2023 TOYOTA RAV4 ESP

1794-1. Before driving
4
Driving
4-1.Before driving
■Starting the engine
 P.203, 204
■Driving
1 With the brake pedal
depressed, shift the shift
lever to D. ( P.209)
2 Release the parking brake.
( P.213)
If the parking brake is in automatic
mode, the parkin g brake will be
released automatically. ( P.215)
3 Gradually release the brake
pedal and gently depress the
accelerator pedal to acceler-
ate the vehicle.
■Stopping
1 With the shift lever in D,
depress the brake pedal.
2 If necessary, set the parking
brake. ( P.213)
If the vehicle is to be stopped for an
extended period of time, shift the
shift lever to P. ( P.209)
■Parking the vehicle
1 With the shift lever in D,
depress the brake pedal.
2 Set the parking brake.
( P.213)
Make sure the parking brake indi-
cator light is on.
3Shift the shift lever to P
( P.209).
4 Turn the engine switch to
OFF to stop the engine.
Do not press the shift release but-
ton after shifting the shift position to
P.
5Lock the door, making sure
that you have the key on your
person.
If parking on a hill, block the wheels
as needed.
■Starting off on a steep
uphill
1 With the brake pedal
depressed, shift the shift
lever to D. ( P.209)
2 Pull the parking brake switch
and parking brake is set
manually. ( P.213)
3 Release the brake pedal and
gently depress the accelera-
tor pedal to accelerate the
vehicle.
Parking brake automatic release
function ( P.215)
■When starting off on a uphill
The hill-start assist control will acti-
vate. ( P.319)
■Driving in the rain
●Drive carefully whe n it is raining,
because visibility will be reduced,
the windows may become fogged-
up, and the road could be slip-
pery.
●Drive carefully whe n it starts to
rain, as the road surface could be
especially slippery.
●Refrain from hig h speeds when
driving on an expressway in the
Driving the vehicle
The following procedures
should be observed to
ensure safe driving:
Driving procedure

1804-1. Before driving
rain, because there may be a
layer of water between the tires
and the road surface, preventing
the steering and brakes from
operating properly.
■Engine speed while driving
In the following conditions, the
engine speed may become high
while driving. This is due to auto-
matic up-shifting control or down-
shifting implementation to meet driv-
ing conditions. It does not indicate
sudden acceleration.
●The vehicle is judged to be driving
uphill or downhill
●When the accelerator pedal is
released
●When the brake pedal is
depressed while sport mode is
selected
■Restraining the engine output
(Brake Override System)
●When the accelerator and brake
pedals are depressed at the same
time, the engine output may be
restrained.
●A warning message is displayed
on the multi-information display
while the system is operating.
■Breaking in your new Toyota
To extend the life of the vehicle,
observing the following precautions
is recommended:
●For the first 200 miles (300 km):
Avoid sudden stops.
●For the first 500 miles (800 km):
Do not tow a trailer.
●For the first 600 miles (1000 km):
• Do not drive at extremely high speeds.
• Avoid sudden acceleration.
• Do not drive continuously in low gears.
• Do not drive at a constant speed for extended periods.
■Operating your vehicle in a for-
eign country
Comply with the relevant vehicle registration laws and confirm the
availability of the correct fuel.
(
 P.488)
WARNING
Observe the following precau-
tions.
Failure to do so may result in
death or serious injury.
■When starting the vehicle
Always keep your foot on the
brake pedal while stopped with
the engine running. This prevents
the vehicle from creeping.
■When driving the vehicle
●Do not drive if you are unfamil-
iar with the location of the brake
and accelerator pedals to avoid
depressing the wrong pedal.
• Accidentally depressing the accelerator pedal instead of the
brake pedal will result in sudden
acceleration that may lead to an
accident.
• When backing up, you may twist your body around, leading to a
difficulty in operating the pedals.
Make sure to operate the pedals
properly.
• Make sure to keep a correct driving posture even when mov-
ing the vehicle only slightly. This
allows you to depress the brake
and accelerator pedals properly.
• Depress the brake pedal using your right foot. Depressing the
brake pedal using your left foot
may delay response in an emer-
gency, resulting in an accident.
●Do not drive the vehicle over or
stop the vehicle near flammable
materials such as leaves, paper
or rags.
The exhaust system and
exhaust gases can be
extremely hot. These hot parts
may cause a fire i f there is any
flammable material nearby.

