It is a bit "tickey" sounding, even at idle.

Yeah, V6s are inherently ugly sounding engines in most cases. The big displacement 1GRE-FE is pretty rough sounding under heavy throttle and is rather rough in terms of vibration once rpms go beyond 4500rpms. It's not a motor that is real happy to rev out. It reminds me of the 3.5-4.0 Nissan VQ motors in terms of NVH.

oomph.... man coming from my old power wagon this car does NOT do a good job of sound insulation. The Power Wagon was so quiet, until i took the muffler off the 6.4l HEMI. lulzz

Now if you compare it to my old Evo then yeah... its a beauty. hahaha

You think direct injection has anything to do with it, too?


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May have solved the mystery.

What the 4Runner does not have in terms of added deadening, it makes up for with the cabin being nearly airtight.

Noticed the doors close significantly easier when they are not the last door closing. To a degree that immediately stood out to me (the world’s least observant person) in a way that no other vehicle I’ve owned (including brand new Range Rovers) does. The sunroof shade in a Range Rover provides nearly all the attenuation of outside noise. Such that you’d swear the glass was open. In a 4Runner, it’s all done by the glass, and moving the shade has no perceptible difference in noise.

A thin but airtight envelope will attenuate the highest road noise frequencies and give 90% of the perception of a plush, padded cabin. I’m sure there are more subtle differences compared to luxury autos in areas such as tire noise. But it’s doing pretty well!


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I think the thick side window glass helps too. It's definitely thicker than our '99 4R, and the difference in noise even when driving 25 mph, between the driver's window up and down, is significant.

The 4Runner is total old school. It doesn't have direct injection and is saddled by a archaic 5 speed auto. It is WAY behind the industry with it's drivetrain. It would be a really amazing truck with DI and an 8 speed auto.

I can recommend ClearPlex film to protect the windshield. It has saved mine from several "meteors" with no apparent damage to the glass. It also has UV protection while being optically clear. Highly recommend.

went from 2008 to 2022 trd orp and I noticed the quietness of the ride.

I had a 2012 Trail that sounded like a tin can when the doors were closed. My 2001 Limited and my wife's 2005 Limited sounded solid when closed. The 2012 Trail also had a lot of wind noise and road noise. I had a love hate relationship with that vehicle. About the only thing I liked about it other than being a Toyota was the KDSS. Heck, the black plastic trim scratched when you breathed or walked by it. Fast forward to today. We unloaded the 2012 Trail on a 2017 Sequoia Limited. Other than gas mileage, the sequoia is quiet, powerful, and one heck of a road vehicle for long trips. It's my wife's car. I now have a 2021 4Runner ORP. The difference between it and the 2012 Trail is night and day in quietness, ride, and comfort. I did not opt for KDSS this time around. While it doesn't fail often I have 2 friends whose KDSS have failed and cost them $3K to have them fixed. Just my 2 cents and opinion but I do really enjoy my 2021 and agree with most that it is very quiet for what it is.

DI cars are plagued with issues for maybe a few mpg extra.
And why do we need more gears? The torque curve's are already optimized for the 5 gears we have.

That's also the same reason the "industry" is WAY behind in reliability.

m0ar gears doesn't always equal better, regardless of what MotorTrend tries to sell you.

I've got a pretty decent sound system in my 2016 and I demo it for folks inside then have them step out and shut the door.
You can't hear anything outside and I haven't added any sound deadening material other than the 1sqft sheets behind the door speakers.

You're stuck in stone ages, my friend. Sure, direct injection had it's teething issues when it came to the market 15 years ago. Direction injection gives around 10-15% better mpgs and power. The biggest issue with direct injection was carbon buildup on the intake valves which then would require a $500 servicing every 60-100K miles. With the exception of the 4Runner, all Toyota products are direct injection.

As for the 5 speed auto, it is about a archaic as you can get these days. I'm not aware of any new car/truck sold in the last 5 years using a 5 speed auto. Even 6 speeds are considered quite dated. This truck desperately needs more gear ratios to make use of it's powerband which isn't not exactly stellar for a truck, IMO. It's powerband is from 3,500-5,500rpms. The 4Runner would get significantly better mpgs, it would be much quicker from a stop or roll, and would be much better suited to towing with the extra gears and MUCH needed torque multiplication of a 8+ speed auto.

With DI and an 8 speed auto, which Toyota has had available since 2008, and some much needed convenience comforts that have been standard on most every Toyota product in the last 5 to 10 years, and the 5th gen 4Runner would be a class leading body on frame SUV. Toyota is just too damn conservative for their own good. They know how to squeeze blood out of a turnip, that is for sure.

If the 4Runner doesn't suit you, buy something else. It's a pretty simple solution to your "problems".

Personally, I hope they continue to keep it simple and "archaic" so that more of you buy Highlanders and RAV4s like you should've to begin with.