Does the TRD Pro really ride that much better on-road?

[itr1275]

IMHO the AWD of the Limited is great at higher speeds.

About 2 years ago was hitting the washboard highways near Mammoth in a 2011 limited (stock + Tires). It was way better than my 2K Tacoma (lifted & 32s) ever was.

The AWD provided traction at 60+ mph. Stopping is always fun on washboard, don't know that stopping has anything to do with TRD OP or Limited. The brake system is exactly the same.

The Limited will not be able to take some of the rocky trails without significant modification. The Limited's lack of approach angle and ground clearance is less rock friendly and more mom friendly.

 

[itr1275]

Some info about your original question.

You need to decide what you will actually do with it. If you will be on paved and dirt/gravel roads or actually off road/overlanding. i.e. going places that you wouldn't normally want to take a car and requires a 4wd Low.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee is not a body on frame truck like the T4R/GX. It's a unibody platform that is shared with the Mercedes GL line. So the GC should ride and handle better than the T4R/GX. However, the GC has very limited natural off road capabilities, towing capacity, and available modifications.

There own picture shows the lack of articulation. They are likely high centered and the driver's rear wheel is off the ground.
https://www.jeep.com/content/dam/fc...es-Articulation-Desktop-v3.jpg.image.2880.jpg

They created the Trail Hawk with a lot of electronics to try to make up for the lack of suspension articulation. In the end it's best suited for paved road and a bit of gravel or dirt.

I briefly look at the Trail Hawk but didn't go that way because it's not body on frame. It's really a car with a 4wd system.

T4R is the same platform as the GX460. The GX460 is essentially an AWD T4R Limited with the fancy electronics of TRD ORP (Crawl Control, Multi-Terrain Select), KDSS and a V8. The Crawl Control, Multi-Terrain Select not really useful for anything over about 10 MPH. KDSS is useful for slow driving on rough terrain (rocks).

If you move to the T4R TRD ORD you get the rear locking differential, which is very useful for highly uneven surfaces. However you loose the full time AWD (great in the rain and snow).

I upgraded to a 2020 in April, from a 2011 T4R.

There area few reasons I went with the T4R Limited.
- It's was about $20K Less than the GX.
- The front bumper of the GX is (IMO) hideous and would likely be removed on trail.
- I can get more parts for the T4R if I want to modify it.

Just for the record 4Runner and it is highly unlikely to tip over under normal driving. Yeah you can do something dumb and induce a roll but that's true with a lot of vehicles. The tires wills start singing to you in hard cornering long before you're even close to flipping it. The 4runner suspension is going to be softer than a cross over SUV (Jeep GC) because it's meant for off road not trips to Target.

 

[llDemonll]

Subaru Outback?

 

[cb1111]

I haven’t thought of Snowmaggeddon in a long time. I was in northern VA then on a business trip. Wrapped up everything too late, made a bad choice and got on I-66 eastbound right around 4:30 pm as snow was falling, 6 inches on the ground, and dark. There were no snowplows out that night. I found out later their brilliant plan was to wait for all the snow to fall then plow out the roads the next day.

The highway was full of slow cars, spinning their wheels, sliding off the road, stuck and abandoned cars, three tractor trailers jackknifed in the road and on the shoulders. It was a mess like I’ve never seen.
I learned to drive growing up in the western NYS snow belt and I was doing OK driving a RWD big monster rental sedan with all season tires, but I had to do evasive maneuvers constantly and fishtail around so many cars, while the snow kept falling, it was exhausting. Since I couldn’t keep my momentum up very well due to the other cars stopping, I got stuck several times myself and had to rock the car to get going again. And we waited and waited. Good thing I had a full tank of gas and drinking water and some snacks. To go 17 miles if took 8 hours to get to my hotel.

So yes, if you have some skills and experience and are comfortable with winter driving (and there’s space on the road) you can drive a rear wheel drive car and survive in some pretty awful conditions. But it sure wasn’t comfortable. I wished I had my 4Runner.