1914-1. Before driving
4
Driving
■GCWR (Gross Combination
Weight Rating)
The maximum allowable gross
combination weight. The gross
WARNING
●Do not exceed 65 mph (104
km/h), the posted towing speed
limit or the speed limit for your
trailer as set fort h in your trailer
owner’s manual, whichever is
lowest. Slow down sufficiently
before making a turn, in cross
winds, on wet or slippery sur-
face, etc. to help avoid an acci-
dent. If you experience a
vehicle-trailer instability from
reducing a certain speed, slow
down and make sure you keep
your vehicle speed under the
speed of which you experience
the instability.
●Do not make jerky, abrupt or
sharp turns.
●Do not apply the brakes sud-
denly as you may skid, resulting
in jackknifing and loss of vehicle
control. This is especially true
on wet or slippery surfaces.
●Do not exceed th e trailer hitch
assembly weight, gross vehicle
weight, gross axle weight and
trailer tongue weight capacities.
●Do not use dynamic radar
cruise control with full-speed
range when towing.
●Slow down and downshift
before descending steep or long
downhill grades. Do not make
sudden downshifts while
descending steep or long down-
hill grades.
●Vehicle-trailer in stability is more
likely on steep long downhills.
Before descending steep or
long downhill grades, slow
down and downshift. Do not
make sudden downshifts when
descending steep or long down-
hill grades. Avoid holding the
brake pedal down too long or
applying the brakes too fre-
quently. This could cause the
brakes to overheat and result in
reduced braking efficiency.
●Do not tow a trailer when the
compact spare tire is installed
on your vehicle.
■When towing a trailer
Toyota recommends trailers with
brakes that conform to any appli-
cable federal and s tate/provincial
regulations.
●If the gross tr ailer weight
exceeds unbraked TWR, trailer
brakes are required. Toyota rec-
ommends trailers with brakes
that conform to all applicable
federal and state/provincial reg-
ulations.
●Never tap into your vehicle’s
hydraulic system, as this will
lower the vehicle’s braking
effectiveness.
●Never tow a traile r without using
a safety chain securely attached
to both the trailer and the vehi-
cle. If damage occurs to the
coupling unit or hitch ball, there
is danger of the trailer wander-
ing into another lane.
Towing related terms

1994-1. Before driving
4
Driving
vehicle control. This is espe-
cially true on wet or slippery
surfaces.
 Avoid jerky starts or sudden
acceleration.
 Avoid jerky steering and
sharp turns, and slow down
before making turn.
 Note that when making a turn,
the trailer wheels will be
closer than the vehicle wheels
to the inside of the turn. Com-
pensate by making a wider
than normal turning radius.
 Slow down before making a
turn, in cross winds, on wet or
slippery surfaces, etc.
Increasing vehicle speed can
destabilize the trailer.
Take care when passing other
vehicles. Passing requires
considerable distance. After
passing a vehicle, do not for-
get the length of your trailer,
and be sure you have plenty
of room before changing
lanes.
 To maintain engine braking
efficiency and charging sys-
tem performance when using
engine braking, do not put the
transmission in D. If in the S
mode, the transmission shift
range position must be in 6 or
lower.
 Instability happens more fre-
quently when descending
steep or long downhill grades. Before descending, slow
down and downshift. Do not
make sudden downshifts
while descending steep or
long downhill grades.
 Avoid holding the brake pedal
down too long or applying the
brakes too frequently. This
could cause the brakes to
overheat and result in
reduced braking efficiency.
 Due to the added load of the
trailer, your vehicle’s engine
may overheat on hot days (at
temperatures over 85°F
[30°C]) when driving up a long
or steep grade. If the engine
coolant temperature gauge
indicates overheating, imme-
diately turn off the air condi-
tioning (if in use), pull your
vehicle off the road and stop
in a safe spot. ( P.480)
 Always place wheel blocks
under both the vehicle’s and
the trailer’s wheels when
parking. Apply the parking
brake firmly, and put the
transmission in P. Avoid park-
ing on a slope, but if unavoid-
able, do so only after
performing the following:
1 Apply the brakes and keep
them applied.
2 Have someone place wheel
blocks under both the vehi-
cle’s and trailer’s wheels.

2344-5. Using the driving support systems
4-5.Using the driving support systems
■PCS (Pre-Collision System)
 P.239
■LTA (Lane Tracing Assist)
 P.250
■AHB (Automatic High
Beam)
 P.222
■RSA (Road Sign Assist) (if
equipped)
 P.261
■Dynamic radar cruise con-
trol with full-speed range
 P.264 Two types of sensors, located
behind the front grille and wind-
shield, detect information neces-
sary to operate the drive assist
systems.
Radar sensor
Front camera
Toyota Safety Sense
2.5
The Toyota Safety Sense
2.5 consists of the following
drive assist systems and
contributes to a safe and
comfortable driving experi-
ence:
Driving assist system
WARNING
■Toyota Safety Sense 2.5
The Toyota Safety Sense 2.5 is
designed to operate under the
assumption that the driver will
drive safely, and is designed to
help reduce the impact to the
occupants and the vehicle in the
case of a collision or assist the
driver in normal driving condi-
tions.
As there is a limit to the degree of
recognition accuracy and control
performance that this system can
provide, do not overly rely on this
system. The driver is always
responsible for paying attention to
the vehicle’s su rroundings and
driving safely.
Sensors
A
B

