4Runner #3 for me

[PhotoRunner]

After selling my 2021 4Runner about 18mo ago and going with a very soft roader, it became clear on a week long trip to Canada last summer that I underestimated my need for something more rugged. I sold my 5th gen because even though I had it built out the way I wanted, the powertrain was just wearing thin on me. My 4th gen shared the same guts, so I had to live with it for like 15 years. Anyway, new engine and transmission seemed like it might be the right balance so I waited for the 6th gen and when the started showing up at the local dealership I decided to give it a go. Like most people I find the prices of the new generation a bit on the high side. As such I went with the blank canvas that is the SR5 (my 4th gen was the same trim). The first thing I did was take off that stupid air dam under the bumper and it already looks better. New tires should go on tomorrow, technically I could fit a 33 but I decided on the 255/75 17 to reduce the hit on the mpgs. I'll probably run those on the stock suspension for awhile and add some armor along the way.

 

[thatoneguy]

Very nice! Please keep us updated on your ownership experience. The low trims on 6th gen are the only ones that really fiscally make sense, I think you're smart to have gone with an SR5. SR5 and TRD Offroad with no options are the only 6th gens I'd financially be ok with.

It is kind of weird that they downsized SR5 tires to 30.6" on 6th gens. Those 32" 255/75R17's will be great on it.

Apparently 6th gen SR5's have NO engine skid plate whatsoever, not even the thin steel 5th gens do. How important that is to rectify is another story. If a good $300-400 piece of armor comes around I suppose that would be good.

My only real SR5 gripe is that they gatekept heated seats off of them. 2025 Tacoma SR5 lets you option them on, 4Runner does not.

Enjoy that much smarter transmission, and all the low-end torque in that new engine! How's the drive in general, much more refined? I'd expect that since they had 15 years between designs.

 

[PhotoRunner]

Thanks! So far the drive has been nice on the stock highway tires, lol. Honestly I'm fine with the tiny tires, even on my 5th gen (TRD ORP) I swapped tires right away. For a bottom rung suspension it also rides pretty well, of course there is the typical nose dive on hard braking but at highway speeds its very smooth. a couple times I looked down and realized I was traveling well over the speed limit. There are some cool features even on the SR5. I figured out today how to work the "self drive" feature with cruise control. Basically theres a button on the wheel that if you push it, the vehicle will steer itself briefly in case you need to twist the lid off your soda. The digital gauge cluster is pretty good, lots of different display options. As far as the heated seats, I've heard you can possibly add them later but who knows. With the cloth seats it's actually not bad-- and the seats are very good. Gas milage for me has been really good. I had one 30+ mile drive where I averaged almost 27mpg, but I'm still on my first tank of fuel so we'll see what it ends up being. I somehow only got 3 tires delivered, but the 4th will be in at the beginning of the week.

 

[PhotoRunner]

Oh also I can confirm that the SR5 and even the TRD Off Road models lack real skid plates, they're some kind of plastic. However, the ability to use the new Tacoma skid plates on the 4Runner makes it a quick fix. I'll probably pick on of these up at some point too.

 

[thatoneguy]

Oh also I can confirm that the SR5 and even the TRD Off Road models lack real skid plates, they're some kind of plastic. However, the ability to use the new Tacoma skid plates on the 4Runner makes it a quick fix. I'll probably pick on of these up at some point too.

Oh man, did they really keep metal skids on the mechanically identical Tacoma and then dumb it down to plastic for the 4Runner? Lame cost-cut if so! Stop it, Toyota!

Good to hear that even the "base" SR5 cluster/infotainment is pretty solid.

Buy a matching fifth tire, my guy! Your avatar pic implies you offroad!

 

[Jeff_DML]

Very nice! Please keep us updated on your ownership experience. The low trims on 6th gen are the only ones that really fiscally make sense, I think you're smart to have gone with an SR5. SR5 and TRD Offroad with no options are the only 6th gens I'd financially be ok with.

It is kind of weird that they downsized SR5 tires to 30.6" on 6th gens. Those 32" 255/75R17's will be great on it.

Apparently 6th gen SR5's have NO engine skid plate whatsoever, not even the thin steel 5th gens do. How important that is to rectify is another story. If a good $300-400 piece of armor comes around I suppose that would be good.
...

Also no full size spare on the SR5.

As for no armor on the SR5, the skid plates are plastic on the TRD off-road which does not seem much better. I will take my thin steel 5th over both those options, been working fine for me.

Yes, I agree that the new SR5 seems to be the value buy of the new generation.

OP, keep us updated on your new 6th gen. I like the heritage blue a lot .

 

[PhotoRunner]

Yeah, they went cheap on the skid plates -- likely figuring that 90% of these (and probably more on this trim level) will never see dirt. Toyota is surely expecting the "hardcore wheelers" to opt into the higher trim levels. Which is also likely why they went with a donut spare on the low trims. For me the difference in price between the SR5 and even the TRD offroad was so much that I could replace what's missing with aftermarket products and still come out ahead. I guess I'm playing the long game, lol. I do need to find an extra rim though so I can upgrade my spare tire size. On the good side, I have travelled just about 200 miles and still have more that a 1/2 tank of fuel left.

