Yet another teaser pic of the rear of the 4Runner I found on their twitter feed... I have yet to see a teaser pic from any other angle than the rear. Don't get me wrong, I like teaser pics of the rear end as much as the next guy, but can I get just one pic of the damn headlights (and front bumper). I need to make some motorboat sounds while gawking at the new hotness!!!
Either this TRD Pro 4Runner is going to have a redesigned front bumper/grill and it's going to blow our minds or they didn't change a thing on that gawd awful '14 TE bumper other than maybe the "Toyota" grill like the Tundra and they don't want all of us bagging on it before the release. If it's the latter I'm gonna laugh...
For there to be evidence of something awesome to come, there has to be evidence of it in the past.
-has Toyota EVER made a TuRD edition anything more than decals, sliders, seat covers, shocks and wheels (exhaust options that are approved in all states are a plus or minus)
-why would Toyota suddenly try to make special, completely different editions of the Taco and 4Runner, which are on their last model years of the current generation
-what's the point of making a new, redesigned Trail AND a TuRD Pro?
I have owned an FJ Cruiser, have been active in the modding community and the only real "special" features of the Trail Teams were
-wheels
-sliders
-paint
-decals
-knobs
-mods to the computer wizardry allowing diff lock AND A-trac at the same time before it was made standard on all models
I also own a 40th gen Land Cruiser 80 series, which is almost fixed (damn you Colorado cold) the only diff between the special edition and a regular were
-front, rear, center locking diffs factory (a very rare feature)
-green and blue special paint
-40th anniversary decals
I want the TuRD PRO to be a special edition that is far different from the regular 4Runner, hell I want it to REPLACE the outgoing FJ Cruiser as an off the shelf off-roader that isn't burdened by unnecessary bits, and has a much more aggressive stance and operations.
My predictions stand:
-minor cosmetic upgrades, maybe sliders and fancy Bilsteins that are slightly stiffer than stock and obligatory BFG tires (there won't be a lift and these will be 265s)
-huge premium cost over "stock" 4Runner
-limited supply
-dealer gouging into obscurity