Maybe There Wont Be a 6th Gen 4Runner

[RichinRidgewood]

I keep seeing that more and more woke/over reactive the-sky-is-falling environmentalist states are jumping on the 2035 band wagon. No gasoline vehicles will be sold in CA, VA, NJ and I think there are others. Good luck to them. lol

It would seem to me that if the 4 Runner were to be developed after 2025 that would give it less than a 10 year lifespan. The market for it would seem significantly reduced after that.

Maybe thats it for the 4Runner.

 

[djeepin]

I feel the same. Economic situation, change in leadership, regulations, etc., not look very good to continue produce and sell one of the most successful truck of the past. If produced with 4cyl turbo or hybrid, it will be major turn-off for many off-road enthusiasts, who modified their vehicles, and it will cost much more.

 

[rdruss]

My gut feeling is that the 4Runner as we know it is done, the 6th gen will not be that appealing to most of us.

 

[whyzee125]

Never occurred to me before but you may be right. The new Tundra and Sequoia have surprised me--I love them. But Toyota seems to miss every other gen 4runner. 1, 3, and 5, they nailed it but 2 and 4 not so much IMO. If they continued the pattern the 6th would be a downgrade lol so keep those 5th gens or get a new one while you can!

 

[brieeguia19]

I love the look of the new sequoia, I hope they redesign to closely mirror it. I would love one, but the price tag is too much for me

 

[BlueRunner428]

Why would fuel efficiency or no new internal combustion engine vehicles hamper the 4Runner? They can make it a lot more fuel efficient with a turbocharged 4 cylinder, and a fully electric 4Runner I think would be a boss. They are getting the ranges for the batteries a good deal up there now, the issue is the charging times. So I don't see how newer power train requirements will hurt the 4Runner. It can still be body-on-frame, solid rear axle, part-time 4WD with low-range transfer case, etc...

 

[blantonator]

Dear OP: All these states have carve outs for hybrids. Everything will be a hybrid by 2030/35. The new sequoia is a hybrid.

 

[RichinRidgewood]

Why would fuel efficiency or no new internal combustion engine vehicles hamper the 4Runner? They can make it a lot more fuel efficient with a turbocharged 4 cylinder, and a fully electric 4Runner I think would be a boss. They are getting the ranges for the batteries a good deal up there now, the issue is the charging times. So I don't see how newer power train requirements will hurt the 4Runner. It can still be body-on-frame, solid rear axle, part-time 4WD with low-range transfer case, etc...

Taking an electric vehicle out into the country and then not making it home because there are no charging stations is not my idea of a good time neither is sitting at a charging station for a couple hours waiting in line and then finally charging. EV's are a poorly thought out dumbass idea. BTW according to the people I know in the industry, who are not low level engineers "speculating" as they are doing in an associated thread , lol, EV's are only a middle phase. We will be driving hydrogen vehicles in the future.

 

[BlueRunner428]

Taking an electric vehicle out into the country and then not making it home because there are no charging stations is not my idea of a good time neither is sitting at a charging station for a couple hours waiting in line and then finally charging. EV's are a poorly thought out dumbass idea. BTW according to the people I know in the industry, who are not low level engineers "speculating" as they are doing in an associated thread , lol, EV's are only a middle phase. We will be driving hydrogen vehicles in the future.

As electric vehicles become more widespread, there will be more charging stations. And they are working to get the charging times down. As for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the technical issues with those are arguably greater than with electric vehicles. Whether they will be the actual future or not is a huge if.

 

[meaves62]

Saw an article yesterday about how Teslas are getting totaled after accidents where the battery backs are even slightly damaged.

It’s been proven that the batteries aren’t green. China controls the rare earth elements needed. They are using child slave labor in the Congo for mining cobalt.

I’ll pass on any of this electric boondoggle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[thatoneguy]

Why would fuel efficiency or no new internal combustion engine vehicles hamper the 4Runner? They can make it a lot more fuel efficient with a turbocharged 4 cylinder, and a fully electric 4Runner I think would be a boss. They are getting the ranges for the batteries a good deal up there now, the issue is the charging times. So I don't see how newer power train requirements will hurt the 4Runner. It can still be body-on-frame, solid rear axle, part-time 4WD with low-range transfer case, etc...

Indeed. 4Runner people love reliability, and the reliability potential of EV is WAY higher than internal combustion. EV motors have one moving part, almost no EVs use anything other than a 1:1 direct drive, a transfer case is not necessary, and the list goes on. Compare that mechanical complexity with modern turbo-fours with hybrid, stop/start, 10-speed transmissions like the Bronco. Multiple EVs on sale today can charge 10-80% in 15-20 minutes. Good enough for me, and hey, it's slated to keep getting better.

Toyota's hybrid game is time-tested and proven. I would buy a hybrid 4Runner after giving them a couple model years to sort out the new gen. What I won't touch is PHEV (plug in hybrid) vehicles. I'm anticipating for my imminent 2023 4Runner to be my dead reliable go everywhere rig until they have basic EV 4x4 SUV's in a polished enough state for me to buy one. It's very, very unlikely that hydrogen will catch on due to the far worse limitations/consequences associated with it. It takes more energy to produce hydrogen fuel than it puts out, if I recall correctly. Meanwhile, the grid gets better every day. Where I live, juicing up a Tesla at home costs $5-10 and can happen in your sleep, waking up to a full charge every day is an attractive feature.