 

[thatoneguy]

Yeah, they went cheap on the skid plates -- likely figuring that 90% of these (and probably more on this trim level) will never see dirt. Toyota is surely expecting the "hardcore wheelers" to opt into the higher trim levels. Which is also likely why they went with a donut spare on the low trims. For me the difference in price between the SR5 and even the TRD offroad was so much that I could replace what's missing with aftermarket products and still come out ahead. I guess I'm playing the long game, lol. I do need to find an extra rim though so I can upgrade my spare tire size. On the good side, I have travelled just about 200 miles and still have more that a 1/2 tank of fuel left.

They've definitely widened the trim structures. For 5th gens, the price difference between an SR5 4WD to an Offroad or an SR5P to an ORP was like $1,500; which for me was a no-brainer, and I also really wanted the factory rear diff locker.

The price spread is now like $5k or so between SR5 4WD to Offroad, but now there's a ~2" tire diameter difference, significant tread difference, 1" wheel diameter difference, full size vs spacesaver spare, and other things.

 

[88Center]

Post the sticker so we can see all the costs.

Curious how they stack up against my local dealerships.

 

[PhotoRunner]

Yeah, some of the things I don't mind, some are annoying. I don't mind the 17" wheels, for example. But there was no way I was paying $51k for a TRD Sport which I think was the next trim up on the lot.

 

[PhotoRunner]

Post the sticker so we can see all the costs.

Curious how they stack up against my local dealerships.

Here's the sticker....

 

[thatoneguy]

Here's the sticker....

That is one expensive cargo light.

 

[PhotoRunner]

That is one expensive cargo light.

Ha! Yeah, I guess so! At least they're all LEDs.

 

[PhotoRunner]

New Tires

Replaced the highway tires with some AT's. Went with 255/75's even though I could have fit bigger. Hopefully that keeps the mpg's a little higher than a 33 would have. The tires from the factory were 30.5x 9.5 so these are a big upgrade. Milage on my first tank which was mostly city with a couple drives in the country was 23.4 mpg. I just filled up so this will be the first full tank with new tires. I did a 200 mile RT on the highway and it handled very well at 70-75 and the extra grunt was helpful in the passing lane. I managed to hit a stiff headwind in both directions, so the mpgs were down to just over 20 on that partial tank. The lane keep and adaptive cruise control were handy when I needed to unscrew the lid on my soda, lol.

 

[thatoneguy]

Replaced the highway tires with some AT's. Went with 255/75's even though I could have fit bigger. Hopefully that keeps the mpg's a little higher than a 33 would have. The tires from the factory were 30.5x 9.5 so these are a big upgrade. Milage on my first tank which was mostly city with a couple drives in the country was 23.4 mpg. I just filled up so this will be the first full tank with new tires. I did a 200 mile RT on the highway and it handled very well at 70-75 and the extra grunt was helpful in the passing lane. I managed to hit a stiff headwind in both directions, so the mpgs were down to just over 20 on that partial tank. The lane keep and adaptive cruise control were handy when I needed to unscrew the lid on my soda, lol.

Very nice! 255/75R17 is an awesome size for both 5th and 6th gen 4Runners.

Did you go P-metric or LT on the A/T's? I'm a fan of modern P-metric A/T offerings and they're holding up just fine to serious offroad use for me, and the road manners and mpg are great.

 

[PhotoRunner]

I had the same size on my 4th gen a long time ago, I like the tall/thin tires. Yeah, just standard P-metric. I've had really good luck with the "standard" tires, especially where I am living. The trails around here are generally pretty easy, though if I move back to CO I might re-think it. But they are much lighter and the mpgs are good. The first tank with the new tires was 23.34 mpg, which included some highway and some 4wd in the sand.

 

[Bmnorm2]

I had the same size on my 4th gen a long time ago, I like the tall/thin tires. Yeah, just standard P-metric. I've had really good luck with the "standard" tires, especially where I am living. The trails around here are generally pretty easy, though if I move back to CO I might re-think it. But they are much lighter and the mpgs are good. The first tank with the new tires was 23.34 mpg, which included some highway and some 4wd in the sand.

Good on you. Too many people over do it for aesthetics and not functionality. They end up looking like the the typical douche in a massive jacked up heavy duty with mud terrains running down the highway.

Does anyone consider trail or scrub radius?

Flame suit or whatever.

 

[trainman605]

Personally, I think any model of the 4 Runner is a good choice to make. I went with the 2024 TRD Off Road model for resale in 4-5 years from now, I do not off road my 4 Runner so all should be pretty much like new when resale time comes. I'm an off roader at heart as all my off roading was on a motorcycle, but owning a 4-wheel drive vehicle has always been in my driveway, just because I like them and the way they drive and look. This reminds me to drive my 4 Rummer and put it in 4-wheel drive and 4 wheel low and turn on the rear differential lock to make sure it works.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I have a 2018 OffRoad with factory sized KO2, SSO hybrid bumper and 10k warn winch, SSO rock sliders, and Gobi roof rack and average 19 mpg with town/highway mixed.

It’ll be interesting to see how the 6th gens pan out and the tweaks that they do to them over the years.

Good to see folks are starting to report back with their experiences with the 6th gens.

Thanks

 

[PhotoRunner]

That's better than I ever did in my 5th gen ORP. I had stock sized Rugged Treks, Aluminum sliders, and steel skid plates and basically sat at 16.5mpg during the week. Out on longer trips I would get over 20, up to about 24mpg. Currently I am averaging 21mpg on the same weekly driving that I was getting 16.5 on, and I have seen as high as 27 on longer trips.