PS: [MENTION=390705]cb1111[/MENTION], if you really want to ruin your desire for a 4R, test drive a Landcruiser

Yes, I've driven rear wheel drive cars with summer tires in all sort of conditions and learned that the proper tires do help, but snowmaggeddon was something else. The problem was that the weather report was wrong AND it was a really heavy snow event. I think that by the time it was done, we had well over 20 inches.

To this day, I'm still trying to figure out what those people were thinking abandoning their cars on the parkway. Where did they go? How did they et there? I drove that parkway a couple of days later an there were still abandoned cars.

Yes, the LC is interesting, but is it worth 30 large more than the 4R - and 15 more than the GX?

4 or 5 inches?

You'd be unhappy living here. A good snowstorm is 3+ feet.

It ended up with over 28 inches. Because I sent my team home early, they all got home before it got to the 6 inch mark.

Later that day, the only thing moving outside was the honor guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier

 

[cb1111]

See you didnt read and understand what I wrote. I said you could buy an Venza or a Avalon 4WD and use it for most instances and when you go to NM you could rent a Jeep. I rented a Jeep and drove/4wheeled all over the island of Hawaii a few years back and it was great fun. I would not buy a Jeep. I rented a Land Rover once so even the high end stuff is available.

Your concern with the 4R is tipping over and being uncomfortable leaves it as a no go. We did a Sunday drive in the Poconos on Sunday. We were in our 4R for 6 hours. I felt great and could have done another 7 or 8 maybe more no problem. I could drive to St Augustine or Orlando with only a few gas stops. For me it’s comfortable enough to drive all day.

I think you’ll only be happy with a car based vehicle with AWD. MB’s are expensive however you can find well equipped E Class off CPO 2 year leases around here for extremely good prices. This year I saw one that had barely 10k miles on it, dark green metallic paint, leather, Nav, AWD and a bunch of other options (thats all I can remember now) for $39k. Thats a $65K car new. MB E’s probably have the best ride and nicest interiors you will find. I recently sold my C’ after driving it for 14 years. I did almost all of the work, when things broke, myself. It wasn’t “unreliable” however it did occasionally have things quit working.

BMW’s are garbage. Both their cars and their motorcycles. From personnel experience and experience from close friends. Getting stuck in one with only 5 inches of snow on the ground would be embarrassing. I would set it on fire where it got stuck instead of digging it out.

OK, so you are trying to be helpful and if it was just the NM trips then I would agree wholeheartedly, but my big concern is that infamous call at 2am.

I'm actually contemplating trading my TSX for an E class and looking for a CPO. You're right, they are stupid cheap - but that won't replace my need for a 4R/GC/GX - maybe a used LC.

I don't think I said anything about the 4R tipping over or uncomfortable - didn't I say it had some nose dive?

And yes, BMWs are crap. I will never buy another BMW outside of Germany (well, maybe Austria) - for high pressure fuel pumps were enough for me....

 

[Wolfman’s Brother]

I'd just like to point out the elephant in the room.
The OP has been on this forum citing all sorts of legal factoids and "do's and don'ts" for modifying vehicles, some specific to the 4R for a year, and doesn't even own one. I get doing your due diligence and researching before you buy, but you've extended beyond ad nauseam at this point.
In summary, buy a JGC so you can flood their forums with DOT regulations.

Winner. Shows over folks.

cb1111 be real dumb.

 

[cb1111]

I'd just like to point out the elephant in the room.
The OP has been on this forum citing all sorts of legal factoids and "do's and don'ts" for modifying vehicles, some specific to the 4R for a year, and doesn't even own one. I get doing your due diligence and researching before you buy, but you've extended beyond ad nauseam at this point.
In summary, buy a JGC so you can flood their forums with DOT regulations.

Winner. Shows over folks.

cb1111 be real dumb.

Sigh.....