cramming the whole cake in my face
 

Tldr for those who don't care about the go fast bits (and really the real question here anyway): how can I aero mod a first gen Toyota rav4?
And are there any other cheap sporty cars with (preferably) AWD and lots of cargo room?



So I've been thinking a lot about a project car. Something that will eventually take over for my daily driver (right now I'm content if not thrilled by my overpriced Camry)

Ive been told I want my cake and to eat it too. Darn straight, I want to eat that whole thing like a baby on its first birthday. I have a 30mile one way commute, with lots of twisty back roads. I like to enjoy my time behind the wheel. I also have many an occasion where I need to haul 4 adults and some gear in the boot, so a tiny car just won't work. And I find myself at the track fairly often, id like to have something I can compete with, be it autocross, drag, rally, or endurance runs. I don't have to win, but it'd be nice to have a daily driver that could do well and get 35mpg.
And I'm not the richest man. This project would have to be done on a low budget a piece at a time.

My interest would be stuffing the caldina turbo 2.0 3sgte in a first gen rav4. Why? Because it will nearly bolt in, and the first gen rave weighs 2400lbs for the 2dr, to 2800 for the 4dr.
24-2800lbs, 250hp, AWD, shares some suspension bits with the same era celica. I feel confident I could do this swap with a couple of my Honda buddies as it looks *fairly* simple.

Now for the question. The rav4 is a brick. Aero leaves a lot to be desired. How can I help this?
Any other options I haven't considered? As I said I already have a daily driver, I'm looking for a project to beat it in the fun, fuel economy, AND practicality departments. Otherwise id just get a Miata and call it a day. Are there any other good cars to do what I want?
And don't say Civic. Maybe say CRV but I'm loathe to deal with the weight of that awd system for a 90/10 viscous coupler

WRX, or 2011+ Mustang.

Your RAV4 idea sounds sweet, though. If I was doing it, I would chop it pretty low, do a full boat tail, cameras instead of mirrors, rear wheel covers, and underbody. You'd have a pretty sweet ride. May not look as slick with a boat tail, but would definitely help acceleration.

Thanks. This is an idea that started creeping around in my mind a few years ago when I rented a Nissan cube. It had some deficiencies (weak brakes and highway passing power) but overall was brilliant. I stuffed my girlfriend in the boot, carried around 3 other adults and averaged 36mpg when I turned it in.
I figured if I could find a cheaper, sportier version of that id be happy. Then I came across the rav4 and its 3sfe motor and altrac AWD system...

It would be fun to just buy a beater rav4 and beat on it on weekends.

Yeah but my daily needs work soon and I dont love it enough to fix it. Timing belt in 15k plus struts in all 4 corners and I have a sneaky suspicion I have a bad motor mount. Its a great car but kinda boring. And again, if I just wanted a weekend toy I'd buy a small sports car. I'd rather smoke ricers at the lights, the fuel pumps, and the grocery store checkout

If you still need it to retain some cross-country ability, it would be harder to work around the aerodynamic without compromising it so much.

Subaru outback, forester, impreza (including the wrx and sti models) hatch, baja, legacy wagon, and pretty much any other subaru wagon.

Also the honda crv

And the pontiac/Toyota vibe/matrix there were some models with awd in the early years before the body style changed.

You'll have a hard time finding a club that will allow a RAV4 to autocross.

The Vibe seems like a great compromise to a Subaru. It is basically a Toyota/GM Outback. Hard to find with the standard, and not sure if the v6 AWD came with a standard, but would be a sweet setup.

RAV4 aero
 

Your Toyota is not unlike Kamm's K-form cars of the late 30s,early 40s.
His personal car,pictured below had Cd 0.23.If you mimic'd these mods (including the full belly pan) you'd have a shot at the same drag coefficient.
A receiver-hitch-mounted boat tail would help with the length necessary.http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/...3-29BampW1.jpg
For lower drag you could keep elongating,as with the Mercedes-Benz C-III,with Cd 0.178
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/.../Untitled9.jpg
Here's VW's 1981 full-tail 'Flow' body,Cd 0.14
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/.../Untitled5.jpg
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As others have mentioned already:
*clean up the nose,get all the air over and around,not under,minimize your cooling air to 'just enough'
*do a complete belly pan
*clean up the sides,dropping the rocker panels down even with the pan
*'basjoos' your wheel wells with articulated spats up front,simple skirts at rear
*add as much boat-tailing as you can tolerate (this is where all the money is)