WCVanHorne
New member
...Or the four S'es: Suspension, Steering, Starting, & Stupid Antenna.
So most of these people know but I tried to forget them all and come at it with an open mind.
Two were good or better than expected:
-Suspension. It is a little cushy and perhaps "bouncy" but you know I'm not that unhappy with the compromise. The roll in corners isn't horrible and so far I find the nose dive acceptable. Heck most of the time I'm worrying about control stopping up here I *wish* I had the kind of traction to get the nose to dive a bit! Best part is that it just eats up the speed bumps on one of the main routes into my neighbourhood. I have to literally crawl over them with my Yaris. Even then I get a tiny scrape when the whole family is in it. However on the drive down it back from the dealership I tried the first a little fast at 10, fine, second at 20, still good, third at 30, wow, fourth at 40, probably even smoother than 30!!! Man this is great. Don't forget these are monsters. Next time I'm going to try cruising down that strip at 50; might have to swerve around a few of the cars and Crossovers that have to slow down to 10 or less. :reddance: I was on my own and haven't mentioned this to the wife yet. This is the route we use the majority of the time and she is used to the <10 routine. Can't wait to freak her out by cruising though at full speed. She will probably scream and brace for roof impact! :lmao:
-Steering. I haven't noticed excessive wander or bad tracking on urban freeway. I'll have to see if it gets squirrelly out on the open highway at 120.
And two were very annoying:
-Starting. OK this one is a complete surprise to me and I don't think I've run across it mentioned yet. I had to try three times just to drive it off the lot. I thought all Toyota ECMs had gone to a programmed start. I'm so used to just flicking the key on my 2008 Yaris that my mind just gets in that mode when I feel the shape of a Toyota key. Why the heck is the starting on the 4Runner old school hold to turn over!? Since I'm going back and forth this is going to be a persistent annoyance for the life of the vehicle.
-Stupid Antenna. Well this one is well known, however I guess I'd not realized that that damn thing was probably 4" *higher* than even the roof rack rails. Why? I can see it being a hair higher than the vehicle height (eg. and inch or so) to act as a bit of a height warning but that thing is aspiring to be like the safety warning masts they have on pickups on the oil sands sites to keep from getting run over by these babies:
Since I only have 2" clearance from the rails the damn thing catches badly several times on the way in. I took it off right away and am going to find something ASAP. I don't mind the whip but it's at least 3" too long. Crazy!
So most of these people know but I tried to forget them all and come at it with an open mind.
Two were good or better than expected:
-Suspension. It is a little cushy and perhaps "bouncy" but you know I'm not that unhappy with the compromise. The roll in corners isn't horrible and so far I find the nose dive acceptable. Heck most of the time I'm worrying about control stopping up here I *wish* I had the kind of traction to get the nose to dive a bit! Best part is that it just eats up the speed bumps on one of the main routes into my neighbourhood. I have to literally crawl over them with my Yaris. Even then I get a tiny scrape when the whole family is in it. However on the drive down it back from the dealership I tried the first a little fast at 10, fine, second at 20, still good, third at 30, wow, fourth at 40, probably even smoother than 30!!! Man this is great. Don't forget these are monsters. Next time I'm going to try cruising down that strip at 50; might have to swerve around a few of the cars and Crossovers that have to slow down to 10 or less. :reddance: I was on my own and haven't mentioned this to the wife yet. This is the route we use the majority of the time and she is used to the <10 routine. Can't wait to freak her out by cruising though at full speed. She will probably scream and brace for roof impact! :lmao:
-Steering. I haven't noticed excessive wander or bad tracking on urban freeway. I'll have to see if it gets squirrelly out on the open highway at 120.
And two were very annoying:
-Starting. OK this one is a complete surprise to me and I don't think I've run across it mentioned yet. I had to try three times just to drive it off the lot. I thought all Toyota ECMs had gone to a programmed start. I'm so used to just flicking the key on my 2008 Yaris that my mind just gets in that mode when I feel the shape of a Toyota key. Why the heck is the starting on the 4Runner old school hold to turn over!? Since I'm going back and forth this is going to be a persistent annoyance for the life of the vehicle.
-Stupid Antenna. Well this one is well known, however I guess I'd not realized that that damn thing was probably 4" *higher* than even the roof rack rails. Why? I can see it being a hair higher than the vehicle height (eg. and inch or so) to act as a bit of a height warning but that thing is aspiring to be like the safety warning masts they have on pickups on the oil sands sites to keep from getting run over by these babies:
Since I only have 2" clearance from the rails the damn thing catches badly several times on the way in. I took it off right away and am going to find something ASAP. I don't mind the whip but it's at least 3" too long. Crazy!
