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Staff Photos By James Gaffney



If you look at new vehicle title registrations for the state of Louisiana in January, the top segments were: full-sized pickups (which is not surprising in a region that is still rebuilding), the behemoth midsized car segment and compact sport-utility vehicles.



For those interested in that last segment, you should know there's a restyled-for-2009 Toyota RAV4. Sporting new cosmetic changes, a few more safety features, but most importantly, a more powerful, yet more fuel-efficient 4-cylinder engine, this already worthy compact sport-utility vehicle has upped its desirability quotient even more.



That's impressive for a vehicle that debuted 10 years ago. But as U.S. News & World Report recently reported "The RAV4 delivers an excellent combination of power, performance and interior comfort in its class" and named in #2 on its list of Affordable Compact SUVs. That honor was bestowed after an analysis of 65 published reviews and test drives, quoting sources such as Consumer Guide, Car and Driver and Intellichoice, as well as U.S. News & World Report's own analysis of reliability and safety data.



As for me, last time I drove it, I wrote "Fit and finish, in typical Toyota fashion, are excellent, so even though this is a relatively inexpensive vehicle -- and a sport-ute at that -- it feels like a more expensive car."

Tags: Toyota

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The Toyota RAV4 has an even more fuel-efficient engine was originally published by New Orleans Auto Reviews: Toyota. Read the full story by clicking here.