Hi,
I am new to this forum. I've bought a V6 Ltd a month ago and have 1800 miles on it now. The car is generally fine except for a couple of issues. "Soft suspension and a flat spot in the throttle."
The delayed response is similar to the shutter lag in a cheap digital camera. Except when the shutter does fire (engine revs up), it comes suddenly and in a big whoosh. I guess when nothing happens, you do tend to give it more gas. This may not be much of a problem when accerlating from a stop light but could be dangerous when cornering on mountain roads. It is especially noticable when you are alternately braking and accerlating at the same time, as you often do on winding hilly roads.
Compounding this with the soft suspension, it makes driving smoothly on hilly terrain a difficult task.
This does not seem normal for a brand new car! A very poorly designed user interface and something that subtracts from a positive driving experience.
I wonder if there are others in this forum that have the same problem?
Apart from that, love the power of the V6; if only you can use it.
A lot of people on other website forums are complaining about the same thing. It seems to happen on both engines, I haven't experienced it yet on my V6, I only have 900 miles so far.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a TSB or a recall soon if Toyota doesn't want to lose customers because of this problem.
You could always go to this site and post a complaint.
If you're referring to the delay in throttle response when "goosing" the throttle in park or neutral, that is by design of the throttle by wire, there's no physical cable to the throttle body, it's all electronic.
I've got almost 1800 miles on mine and have never noticed a delay in throttle response when driving, I have noticed a delay in kick down of the transmission, but it's not bad and never has caused a problem. It beats a transmission that kicks down too easy and "hunts" for the right gear.
No, the throttle delay I am refering to does not happen in neutral.
I have about 1800 miles on the car now and it was acting that way since day 1.
It is most evident when you go from a coasting, (throttle off) mode to acceration (throttle ON), with the gear selector in "D"
It usually goes something like this:
Step on the gas- nothing happens for a split second; then the flood gates open with a whoosh.
It does not appear to be a down shift although it sometimes felt like one.
When driving around on smooth and flat terrain, it is rarely noticable. When driving in hilly areas with lots of curves; it is especially annoying when you try to lift off the brakes and apply gas to come out of a turn, the car feels like it is stumbling and then jerks off suddenly.
The dealer claims that it is typical of TOYOTA cars with electronic throttle control, but if it is not experienced by "ALL" R4 owners, there must be a solution to correct this problem.
I have to agree, mine doesn't do anything like that. There must be some adjustment to the sensitivity level of the throttle, I feel mine is just the opposite and the complaint of the throttle being touchy has been reported a lot, from the multitude of roadtesters to many owners.
I've gotten used to mine now, but the wife gave me heck when I first got it, she thought I was making jack rabbit starts on purpose when it was just me getting used to the touchy throttle. She hasn't asked to drive it yet and I don't think she's prepared for it!!
Hello. I cant help but jump into this one because i have complained about this very same problem in my 06 Tundra. There is nothing wrong with your truck, or suv...I dont understand why people say they dont notice it in there vehicles? It seems there are too many people complaining about this same problem and for that reason there is somthing wrong with your truck or mine or Freds.? doesnt add up... i dont know the technical talk, but i will tell you...you are not crazy becuase i thought i was...I even started my own thread about it...check it out for information..
I am wondering if the reason some people are not noticing it could be due to their driving style.
If you drive the Rav 4 as a "putt putt" grocery getter coastling at 2/10ths all the time, you probably will not notice any throttle lag.
If you try to drive more enthustically trying to take advantage of its 269hp V6, the car simply would refuse to do it.
I just wonder how it would perform against some of the more sporty CUV's like the upcoming Mazda CX7, the BMW X3, the Honda Engined Vue etc. It would be a great comparision test for C&D magazine!
CKL, C&D got a 6.3 second 0-60 time in their roadtest of the 2006 V6 Rav4, I have to believe that not all Rav4s have the hesitation problem you speak of, mine certainly doesn't have it and I drive about as aggressively as anyone and still stay within the law!! My city mpg ranges from 16.5 to 18 most of the time, seldom get the 19 and 20 that a lot of R4W owners are getting in the polls there, but that's cuz of the heavy right foot!!
