You guys are just splitting hairs over nomenclature.

Even a vehicle sold as "full time 4wd" is NOT full time 4wd. All wheels are not driven at once with equal power.

Toyota doesn't even make a vehicle capable of doing that, at least in the US. The last vehicle they sold in the US with true 4WD was the 80 Series Landcrusier/LX450 with the front , rear, and center locking diffs.

Fulltime 4WD, AWD.... same difference. It just means that each one of the wheels is CAPABLE of being driven, but not necessarily simultaneously.

My 97 Grand Cherokee had a "AWD" mode...if I got it stuck in the snow, one front wheel and one rear wheel would spin.

My dad had a 78 K5 Blazer that had "fulltime 4wd". Same thing, one front and one rear would spin. Both vehicles had open diffs.

Typically "AWD" is used when the vehicle doesn't have a low range, like a Subaru or a Volvo.

"Fulltime 4WD" is typically used when the vehicle does have a t-case with low range.

It seems as if this is all just a matter of semantics lol.

I know how 4WD, AWD, lockers, multi-speed transferases, etc. work, but this is a public forum and argue we shall over what is what.

I'm sorry you didn't like your LE. I'll suggest you're transferring some of your bad experience on other people's vehicles, but I'm not a trained counselor so I can only guess.

Concerning the fuel economy: the DOE website only differentiates between 4WD and 2WD models, with the 2WD gaining 1 mpg in highway driving. Toyota itself claims all 4WD models get the same fuel economy.



In my opinion, this small difference, which probably does exist in a statistically relevant form as you suggest, is negligible given the use of most 4Rs. At least, when I read complaints about MPG of rigs pushing 5k in GVW, I haven't yet read someone gleefully exclaiming, "at least I didn't buy the Limited, that gas hog." Of course, YMMV.

Concerning the power issue, I've never owned the SR5 or Pro, so I will defer to your experience, but I've read enough in this forum to know that not every SR5 or Pro owner shares your feelings of ample power in those models.

I love my '13 Trail but I also like the '14+ TRD Pro front end with slim line bumper combo.. just a nice set up without going full bumper.

Soo.. stage one is complete and I did the TRD Pro front end facelift along with the '14+ tail lights. Soon I'll be getting a slimline with winch.

I also like the Trail roof rack as it's unique but will do a full length.

The tray is also different.. used it a few times so it's been handy.

I like the black trim and instrument panel layout better.

Gas mileage differences between various drive systems and trim levels don’t even make it into my decision making or thought process… these things are pigs regardless of what you buy.

On top of that, driving style makes up for far more variation than anything else IMO. I have a pretty heavy foot, I don’t get good MPG regardless of what I am driving. I just close my eyes at the jump and just enjoy the fact that my cars are cool. Cost of doing business.

Plus… if I really did care about MPG, I probably should have probably bought something other than a 4Runner.

More like smiles per gallon, eh? Eh? EH?













Ok, I'll just let myself out the back door then.

You sound like my brother now… daily drove a 700 HP Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, gets single digit MPG, and just calls it smiles per gallon.

Crawl Control Demo

I agree that I am just one man with his own opinion here, but I believe after owing every trim offered in the 5th Gen (less the Trail/TRD OR, which is essentially the same as the Pro) and with a combined 64K miles on the bunch and counting, I can make an honest comment and review on these vehicles with that experience to back it up.

I still have the window sticker somewhere (we've moved twice since then), but back in 2016 the Limited 4x4 had a lower rating than the SR5 and Trail/Pro 4x4 trims. The difference in handling, power, and towing performance was noticeably different in the Limited compared to the other two and they have all towed the same Polaris Ranger and RZR on the same 14ft trailer over the same route for an even baseline comparison.

I am not transferring any disdain or contempt towards the Limited, it's strengths and weaknesses are well documented in this forum. I don't know why you're calling into question my personal experiences as they are valid, but they should only be taken with a grain of salt. If you own a Limited and like it then that's all that matters, our difference of opinion and your lack of experience with any of the other trims is of no concern to me. And I never said that any of the trim levels of any 5th Gen 4Runner have ever had what I or many others would consider to be ample power. They could all use at a minimum an extra gear in the transmission, but that's a subject that has already been beaten to death.

Trail

EPA changed the fuel economy ratings in 2017, so that may be to blame as much as anything else; it would be interesting to check out fuelly data on the different trims, but who knows what that would actually reflect.