Yep. That's right, we decided that at our secret meeting last year. And if people keep complaining that the 4R is getting too modern we'll cancel I4 entirely for the mid-cycle refresh and you're getting an EV Only with 200 miles of range.

I honestly would not be entirely opposed to a pure EV SUV, while the unsprung weight of wheel hub motors would be horrendous, you could do some much more interesting styles of suspension and do some interesting things for off-road. It just comes to reliability and serviceability in the field, which EVs have not proven as of yet. Range is also an issue among other things. EVs are inevitable, but outside of major metropolitan areas; it will take a long time for that technology to become reliable and workable enough to be valid out in the booneys without a mobile repair center following you.

Plus in my personal opinion, if you're buying a 4Runner as a city/highway cruiser then you're better off investing in a Highlander, Sienna, or Sequoia at that point; or any other street oriented cruiser with much, much better features and value.

That's why a properly done Hybrid is a good thing, IMO. Toyota has been doing Hybrids for decades now and I trust that they can be made reliable.

Also, most of us agitating that the 4R is 'Too Old' have been wanting a properly tuned transmission with more gears and an improved motor. I'm not looking for a Highway cruiser, but it sure would be nice to get more than 16 MPG when I'm driving the truck down to SW Colorado or anywhere else that's more than an hour or two away. This is not 2012 anymore.

The thing is, as I pointed out in another thread, Toyota programs and builds their cars these days to be driven like a Prius. The Tacoma is a perfect example of "be careful what you wish for," on paper it's a redesigned V6 with an Atkinson's Style cycle for better cruising MPGs coupled with a modern 6spd transmission that should easily surpass the venerable A750. In practice? The way that thing is tuned, geared, and programmed if you drive it like a light truck it hunts for gears, has a gutless low-end thanks to the Atkinson's Style Cycle (usually reserved for Hybrids because of the poor low-end torque). That thing has had more ECM/ECT reprograms than I have seen for one Toyota in the last decade or two. It's supposed to be the "modern" Toyota Truck for fuel efficiency and emissions; in reality it is a big let down. Toyota doesn't care about performance or even driver comfort that much, they're busy turning everything into a Prius Variant.

Which is why I still hold disdain for the idea of a hybrid only 4Runner, or even a 6th gen with the Tacoma drivetrain. They just don't care anymore about anything but chasing those MPG and Emissions numbers.

Which has a lot to do with meeting global governments regulations which arguably is good for all.

I wish the engineers at Toyota would approach hybrid systems the way the Germans do. They look at hybridization as a performance enhancement over a pure efficiency enhancement. The engineers at Toyota look at it from the opposite point of view and it really shows in the performance figures. The Japanese seem to not understand the U.S. market as well as the Germans from a performance perspective. Now, I will almost always opt for a Japanese built vehicle over German engineering from a reliability and longevity perspective, but I’m always left wanting more from the engine in most Japanese vehicles unfortunately.

Toyota has gotten so disorganized and confused in the last decade or two, it's really a mess and that's before Toyota Japan "communicates" (if you can even call it that" with Toyota US.

The head of Toyota is so against EVs because Elon Musk screw them on their partnership he's tripling down on hybrid tech out of spite and pettiness rather than seriously working on Toyota EVs that aren't Hydrogen powered. It's very ridiculous. Hell, you can tell they don't care about performance because the last two "Performance Toyotas" were outsourced to other companies wholesale and had a Toyota badge slapped on them.

It's a shame, but I don't think the 4Runner is going to last much longer in the way we knew it as. I have a feeling that the 6th gen is going to be more Bloated Rav4 Hybrid and less of a modern off-roader.

Completely agree unfortunately. I’m going to wait and see what they come out with, but I have a feeling I’m going to be buying a new Ford Bronco instead.

I like everything I see about the new Bronco except the Roof/Doors.
Not really interested in a loud, leaky, dusty SUV.
Taking the car apart is great for cruising the mall or heading to the neighborhood pool.
Don't really want it off road.
I always thought a plus for the 4Runner was clean, dry and warm while Jeeps and SxS on the trail were a mess.
Maybe I'm just not cool enough.

I drove a Tacoma TRD OR last year and was extremely disappointed. The programming of the transmission was awful. Completely ruined the truck. I'm in the market for a 4Runner TRD OR or Pro now due to the bulletproof 4.0 and 5sp AT.

Yeah, I live in the desert and I can't even open the back window for 5 seconds on a trail. The dust here is EXTREME. Yet, Wranglers are insanely popular here and I see people with the doors removed every day parked at the grocery store and driving around town. There is NO WAY any of these people get off road like that. I see tons of wranglers out on the trails and NEVER see one with the roof or doors removed. It's a useless gimmick for me.

BruH! You don't want to look like you just stepped off the set of the newest, hottest MadMax movie?

Step up your game!

I hope the 6th gen is a turbo-6 with better gas mpg......

"Expert" timeline for all Toyota truck refreshes here. Go to 38:00. 4Runner summer 2022 and Lexus GX 6 months after that. Tacoma is in 2023. Tacoma no longer being made in San Antonio, will all be made in Mexico where some of them are already being made. No Land Cruiser for the U.S., will be the Lexus LX only.

Didn’t say where the 4Runner would be built