An important object of the Toyota RAV4 redesign was more cabin room. With the 50/50 split bench rear seats removed, there's now 68.3 cubic feet of cargo volume available, compared to 57.9 in the old model. There's also more cargo space behind the rear seats than before, as well as 2.9 more inches of legroom in the front. The legroom is ample, and the driver's footrest allows even more stretch. But with more room in front of the front seats, and more room behind the rear seats, there's a loss of 1.3 inches of rear legroom.

Front seats are new and fit very nicely, and our gray leather with dimpled black trim was classy. New for 2002 is what Toyota calls "oak cloth."

The redesign for 2001 narrowed the seats at the hips by 2.4 inches, but we didn't feel squeezed. The seating position feels confidently high and offers excellent visibility forward, although the spare tire intrudes into the view out the rear window. The tidy three-spoke leather-wrapped energy-absorbing urethane steering wheel tilted perfectly into place for drivers 4'-10" and 5'-10".

Instruments are easy to read and the instrument panel is handsome, trimmed as ours was in titanium. By day, the gauges are a sort of metallic off-white, and by night they glow sort of orange. Admittedly, these aren't quite as legible as boring old white on black gauges. Directly ahead are three circles: speedo on left, temp/fuel/warning lights and gear indicator in the circle on the right, and nicely balanced between and above them in a smaller circle is the neat-looking tach. Redline runs from 6500 to 8000 rpm, pointless because the power peaks at 6000 rpm.

Climate controls are mercifully simple. You got on, you got off, you got fan speed, you got blue for cold, red for hot; what else do you need? There's a stubby stalk for the cruise control on the steering wheel, under the wiper stalk on the left side of the steering column. There are two big cupholders forward of the natty leather-wrapped E-brake lever between the seats, an accessory power outlet, and a small space near the console that's intended for change but big enough for cellphones. In the rear as in the front are two cupholders and one power outlet.

There are storage compartments on both sides of the cargo bay as well as under its floor, a net pocket on the rear door, and pockets in all four doors. Sunglass holders too, under the steering wheel, and vanity mirrors with extensions and lights on each visor. Some 75 percent of RAV4 buyers have been women, but Toyota hopes to find more male buyers with the new RAV4.

The low load floor means it's easy to load groceries or gear without excessive effort or back strain. We found the cargo cover constantly in the way. But it features a nice two-piece pullout design that makes it easy to remove.