1996 4Runner MotorTrend Review

[TheGrasshopper]

I was reading MotorTrend the other day and came across a comparison between the 1996 4runner, Pathfinder, and Rodeo. Very cool to read about the 3rd gen when it was new. Guess which one won...

Enjoy: https://www.motortrend.com/cars/toyota/4runner/1996/suv-road-test

 

[RotaryDreamz]

"The 4Runner was also the only one of the group to offer an optional third seat, which increases passenger capacity to seven. The seatback folds down for flexible loading, or to provide maximum cargo space the seat easily unclips from its mounts and lifts out."

I heard about this before, but have not seen legitimate pictures of a factory installed rear seat, only aftermarket. Anyone have this option still installed? Pics would be appreciated.

 

[pluton]

About 7-ish years ago, one of the editors at either Road And Track or Motor Trend was retiring, and had written a last column for the magazine. It it, he recalled that even though he had had the opportunity to drive an extremely wide range of cars/SUVs/trucks over the decades, he stated that the most fun he had in any particular model vehicle was in a 4Runner.

 

[Reinout]

Cool article: Makes me confident that I bought the right vehicle from those 3. One that I would have liked to have seen is the Mitsu Montero from the same era

 

[Hammit]

"The 4Runner was also the only one of the group to offer an optional third seat, which increases passenger capacity to seven. The seatback folds down for flexible loading, or to provide maximum cargo space the seat easily unclips from its mounts and lifts out."

I heard about this before, but have not seen legitimate pictures of a factory installed rear seat, only aftermarket. Anyone have this option still installed? Pics would be appreciated.

no pics for you but I can confirm they exist lol
when I first got my runner there was a new, in bag, third row seat available on my local CL

 

[rightyouareken]

Cool article, thanks for posting. I thought this part was interesting:

"Since the sport/utility vehicle (SUV) boom hit full stride at the beginning of the '90s, this trio has been swapping among themselves the top three spots in the best-selling import SUV contest. In the past six years, the 4Runner has topped the charts four times, the Rodeo twice, and the Pathfinder consistently has been a close second. Each year it's a dogfight, and whatever's in fourth place isn't even close."

I can't remember the last time I saw a Rodeo on the road, and I rarely see old Pathfinders. I probably see a 3rd Gen 4runner 10+ times a day. Guess we know which one lasts the best or that owners invest in keeping running the most.

 

[mesooohoppy]

cool article. further solidifies my purchase of a 3rd gen last month.

ive looked for the OEM 3rd row seating and all i have been able to find is 'i dont have pics, but it exists' (see post #5 for another example). i did find this thread and used the wayback machine as the pics are dead, but even going back to mid 2018, the pics still arent there:
3rd Gen 3rd row seat

 

[tcbaklash]

The 4Runner has a lot more going for it, but the Honda Passport (re-badged Rodeo) of that year has a way cooler interior.

 

[mesooohoppy]

The 4Runner has a lot more going for it, but the Honda Passport (re-badged Rodeo) of that year has a way cooler interior.

that is all subjective. that being said, i looked it up a second ago and it didnt look like anything special. in fact, the huge auto shifter in the passport is insanely ugly.

is there a reason why you like this interior more?

 

[lockedlex]

Boy this brings back memories. I was in HS when the 3rd gen came out and was still in a 94 4Runner and would salivate over this one kid that had (what I now realize) a new 2.7 2wd 96. He did have a sunroof though.

It started a journey for me. Even though other friends had Rodeos/Passports (I didn't like the angled back and thought it cut into cargo space), Explorers (nice, but every time we did anything in them, we'd bottom out or get stuck). Pathfinders (I actually liked the Infiniti QX4 version a lot) but found that it seemed smaller and less truck like.

I went from a 94 SR5 2WD to a 95 Limited 4WD which I used to drive all over the deserts in So Cal. Got stuck numerous times. It also had a great angle of approach, but the departure was terrible.

Finally, in the early 2000s I bought a 98 Limited with a locking rear diff and what a truck that was. I sold it to a friend (who still has it) and got a 96 LX450 with triple lockers. It was an unstoppable beast. But it's steering was very vague, horrible mileage for the power and was TOO WIDE for the trails I like to go on.

I sold it and got another 98 LTD with Lockers and built that up. Sadly, that got totaled.

I now have a 2000, built up exactly the way I like and never have any plans to sell it.

It's funny how now, 20+ years later, there are pretty much no other SUVs on the road from that time. Does say a lot about the 4Runner--not only reliable, but from a design perspective, how classic it is. It still looks great next to a lot of newer SUVs (which are pretty much all plastic cars).

 

[4restGump]

Cool article, thanks for posting. I thought this part was interesting:



I can't remember the last time I saw a Rodeo on the road, and I rarely see old Pathfinders. I probably see a 3rd Gen 4runner 10+ times a day. Guess we know which one lasts the best or that owners invest in keeping running the most.

True dat, especially here in the snow belt

 

[T4R2014]

Cool article: Makes me confident that I bought the right vehicle from those 3. One that I would have liked to have seen is the Mitsu Montero from the same era

I drool over the 94-97 Montero SR. Such a sharp machine. Unfortunately the engines were its Achilles's heal.

 

[gamefreakgc]

"The 4Runner was also the only one of the group to offer an optional third seat, which increases passenger capacity to seven. The seatback folds down for flexible loading, or to provide maximum cargo space the seat easily unclips from its mounts and lifts out."

I heard about this before, but have not seen legitimate pictures of a factory installed rear seat, only aftermarket. Anyone have this option still installed? Pics would be appreciated.

It was a dealer installed option. I've been desperately searching for one though, I think another kiddo might be in the future soon and I'm out of room!

 

[tcbaklash]

that is all subjective. that being said, i looked it up a second ago and it didnt look like anything special. in fact, the huge auto shifter in the passport is insanely ugly.

is there a reason why you like this interior more?

My bad I was thinking about the older interior, not 1997. The instrument cluster kind of looks like something out of an early 80s concept car. BTW, 3G 4Rs have a big ugly auto shifter in the same spot.

 

[mesooohoppy]

My bad I was thinking about the older interior, not 1997. The instrument cluster kind of looks like something out of an early 80s concept car. BTW, 3G 4Rs have a big ugly auto shifter in the same spot.

all those buttons up by the cluster scream 80s. IMO, its ugly. i do like the flat spot on the passenger side of the dash though.

some of the 3rd gens have the thin shifter (with the button on top), and others have the big ugly ones with the button on the side. IIRC, those big ugly ones started in 00??