Toyota mobile tyre fitting

The EU tyre label grades fuel efficiency A to E, and that grade reflects rolling resistance. On a conventional car the difference is real but modest. On a hybrid, where the engine spends much of its time recovering and redeploying small amounts of energy, a poor rolling resistance grade is more noticeable in the consumption figure.

The all-wheel-drive RAV4 has the same rolling radius sensitivity as any other permanent four-wheel-drive vehicle: a single new tyre against three worn ones creates a mismatch the system has to absorb continuously. Where the others still have good tread, an axle pair is the right answer.