The 3.5 turbo v6 in the LS is among the best truck gasoline engine I've ever seen. Long stroke, high compression, low rev, gas engine. The power curve is ideal for a truck. It's like a gasoline version of a turbo diesel engine. And Toyota also has the most thermally efficient production engines in the world. The LFA was a pretty decent in-house sports car.

It's not really a capability issue - it's a willingness to actually put the interesting stuff they develop in the high volume models. Toyota could build a great sports car, they just won't. Even using the BMW platform - Toyota's own inhouse turbo 6cyl engines are much more powerful, more efficient, and more durable than the BMW engine. But they won't use it. They could have fantastic engine options in the 4Runner. The Toyota parts bin is full of them. A 3.5L turbo? A 4.5L turbo diesel? A 2.8L turbo diesel? An ultra efficient 5.0L v8? Yep. All in the parts bin.

But will they put them in a 4Runner? Nope. Instead Toyota chose a 6 speed transmission, but only put a 5 speed valve body on it, so they can only use 5 gears of the 6 gears. And an ancient v6. That's it. It's all you get. oh - you want an update? Sure, how about a special color? A color matched cooler and unpainted door handles? Done.

Toyota is frequently the world's first in automotive advancements. And then... they sit on them about 20 years until it's the industry standard and finally they'll actually start rolling it out for the masses. Toyota built the world's first 8 speed automatic transmission. And... they've put it in what? A few Lexus models, sold some to Cadillac, and a low production land cruiser, and now the highlander. But not in any of their high volume models over a decade later. Toyota has a 10 speed too. That's in about zero models.

That's why I'm looking for something new. It's WAY past time for the 4Runner to get some updates. And it's not really the body or the platform. It's the drive train. It's 2-3 generations out of date. I did read that the 6th gen 4Runner might drop the 8 track and install a modern cassette deck! So that's something to get excited about.