Prospective 2018 TRD Pro buyer... question re power...

[Toffees]

After the Land Cruiser, the 4Runner feels smooth, fast, and light on its feet. What I love about this truck (it's literally my favorite vehicle I've ever owned) is that it feels preposterously well put together. Maybe less power and fewer gadgets, and less "luxury-looking" interior appointments, but everything is so smooth and solid and has the feeling of something that will feel the same day one and day ten thousand. This either appeals to you or it doesn't... everything from a Tahoe to a BMW has more day one curb appeal, but they all have their own tradeoffs. GM's latest trucks last a long dang time, but their vibe is different. They "wear in" and float and rumble down the road. Toyotas "hum." They are smooth, understressed, and built to make your day better by forgetting about them.

I value the type of engineering that goes into something like a 4Runner, though I absolutely see the appeal of a nice Tahoe or Yukon.

Very much this. I've not owned crappy cars in a long time, but the 4R is well-engineered, and very well put together, and is a joy to drive for that reason.

 

[Magnetic]

"It's more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow" :car:

I agree that speed is based purely on ones perspective, and is quite subjective.

I own a 18' TRD OR as a daily and a 16' Charger Scat Pack (6.4L V8 485 HP/TQ) that I drive on the weekends. Additonally, I came from a 2015 Grand Cherokee Summit (5.7 V8 360 HP 390 TQ) and found the 4Runner's power to be quite adequate for the vehicles intended purpose.

Could it use an extra gear, absolutely. But that's not to say the powertrain is terrible, or a threat to society. It's a "large" V6 in terms of displacement and seems to have a great torque curve and does great in daily driving. We drove a Tacoma prior to the 4Runner and found that 3.5L V6 to be underpowered in that application, and yes we drove the manual instead of the terrible automatic. An engines torque curve can make a break it, and I think this 4.0 has a solid one for my needs.

As someone touch on earlier,

the high HP cars tend to make you drive like a jerk and I can attest to that with the Charger.

I find myself driving faster than I really need to since I feel that I should be making use of the power.

:amen: :thumb3:

Hey, I resemble that remark!

:lookout:

 

[cgalloni]

It seems like people that complain about a lack of power think a 6 (or more) speed box will help. It won't. Newer transmissions are all about getting you into the highest gear in the shortest amount of time. More speeds means you'll be farther away from the sweet spot.

Read about the 6-spd auto box in the new Tacoma - constant upshifts to a higher gear. ECT helps, but at the cost of gas mileage.

I attest to that. Came from a Tacoma OR 2016 and had to let it go, too many problems and the driving experience was terrible. Had the 6 speed automatic transmission, yes it saved a little more gas than my current 4R but the driving experience was bad. I end up hating the truck and trade it in for a 4R no complaints. In short! NO!!, more gears does not mean the truck will go faster or run better , in fact the Tacoma is way slower than my 4R

 

[DrVolkl]

ML63 to a 4Runner? Ouch. Now that's a tough pill to swallow. I just sold my C63 Coupe and man do I miss that car.

It was actually ML63 to X5M (2013) to the '18 4runner.

I looked at getting a newer ML63 which, they now call GLA or GLE or something, I still can't keep the new name right as well as a newer X5M (since I just totaled mine) but I ended up going back to Toyota. (I had a '98 4runner and after that FJ Cruiser)

My experience with the Mercedes was simply awful... I literally had the service managers personal cell phone number and even drove his F150 to my office one time because he felt so bad that I had been stranded by my ML (again). I had 5 different loaner E series in a 4 month span, I felt like I was trying out their whole fleet. It was bad enough that I just couldn't swallow that pill again, which brought me to looking at X5M's and SRT8's... but then I realized that I really wanted something reliable, off road ready and zero hassle. I wanted to go back to my Jeep Wrangler days etc.

I really love this truck, and yeah, sure it would be great if it had a v8, but the 4.0 is definitely adequate... and sure, a 6spd would be nice, but whatever.. I'm not really missing it yet... and it still gets way better gas mileage than the Merc and the BMW, of course at half the horse power but at least it's not premium gas either. lol

I think there is definitely some room for improvement... kinda like Toyota just decided to not put any more money into development about 5 years ago and they're just not ready to launch the new one yet... so until a new 4runner comes out, there just isn't anything else I'd rather have!
:thumb: