Recent content by coldbivy

Last week I noticed my 2005 V6 runner making a sort of whirring sound after the engine starts, almost like the starter is still spinning for a bit. This happens intermittently. It is always on the first start when the vehicle is cool and even then does not always happen. The truck has 75000...

I spent last weekend in a 2010 Trail 4runner. Overall, I thought it was nice, although I'm lukewarm on some of the FJ Cruiser type styling such as the rear tailights. I couldn't help being a little critical and comparing to my 05. I noticed the following areas where they cheapened things up...

The 4runner cannot quite compete with a Wrangler off road. Trust me, I tried. Still, it is pretty good and goes seamlessly from a fairly difficult 4 wheel drive trail to the highway.

But the spare is now apparently (according to the previous post) a steel wheel rather than a matching aluminum wheel. It is still full size. They did add something on the new 4runner: 400 lbs of who-knows-what. Since it didn't get much bigger, I'm not sure why the weight went up 10%. Kinda...

The answer, I think, is pretty simple. Toyota's "back to its roots" goal is marketing speak for cheapening it up. The Yen is way up vs the dollar so Toyota needed to cut some manufacturing cost out of the vehicle in order keep MSRP reasonable. They probably did a focus group and found out that...

The other big reason to keep it locked is that turns off the traction contol. In mud or snow, the traction control can get you stuck by killing the throttle and while you are locking the diff, you get hopelessly stuck. It has happened to me on one occasion. That said, it was snowing today and I...

The power gain is completely offset by the weight gain :jaw drop:

What a puff piece. "For serious fuel economy, Toyota has brought back a four-cylinder engine for the two-wheel-drive 4Runner, a 2.7-liter inline-4 rated at 157 hp at 5,200 rpm and 178 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 rpm. Its EPA-rated fuel economy is 18 mpg city/23 mpg highway/20 mpg combined." He...

Stated like fact. Is it? That would stink. TE would be the only one I would be interested in and I will not buy without the ability to drive around in AWD. It is too useful in intermittent snowy situations, which is probably 1/2 my driving. This 4runner seems to be poorly thought out.

A 6sp would get me interested. The V6 is fine. With a little extra high RPM oomph from VVT-II and it should be even better.

That is not correct. In 03 the V6 had a 4 speed auto and the V8 had the 5 speed auto. Same in 04. In 05 both had the 5 speed. I know because that is the reason I didn't buy one in 03. I wasn't 100% sure about 04. What possibly caused you to make that post?

Not bad It doesn't look too bad, but I think I'll wait for some more significant drivetrain improvements. I'm sure a 6 speed tranny and/or the new V8 is scheduled for one of the upcoming model year changes. I think it took until 05 for Toyota to put the 5 speed tranny in with the V6.

This is dissapointing. The only things that could make me super interested in a 2010: 1) A similar V-6 with much improved fuel economy 2) Similar fuel economy with much improved power 3) Rear locker combined with 1 or 2. I had hopes I'd get 2 and 3 with the 4.6L V8. I'm not sure the small...

Yes, but they aren't talking!

I think C&D has already proven that they don't have a clue about the 5th gen runner.