Adventure concept: Toyota's next Rav4 in disguise?

Published Nov 30, 2017

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Los Angeles Auto Show - While most of today’s SUVs never see terrain any more challenging than that pavement outside soccer practice, Toyota’s latest concept vehicle was purpose-designed to be a support vehicle of sorts for outdoor adventures.

For starters, the FT-AC (Future Toyota Adventure Concept) has infrared cameras mounted on the side mirrors, which can be used to record a trail drive or removed and used to document the adventure at your destination.

Linked to the vehicle’s WiFi, the cameras can either livestream your shenanigans to the rest of the world, or upload the footage to a cloud-based storage where you can edit it in real time from your mobile device.

Even the SUV’s fog lights were designed with adventure in mind - they pop out to double as a torch at the campsite or as a light for your mountain bike. On that note, the FT-AC also comes with an integrated bike rack that automatically retracts when not in use.

The concept has a torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system with variable terrain-response settings and four-wheel-lock functionality.

No mention is made of the engine, but Toyota says it was designed to support a hybrid powertrain.

Beefy looks and rough-road protection come in the form of ‘floating’ wheel arch extensions, front and rear skid plates, a high (though unspecified) ground clearance and 20-inch wheels shod in all-terrain tyres.

Yet given the vehicle’s basic proportions and the softroader-like lines beneath all that macho cladding, we can’t help but wonder if this isn’t in fact a design preview of the next-generation Rav4, especially since the current model is nearing the end of its life cycle.

IOL Motoring

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