 

[FrontRange4]

Never occurred to me before but you may be right. The new Tundra and Sequoia have surprised me--I love them. But Toyota seems to miss every other gen 4runner. 1, 3, and 5, they nailed it but 2 and 4 not so much IMO. If they continued the pattern the 6th would be a downgrade lol so keep those 5th gens or get a new one while you can!

the 4th gen is much better than the 5th

 

[wsgoat]

the 4th gen is much better than the 5th

X2. I own a 4th and 5th gen from new and the 4th is head and shoulders above the 5th in terms of quality. If I could only own one, it'd be a 4th all the way!

 

[Sarge61]

Why Aren't We Using H2?

Hydrogen is the most prevalent gas in our galaxy and probably the most in every galaxy. Why aren't we using it as a vehicle fuel? I know some do, but they are very rare. Fueling up at a H2 station would be similar to filling up a propane tank. It's easy and quick. I think there's a political agenda, kick-backs, or money going into the "right" pockets behind the lack of widespread H2 use for vehicles.

The 2023 Sequoia is a 4 cylinder turbo engine. I don't know what the displacement is, but it just feels like they castrated our favorite production vehicle, again for a political agenda more so then customer demand.

"We're not going to build and sell what you want. We're going to build and sell what you should want."

My 2 cents.

 

[Finslayer83]

The Land Cruiser is returning as in Prado format (TNGA-F platform).

Lexus will also get a "overland" version of the GX as well.

Been told by industry folks, YMMV. :noidea:

 

[Jetboy]

IMO it's a mixed bag.

5th gen has better styling, better interior layout and front cabin, softex is superior to leather, the 8.2 rear axle is a significant improvement over the 8", better off-road features incl. MTS and rear locker (I know there's a unicorn 2009 Trail edition with a rear locker), and KDSS option. And bigger brakes IIRC.

4th gen had better powertrain options. Door layout and switching on the 4th gen was much nicer than having the switches up on the door sill area. Not a fan of that.

Chassis is basically carryover.

For me - the stronger rear axle, locker/MTS, and KDSS are still preferable over the v8 option. But I could argue in favor of either. A 5th gen with a 4.6v8, awd transfer case, KDSS, and rear locker would be the ultimate 4Runner IMO. Toyota should have had one from day 1 and should make it as a send-off model. Basically just a GX with a 4Runner body and rear locking diff. All stuff they already have on the same assembly line. Just put it together in the right order.

 

[thatoneguy]

Hydrogen is the most prevalent gas in our galaxy and probably the most in every galaxy. Why aren't we using it as a vehicle fuel? I know some do, but they are very rare. Fueling up at a H2 station would be similar to filling up a propane tank. It's easy and quick. I think there's a political agenda, kick-backs, or money going into the "right" pockets behind the lack of widespread H2 use for vehicles.

If someone could capture mass market share by showing the way with hydrogen, they would.

Hydrogen has huge problems for car applications, in my opinion problems more costly and difficult to solve than battery electric. Energy intensive to transform into a usable car fuel, difficult to store, and would have to create an effectively brand new infrastructure for mass use--unlike electricity, where most US residences can charge a car without any service upgrades, or pay for a usually modest upgrade to get their speeds up. Here in Utah, I could charge a 300 mile EV from empty to full at home for less than $10 in electricity. Gas can't compete with that cost per mile, and I doubt hydrogen can.

I would not expect hydrogen to enter the consumer automobile realm in massive quantities. Car companies like profit, and so far nobody has been able to profit going after it.

 

[CookieRoe]

There WILL be a 6th gen 4Runner. Toyota just keeps delaying it. Wouldn't you? 4Runner sales are out the wha-zuuuu. Next gen will have a turbo 4. From what I gather and remember, they continue to tweak it (seeing how the Bronco/Jeep are highly successful......... and butt ugly...... whatever), who knows when it will appear, best guess is next year. Meanwhile, who cares, if you want "old reliable tech", get a 5th gen while you can. When the 6th gen comes, face it, you will love it even if its gerbil powered, LOL. I was hoping that Toyota rebadges a Prado and throw a 4Runner badge on it, but apparently that won't be happening (Land Cruiser is coming back which is basically a Prado).

Someone mentioned Hydrogen powered cars (Toyota and Honda were working on cars like that). Pretty sure you can still purchase a Honda Clarity. Anyway, that would be awesome (mass produced), but someone else mentioned the difficulties in implementing it, oh well.

Cheers

 

[5thToy]

Hydrogen fuel is elegant and has an obvious appeal but comes with issues as has been discussed.

It doesn't exist on its own in nature. Molecular hydrogen escapes the atmosphere and is lost to space forever. it's always bonded to something else, requiring significant energy to isolate. Then you have to put it under extreme pressure to create enough energy density to make it useful in the space allotted within a car. Then you have to figure out how to hold on to that tiny molecule under extreme pressure, safely.

All of that is doable, but not easy to accomplish economically.

 

[tokyo rebuilt]

Hydrogen is the most prevalent gas in our galaxy and probably the most in every galaxy. Why aren't we using it as a vehicle fuel? I know some do, but they are very rare. Fueling up at a H2 station would be similar to filling up a propane tank. It's easy and quick. I think there's a political agenda, kick-backs, or money going into the "right" pockets behind the lack of widespread H2 use for vehicles.

The 2023 Sequoia is a 4 cylinder turbo engine. I don't know what the displacement is, but it just feels like they castrated our favorite production vehicle, again for a political agenda more so then customer demand.

"We're not going to build and sell what you want. We're going to build and sell what you should want."

My 2 cents.

The Sequoia is a V6 turbo. Chevy are the only ones putting 4cylinders in full size trucks (for now)

edit: grammar