If your current dealer won't help you, I would be changing dealers, that's just not acceptable.
If you’re feeling less relaxed, the V-6 supplies gobs of punch power when you want it, and sometimes when you don’t—the throttle is touchy off idle, the squirt from the line a little racy if you’re not judicious. Our fuel card reported 16 mpg overall, but we feel duty-bound to disclose that it was set mostly during hard mountain driving.
Didn't mean to offend anyone's driving style with their Rav.
I wish mine has a responsive throttle like yours.
Generally, when accerlarating from a standing start, it responds normally and rips rapidly through the shifts. I would not dispute the sub 7 sec 0-60 times.
The problem I am talking about is often occuring through transitions from PART or NO throttle to FULL throttle; like taking you foot off the brake and powering out past the apex of a turn. The "kick" that you expect in a normal car does not happen right away but well after you have made the turn, causing the car to coast through rather than power through the turn. (with lots of understeer). The power then comes on at the wrong time, compounding the understeer. The VSC lights have never come on at any time; and the road conditions are dry and paved.
This also happens when you are basically coasting at lower RPM and wants to accerlerate suddenly. However, it does not pose a dangerous situation when you are travelling in a straight line. Rather than nailing the throttle, I have to learn to "squeeze" it gently and let the rev's build up. To be fair, the rev's does build rapidly with a satisfying sound from the motor and a nice push on the backside.
It appears that down shifting manually often does improve the the throttle response.
ckl
PS- it is nice to know that I am not the only one getting sub 20 mpg.
Newbie here, and just as Chaslau states it is the exiting of a corner is where you notice most. We have an I4 2wd that does has this exact issue. It's irritating to have an inconsistent repsonse out of an otherwise good performing vehicle.
I'm currently driving an 06 4-cyl 4WD Sport. It is a rental car, but I've been driving it for 2 weeks now. The Highlander won't be out of the body shop for another week and a half. I don't notice the gas pedal lag exactly but what I notice seems like it is in too tall a gear.
Example: when at a stop light then making a Right turn it is fine, but after you make the turn and are starting to accelerate, it is pokey. When you step on it to avoid getting run down, it drops down a gear or two.
The slow throttle response at tip in will probably be fixed with a software update. I've heard of other cars having this problem during their first year. The Nissan Titan comes to mind.
Mine 01 TRD has that prob, I reset my CPU at auto zone and it went away for about 6 months then came back. Ran codes but nothing was wrong. So a quick reset with a code reader or disconnecting your battery for a few minutes seems to help. Yes there is a problem and I want to say I got a confused CPU. lol
Our 2006 Rav4 has the same problem and I find it's worse with the engine cold. Does it every morning as we get on to the highway. It seems that the engine is dying and then just takes off. We've gotten somewhat used to it but I agree that for a new vehicle, it's kind of strange and unacceptable. The dealer says there's no problem (big surprise!!)
I have a RAV4 4 cyl Sport auto trans. There is a hesitation problem.
On two weekends after not driving for about 24hrs, the car barely crawled out of my parking space and inched it's way up a hill. At the top of the hill I put the pedal down about halfway and it gradually picked up speed and then
"whooshed" into 2nd. For the rest of the day it seemed fine. If I downshift to 2nd, slow down to make a right turn, and then, after the turn, I give it half throttle, there is that hesitation and then it kicks into gear.
Naturally my dealer found nothing, except to substitute real oil for synthetic. Apparently Toyota has no knowledge of this.
I have read about the slight hesitation with fly-by-wire throttle but I think the problem I am having is more than slight hesitation. The dealer gave me a Scion for a day while my car was being repaired. The Scion did not have a noticeable hesitation.
Throttle delay
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My city mpg ranges from 16.5 to 18 most of the time, seldom get the 19 and 20 that a lot of 
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