The 4Runner’s tall tyres and TRD suspension soak up bumps, isolating the cabin from NVH
we had on the last of the FJ Cruisers here and that includes the electronic Crawl Control system.
Unfortunately, the great chassis is let down by the engine. The petrol V6 really lacks the mid-range grunt needed in a vehicle like this. It would be worth getting an aftermarket supercharger installed to push out the power. Luckily, there are plenty of kits to suit and give you that much-needed grunt. Of course, being American, there’s no diesel engine available for the 4Runner.
Out on the highway the 4Runner cruises smoothly and quietly. The tall tyres and TRD suspension soak up the bumps well, isolating the cabin from road NVH. Our week of touring with a few canyon and desert off-road escapades averaged 11.5L/100km of petrol consumption, and that’s in a place where 80mph on the interstate seems to be the bare minimum.
Would we prefer the 4Runner to the Fortuner offered in Australia? Yes and no. We prefer the more masculine and tougher look of the American 4Runner and like the fact that it is offered as a fiveseater, not seven. However, the Thai-built Fortuner has much better quality and fit and finish. Neither the Us-spec petrol V6 nor the Au-spec 2.8-litre diesel engine are ideal, but at least there are good mods available for the V6 to fix it. The Fortuner’s six-speed auto is definitely better than the older five-speed in the 4Runner.
However, it would be nice to have a local TRD option. The blacked-out trims and offroad-oriented, well-set-up suspension package with proper off-road tyres are real winners here, and Toyota Australia would do well to offer similar to buyers locally. They’d just need to research and develop better products than they did with their last TRD offerings.