2404-5. Using the driving support systems
a pedestrian is high and that
there is sufficient space for the
vehicle to be steered into within
its lane, and the driver has
begun evasive maneuver or
steering, emergency steering
assist will assist the steering
movements to help enhance the
vehicle stability and for lane
departure prevention. During
operation, the indicator will illu-
minate in green.
■Intersection right/left turn
assistance
If the system determines that
there is a high possibility of a
collision in the following situa-
tions, it will assist with Pre-colli-
sion warning and, if necessary
Pre-collision braking.
Depending on the configuration
of the intersection, it may not be
possible to support.
 When you turn right/left at an
intersection and cross the
path of an oncoming vehicle 
When you turn right/left,
pedestrian is detected in the
forward direction and esti-
mated to enter your vehicle’s
path (bicyclists are not
detected.)
WARNING
■Limitations of the pre-colli-
sion system
●The driver is solely responsible
for safe driving. Always drive
safely, taking care to observe
your surroundings.
Do not use the pre-collision sys-
tem instead of normal braking
operations under any circum-
stances. This system will not
prevent collisions or lessen col-
lision damage or injury in every
situation. Do not overly rely on
this system. Failure to do so
may lead to an accident, result-
ing in death or serious injury.

2504-5. Using the driving support systems
LTA (Lane Tracing
Assist)
While driving on a road with
clear white (yellow) lane
lines, the LTA system warns
the driver if the vehicle may
deviate from the current
lane or course
*, and also
can slightly operate the
steering wheel to help avoid
deviation from the lane or
course
*. Also, while the
dynamic radar cruise con-
trol with full-speed range
( P.264) is operating, this
system will operate the
steering wheel to maintain
the vehicle’s lane position.
The LTA system recognizes
white (yellow) lane lines or a
course
* using the front cam-
era. Additionally, it detects
preceding vehicles using
the front camera and radar.
*: Boundary between asphalt and the side of the road, such as
grass, soil, or a curb
WARNING
■Before using LTA system
●Do not rely solely upon the LTA
system. The LTA system does
not automatically drive the vehi-
cle or reduce the amount of
attention that m ust be paid to
the area in front of the vehicle.
The driver must always assume
full responsibilit y for driving
safely by paying careful atten-
tion to the surrounding condi-
tions and operating the steering
wheel to correct the path of the
vehicle. Also, the driver must
take adequate breaks when
fatigued, such as from driving
for a long period of time.
●Failure to perform appropriate
driving operations and pay care-
ful attention may lead to an
accident, resulting in death or
serious injury.
■Situations unsuitable for LTA
system
In the following situations, use the
LTA switch to turn the system off.
Failure to do so may lead to an
accident, resulting in death or
serious injury.
●Vehicle is driven on a road sur-
face which is slippery due to
rainy weather, fallen snow,
freezing, etc.
●Vehicle is driven on a snow-cov-
ered road.
●White (yellow) lin es are difficult
to see due to rain, snow, fog,
dust, etc.
●Vehicle is driven in a temporary
lane or restricted lane due to
construction work.
●Vehicle is driven in a construc-
tion zone.

2654-5. Using the driving support systems
4
Driving
WARNING
■Before using dynamic radar
cruise control with full-speed
range
●Driving safely is the sole
responsibility of the driver. Do
not rely solely o n the system,
and drive safely by always pay-
ing careful attention to your sur-
roundings.
●The dynamic radar cruise con-
trol with full-speed range pro-
vides driving assistance to
reduce the driver’s burden.
However, there are limitations
to the assistance provided.
Read the following conditions
carefully. Do not overly rely on
this system and always drive
carefully.
• When the sensor may not be correctly detect ing the vehicle
ahead: P.274
• Conditions under which the vehicle-to-vehicle distance con-
trol mode may not function cor-
rectly: P.274
●Set the speed appropriately
depending on the speed limit,
traffic flow, road conditions,
weather conditions, etc. The
driver is respon sible for check-
ing the set speed.
●Even when the system is func-
tioning normally, the condition
of the preceding vehicle as
detected by the system may dif-
fer from the condition observed
by the driver. Therefore, the
driver must always remain alert,
assess the danger of each situ-
ation and drive safely. Relying
solely on this system or assum-
ing the system ensures safety
while driving can lead to an
accident, resulting in death or
serious injury.
●Switch the dynamic radar cruise
control with full-speed range
setting to off, using the cruise
control main switch when not in
use.
■Cautions regarding the driv-
ing assist systems
Observe the following precau-
tions, as there ar e limitations to
the assistance provided by the
system. Failure to do so may
cause an accident resulting in
death or serious injury.
●Assisting the driver to measure
following distance
The dynamic radar cruise control
with full-speed range is only
intended to help the driver in
determining the following distance
between the driver’s own vehicle
and a designated vehicle traveling
ahead. It is not a mechanism that
allows careless or inattentive driv-
ing, and it is not a system that can
assist the driver in low-visibility
conditions.
It is still necessa ry for driver to
pay close attenti on to the vehi-
cle’s surroundings.
●Assisting the driver to judge
proper following distance
The dynamic radar cruise control
with full-speed range determines
whether the following distance
between the driver’s own vehicle
and a designated vehicle traveling
ahead is within a set range. It is
not capable of making any other
type of judgement. Therefore, it is
absolutely necessary for the
driver to remain vigilant and to
determine whether or not there is
a possibility of danger in any
given situation.