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The next most popular is the 150bhp two-litre VVT-i fuel-injected petrol engine with more power but less torque. There are two gearboxes on offer here, a five-speed manual that can theoretically do the sprint in 10.6 seconds and a four-speed automatic that takes 12 seconds. It'll probably be the smooth auto box that sells this engine more than anything else. While the engine is no slouch, the car is slower on paper, feels less responsive in the hills and is much less fuel efficient. Its combined figure is 32.8mpg - that's ten fewer miles from a gallon than the D-4D 140.

Now we come to the elite end of the range where Toyota actually says it's hoping to take sales away from BMW's X3. The D-4D 180 is another 2.2 turbo-diesel but this time tweaked to turn out 175bhp and 295lb'ft of torque. This engine only comes with the six-speed manual gearbox and in cars with one luxuriously-specced trim level called T180. It'll pin 62mph in 9.3 seconds and still give you over 40mpg.

At £26,995 it's the priciest RAV4 yet, and therefore about the same as the base X3. The Toyota's got a more powerful engine and comes with many more bells and whistles than the Beemer - things like a sunroof, front foglights, leather seats, split rear seats, sat-nav and a keyless entry and push-button starter.

I doubt that's enough to tempt parking lot posers from the blue and white badge, but for those who think about real life motoring it could well be an attractive option. One thing to bear in mind, though, is that you can enter the legendary world of the Land Cruiser for just five more of your Earth pounds. It may not be as well kitted out and be two doors shy of a handful, but it's a damned site bigger and a genuine off-roader.

Ah yes, off-roading. Well, the RAV4 was never a serious mud-plugger and nothing much has changed. But look, it may do without the low-range transfer box and its ground clearance may not be up to much, but it does have a few tricks. Take, for instance, the "intelligent" 4x4 system that normally runs power to the front wheels until traction starts being lost.

At that point it feeds a more torque to the rear wheels until it reaches a 55/45 split biased to the front. On top of that, when you're scrabbling up a hill track or when the roads are white with packed snow, you can stab a button on the dash to lock the thing in four-wheel drive. It will automatically drop that lock when it reaches 25mph.

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