constantly updating this and mine has been forgotten already. It reminds me, I was just in a hotel in England recently for no reason whatsoever and it was freezing in the bar and I said to the waitress, the waiter, I said, sorry,

sir, it's a bit cold in here. And he goes, it is, isn't it? Yeah. And that was it. There is zero attempt at fixing the problem. And that's exactly what Volkswagen is doing with this. And I think they need to be a little bit more. I feel about as supported as Windows

10. It's a sad place to be. However, this has massaging seats. Yeah, it has a nice interior. Lots of massaging seat options. By the way, if you go into the menu here, we can go to driver. The programs

are just. I never use massaging seats. I never end up using them. It even comes with upward strokes. Don't look at me, don't look at me, don't look at me. But

it's got the glass roof. It seems so much nicer in the back. Yeah, this is a nicer place to be. But I totally get why you'd get a RAV4. Yeah. I can see the purchase of both of these cars being logical depending on

what you're looking for. So this shift is stupid, though. You're stupid. You're a stupid hybrid shift. Why am I stupid? The shifter says that you're stupid. Shifter.

So the GR RAV4 has the straight line superiority in a way that we. Okay, I. Sorry. Never expected. Its fuel economy gives it the range of a bar tailed godwit. And

it looks funky. And despite its performance prowess, somehow it doesn't really sacrifice any comfort. Price being unknown is a big question, but as it stands, kudos. Toyota. The

Tiguan is modern VW at its best. A perforated flat bottom steering wheel and a turbo badge don't make it feel like an inflated Golf R as we saw. But an inflated GTI is

passable. It's nicely powerful, easy to drive, comfortable. The interior is lovely, and as long as you don't have a smartphone in your life, then, yeah, this is one of those lovely moments where. Where both cars are

pretty damn good at what they set out to be. The choice is yours. Thanks for watching.

So, once again, James categorically failed to demonstrate the Weathertech liner's purpose. They are designed very well to protect your car's interior. They laser scan them for your specific vehicle, and

they are quite literally fit for purpose. That, of course, didn't stop James from continuing to insist that they had an application for hockey. Those poor Throttlehouse subscribers that came out to help him were guinea pigs in an utterly

pointless investigation into the floor liner's use outside of a car and within a hockey rink. So thanks to them, and frankly, thanks to Weathertech for putting up with his ongoing attempts at. Well, actually, I don't even ever know what his plan is. Point

is, WeatherTech liners are currently helping us keep our cars protected through the winter. So if you don't have any yet, go to weathertech.com to grab some for your car. Yeah, don't be a hoser. Be a beauty. No, James, it's

beauty. That's why I said beauty. No, it's. No, it's beauty. It only works in my accent. He sounds like you're trying to say Beauty and the Beast or something. I'm always about to say Beauty and the Beast. Yeah, we know. All

right, I'm just gonna do a quick French. Yes, yes.

French. Yes, yes. What a wee.

Great.