Rav4 V6 is what you're looking for.
Rav4 V6 is what you're looking for.
dj06482 wrote: Rav4 V6 is what you're looking for.
There was a time where the V6 Rav4 was Toyota's smallest vehicle offered with the largest engine making it the fastest Toyota offered that year in 0-60 times.
Yeah I think a Mazda3 hatch is the most likely easy answer to this one now that someone pointed it out.
A sporty SUV is called a wagon.
I dunno about a solid front axle being a problem... The Jeep ones have decent suspension geometry and they're dirt simple to work with. They just don't ride quite as nicely as IFS on really rough roads, but then again, the IFS wouldn't be a whole lot better if you stiffened it up. Add a little camber up front, stiffen up the springs, add good shocks and you get this:
John Welsh wrote:dj06482 wrote: Rav4 V6 is what you're looking for.There was a time where the V6 Rav4 was Toyota's smallest vehicle offered with the largest engine making it the fastest Toyota offered that year in 0-60 times.
I can tell you ours moves, the mid-range punch is especially impressive. Still knocks down high 20s on a highway trip (ours is AWD). We have close to 170k on ours and I still enjoy driving it.
I haven't done anything to make it more sporty, but there are options out there. Struts/shocks/springs from the Sport package should stiffen it up a bit, and there are swaybar options out there, as well. Probably the biggest improvement would be lighter wheels and lower profile, performance tires.
rslifkin wrote: I dunno about a solid front axle being a problem... The Jeep ones have decent suspension geometry and they're dirt simple to work with. They just don't ride quite as nicely as IFS on really rough roads, but then again, the IFS wouldn't be a whole lot better if you stiffened it up. Add a little camber up front, stiffen up the springs, add good shocks and you get this:
Ok now I'm curious. Are there more specifics about what you've done here written anywhere? I've been thinking about getting a ZJ or WJ for a while now but this is possibility I haven't considered.
In reply to Chadeux:
I'll give the quick rundown:
Engine has good heads (Indy heads prepped by IMM), mild cam (Comp 20-744-9), intake (Hughes / Edelbrock Airgap), headers (Doug Thorley), 1.7 ratio rockers and way too much of my time spent tuning it. Probably somewhere around +100hp from stock and unlike stock, it knows how to rev now (but still has tons of low end grunt).
Suspension is the stock geometry 5 links (4 link + panhard) at both ends with adjustable control arms up front. Front springs are 280 lb/in (compared to 190 stock), front sway bar is 29mm (compared to 26mm stock). Rear springs are progressive, somewhere around 320 - 350 lb/in at ride height, about 600 lb/in at full squish (compared to 160 lb/in linear springs stock). Rear sway bar is removed (stock was 16mm). Shocks are Bilstein 7100s valved at 400/100 up front, 360/80 in the rear (although I've got a set of 400/100s to put in the rear at some point). Front bumpstops are replaced with bigger, squishier ones from the rear of a 99-06 Chevy Silverado 1500 (not really a factor in that picture).
Directions for making the springs I've got are: for the fronts, buy a set of 3" Skyjacker lift springs for a ZJ (JC30F), cut 2 coils off. Add 3/8" spacer to bring ride height from 1/8" below stock to 1/4" above stock. For the rears, buy a set of Moog progressive front springs for an early Bronco (CC812) and cut 2 coils off (gives ride height about 1/2" - 5/8" above stock).
Wheels/tires are 17x8s with 255/60R17s on them. At the time of the picture it had 3/4" spacers all around. I've since changed that to 3/4" up front, 1" in the rear to increase the stock track width stagger from 0.3" to 0.8".
Brakes are stock calipers / rotors with Carbotech AX6 pads.
The front end also has offset ball joints to add some camber, it's around 0.75 degrees negative now compared to about 0.3 from the factory.
ML55 seems to be the only real option to me.
In reply to rslifkin:
Thanks, I might make use of this info later when I replace my current beater with something less awful.
A Jeep Cherokee won the autocross at a GRM Challenge. There is your sporty SUV.
Did these ever come with the 2.5 turbo?
yupididit wrote: ML55 seems to be the only real option to me.
That was my vote.
My suggestions:
or
Both drive pretty well (not sure about the sporty part) and are available with a manual transmission. And can be had for under 4K easy
Tahoe PPV Like this one
I guess a Forester with STi drivetrain and suspend suspension swap. It'll be way over budget.
Bobzilla wrote: Tahoe PPV Like this one
I think Bob wins. Those tahoes are pretty neat.
I've seen some Acura RDX approach your price range. A boosted k series seems like it could be fun. Probably handles better than most SUVs
In reply to mw:
Not really. Too narrow/tall. And they suck gas like the larger MDX with the 3.7 V6
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