2021 4Runner has some serious sound insulation!

[Pedro367]

What's not quite as obvious is how much more power that little v8 has at the lower range of the RPM band where most driving is done. It doesn't look like it's a lot more powerful just seeing peak, but it's far more powerful at 2k rpms when you're cruising on the highway.

It absolutely is and I get it. My point was that Toyota got their V6 above where it needed to be competitive to the market in 2010 with HP numbers higher than the previous V8, so they just wrote off the V8 and called it a day. Hell, in 2010 Jeeps 3.8l and 3.7l had 205-210 severely underpowered HP and were unreliable trash. Jeep had the 4.7L still for 2010, but those numbers were similar to our previous V8 and separated their awful V6s from the Hemi. That would mean Toyota would have needed to put in the 5.7L in the 4R to compete there with those HP numbers. At 270HP the 4R looked very promising for a V6 SUV, so that was the only option they decided to give as it was right in the middle range of it's class at the time. I'm sure emissions and mpg regs helped with Toyota's decision to drop the V8 too. Maybe they wanted to keep the GX more separate from the 4R and not pull sales from the Lexus. I don't know. Could totally be wrong for the reasons, but that's my thought on it.

The difference later is that other companies upped their games with newer transmissions to help with the mpg and advance the power game where as Toyota did not. The 5th gen got a refresh in 2014 just like the Jeep GC, but they got powertrain improvements and we didn't even though Toyota I'm sure could have.

 

[RunTheJoules]

These are all interesting statements coming from a person that spent $53k+ on a 4runner that has a very pricey Fox suspension, auto climate control, fancier stereo, etc. when the $15k cheaper SR5 likely has more offroad capability than most drivers can throw at it including likely yourself.

You must miss manual windows, sunroofs, and side view mirrors and despise expensive to repair convenience and safety features like air conditioning and ABS.

Interesting because I actually love the vehicle I bought, instead of whining online about what I wish it had? Lol yeah sure, I guess..

Never had manual windows, sunroofs, or mirrors, but yeah, I definitely miss them so much... Spot on, Mr. Bronson. :bravo:

 

[RunTheJoules]

They are extremely rare in 4cyl and were only offered in 2wd as best I can tell. They would have potential if not for being 2wd only. The 2.7 is really easy and reliable 4cyl to toss a turbo on. And they came factory with 4.56 diff ratio. They were also no doubt very quick having a massive 157hp!

They were pretty sharp looking TBH - probably better styling choices on the super-base model than many of the other trims.

That actually is pretty sharp looking, and $28.3K MSRP?! I bet one with low miles would get about 40 with today's market. :lol:

 

[Charles Bronson]

Interesting because I actually love the vehicle I bought, instead of whining online about what I wish it had? Lol yeah sure, I guess.

We love the 4Runner too, but aren't so blind to point out it's very obvious faults. Relying solely on it's stellar reliability as a major selling point can only take the 4Runner so far. Oddly, our 2 year old 4Runner has been less reliable than my 6 y/or BMW M235. The 4Runner was out of service for repairs for approximately 3 weeks and has required $2,500 in warranty work whereas the BMW had no warranty work in 4 years under it's warranty period and I've only spent $800 in maintenance/service items for it in 6 years. Our 2015 Outback 3.6R (owned since new) has never had warranty work either and neither did my 2012 WRX (owned for 4 years) op2: Our Toyota service/warranty experience has been dismal as well. Experiences at BMW and Subaru have been great. Hopefully our 4Runner's issues were just a fluke.

Never had manual windows, sunroofs, or mirrors, but yeah, I definitely miss them so much... Spot on, Mr. Bronson. :bravo:

You must be an old soul then because I assumed you were a 60+ y/o "get off my lawn" type. I've owned cars with manual windows, sunroofs, or mirrors and no ABS. It sucked. Reliable technological progress is nice.

 

[RobS10]

Our 4.0L has more HP than those V8s even after the power bump in later years. They just had us on torque. So, it's kind of a toss up at that point to include a V8 option. However, that 4.6L from the GX sure would have been sweet. Which kind of leads to the point of the argument. Toyota had all this and they didn't bother. Most likely because they didn't have to because people were still buying them.

In my opinion, the only thing the 5th gen needs is a transmission with more gears. 278HP/270tq is on par with most V6s offered today. Even the earlier 2011-2013 Grand Cherokees with the 5speed and 3.6l Pentastar V6 were dogs. Once they put the 8spd in in 2014 with the same V6 it was a completely different vehicle. I've owned both, a 2013 and a 2014, and the 2014 was a pleasure to drive with plenty of power compared to the 2013. Same with the newer JL wrangler vs. the previous JK. Both the same powertrain, just one with the 5spd and the new one has the 8spd. Completely different vehicle to drive.

But didn't the 4Rs also gain like 500lbs going from the 4the Gen to the 5th Gen? Don't know much about if that's a big deal in P/W ratio.

 

[Pedro367]

But didn't the 4Rs also gain like 500lbs going from the 4the Gen to the 5th Gen? Don't know much about if that's a big deal in P/W ratio.

Looks like 250-300 as per The Google. Again, I'm only speculating as to why they might have dropped the V8. I don't know the exact reason.

 

[RAVL 2016]

We love the 4Runner too, but aren't so blind to point out it's very obvious faults. Relying solely on it's stellar reliability as a major selling point can only take the 4Runner so far. Oddly, our 2 year old 4Runner has been less reliable than my 6 y/or BMW M235. The 4Runner was out of service for repairs for approximately 3 weeks and has required $2,500 in warranty work whereas the BMW had no warranty work in 4 years under it's warranty period and I've only spent $800 in maintenance/service items for it in 6 years. Our 2015 Outback 3.6R (owned since new) has never had warranty work either and neither did my 2012 WRX (owned for 4 years) op2: Our Toyota service/warranty experience has been dismal as well. Experiences at BMW and Subaru have been great. Hopefully our 4Runner's issues were just a fluke.



You must be an old soul then because I assumed you were a 60+ y/o "get off my lawn" type. I've owned cars with manual windows, sunroofs, or mirrors and no ABS. It sucked. Reliable technological progress is nice.

Your experience of BMW v Toyota reliability is atypical.