The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
4Runner can’t get complacent
Old dog better learn some new tricks if it wants to take on Ford’s new Bronco
Whoever said “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is clearly the product design lead for the Toyota 4Runner. This generation of 4Runner began production 11 years ago in 2010 and in car years, that’s 1,000 years ago.
But unlike most segments, true offroad-ready 4x4s don’t need to have cutting-edge tech in them to be good. So, is the 4Runner really an old dog in need of some new tricks?
If you meet someone that owns a 4Runner, chances are they will also own a kayak or a snowboard. That’s because the 4Runner isn’t so much a vehicle as it is an accessory to adventure and recreation. It’s a Clif bar on wheels. Built on a real truck frame with a solid axle rear and selectable 4WD, the 4Runner is a real SUV in a sea of imposters. This has made it the absolute favourite vehicle of those who want to get off the grid for the weekends and make it back home in time for work on Monday.
Our tester was the base model Trail model in a fetching Army Green (one of only two colours offered) and dark grey wheels. The rough and trailready TRD comes with an integrated tubular roof rack; the Trail has a simpler bolt-on affair from Yakima; and oddly the costlier SR5 model has no roof rack at all.
Whichever model you choose, the 4Runner looks great. It looks how SUVS used to look: rugged, squared-edged, and blocky, with big tires and a flat hood. Its appearance drew admiring compliments from those who saw it over the week it was living in my driveway. Inside the 4Runner, the looks are not so great. The materials and overall layout of the interior shows off its vintage handily, and the 2010 design ideas of huge plastic knobs and a gigantic gear shift have aged like milk.
On the positive side, the interior is highly functional, easy to use, and the cloth seats are comfortable. It may not be pretty but practically, there’s little to argue with. Toyota’s Paleozoic-era infotainment system can be thankfully sidestepped with Android Auto or Apple Carplay, and that makes all the difference for connected motoring.
The 4Runner is an old design and one of the amusing ways it reminds you of this is the roar of its engine-mounted cooling fan when you start it up. Fans on most cars now are electric, so this was a real blast from the past! The 4.0L V6 in the 4Runner dates back to when fish were learning to crawl on land. It makes 270 hp, 278 lb-ft of torque, and a whole lot of noise. It sounds like a Victorian steel foundry under the hood.
If you ignore the poor gas mileage, the 4.0 is a fine motor for an off-roader. It has lots of low-end torque, and it has sufficient power to move you around on the freeway. The larger problem is that Jeep’s 3.6L V6 sounds nicer, makes more horsepower, and does so more smoothly. That said, the 4.0 does have a very proven reliability record and will probably outlast everything on this planet but a Twinkie.
On the road, the 4Runner is a very, uh, whelming experience. It drives like a truck because underneath the body, it is one. But point the 4Runner off-road and turn the chunky driveselector knob to 4LO, and the 4Runner becomes something else entirely. The 4Runner laughs at mud bogs, it chuckles at rocky hill climbs, and it scoffs at plowing through deep snow. The Toyota is nothing short of an unstoppable billy goat off-road. I put it through challenging hill climbs, icy bogs, and frame-twisting undulations, and nothing phased it in the slightest.
I also put the 4Runner’s hill descent
control to the test. It’s a little unnerving to take your foot off the brake pedal with the front of the SUV pointed down a steep hill but the system works on all four wheels to keep your descent speed in check. It sounds like a fax machine as it modulates the ABS to keep you slowly rolling along. Much like the rest of the 4Runner, the system is clunky but works well.
At time of writing, the 4Runner really only has one competitor, the Jeep Wrangler. The Wrangler can be bought for similar money in similar spec, with one notable exception — you must get a six-speed manual on the Wrangler unless you want to pay $1,995 extra for the eightspeed automatic. Both are old-school burly off-roaders, but the 4Runner manages slightly better highway manners than the Jeep. The Jeep is more modern inside and out, but because of its solid front axle, it drives decidedly oldschool.
But if you are shopping in this segment, then you truly owe it to yourself to wait until the new Ford Bronco arrives before you make your decision. We haven’t driven it yet and it’s not in dealerships, but from all that we know so far, it seems like a real contender in this segment. The 4Runner does the job of being an adventure companion admirably. But It’s gonna have to drive into the modern era if it wants to take on the Bronco.