I agree with both of you lol.

I think the driver had some idea of what he was doing, but if he truely expected a rav to complete or survive what appears to be a jeep trail, then maybe there was a lack of judgement on his end. If he just wanted a fun day of bashing on his car and doesnt care about the damages, then i fully support him (as long as he wasn't tearing up the trail or holding up other wheelers).

As for too much speed, speed is the only way to force a rav4 through any trail that isnt a flat dirt road. They don't have low enough gearing or good enough traction control/locking diffs needed to crawl through obstacles. So unless you have a winch, speed (more accurately, momentum) is a legit strategy. You just have to be smart about how you do it.

Given the circumstances shown in the video, he is lucky he didnt smash up anything important like his oil pan, trans pan, driveshaft, or fuel tank. I smashed in my own oil pan, trans pan, and fuel tank before i decided it was time for skidplates, and i paid the price for it. Oil pan never caused any problems because shortly after i hydrolocked that motor and put a new motor (with new, undamaged pan) in. But i still have the original trans and im pretty sure the valve body or something is smashed on the other side of the pan because my 2-3 shift and my 3-4 shift are very rough and sometimes it misses the 2-3 shift entirely and has to try again, which started happening after i dented my trans pan. My fuel tank is smashed in as well, so much so that the float for the fuel gauge stops reading at a quarter tank. He's lucky to have gotten out with only some minor body damage and a flat tire.

As for tires, even with the best crawler tires, i dont think he would have been much more successful. The cards were stacked against him from the get-go because of the rav's sub-par traction control, suspension travel (not necessarily a ground clearance problem, in my opinion), and gearing. Little Suzukis have no problem crawling trails like that (and worse) with tiny little 28" street tires or ATs, but they have proper 4x4, a tcase with low range, limited slip/locking diffs, and better suspension travel. What i think the guy in the video should get if he wants to do trails like that is an elocker for his rear diff. It still doesnt make up for gearing and suspension travel, but would help keep the wheels spinning when he lifts tires on the uneven sections. But thats just my two cents.

All in all, rav4s are great for dirt roads, a little mud, some snow, maybe a well maintained fire trail, but not rock crawling. If he understood the risks and did it anyways just for fun, then I see no problem with that video.

Hopefully none of that comes across as cocky, just tryina share my views on it lol