TTAC review
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Socalrugger
New member
" I decided that the proceeding at a virtual crawl wasn’t exciting enough"
Yep.... Says it all....
Yep.... Says it all....
adam2562
New member
lolI think you guys may have gotten the tone of the article wrong. I think he hit it just about right.
Here's some quotes:
"A pity that it took me nearly 25 years to actually go off-roading; I may have never bothered with sports cars in the first place."
"Pulling in to the staging area, I turned to my drive partner, Road & Track’s Zach Bowman, and asked him why anyone would consider buying this thing when there are so many better choices on the market. My query was answered as soon as we got to the off-road course Toyota had set up for us."
"I decided that the proceeding at a virtual crawl wasn’t exciting enough, and decided to speed things up a little bit. As a result, I was met with one of the most gut-twisting *BANGS* I’ve ever heard while behind the wheel of anything, while my face flushed a deeper crimson than the paint that adorned our tester.
'And that,' Zach said between laughs, 'is why you want a body-on-frame off-roader.' I started blankly. 'If this was anything else, you would have creased the unibody.' Needless to say, I approached the rest of the course as if my own newborn child was perched on the roof of the car. And it was still great fun.It turns out that driving at 3-5 mph can be a blast, as long as there’s no pavement involved.”
"Knowing only slightly more about off-road driving as a result of my adventure, I would like to say that the 4Runner is about as capable as anything else you can buy once the pavement turns to mud (or deep water, which we traversed, Africa-style, but without a snorkel)."
All in all, I agree with his assessment of the runner. Anyway, thanks for reading it, I hope someone got something out of it.
Here's some quotes:
"A pity that it took me nearly 25 years to actually go off-roading; I may have never bothered with sports cars in the first place."
"Pulling in to the staging area, I turned to my drive partner, Road & Track’s Zach Bowman, and asked him why anyone would consider buying this thing when there are so many better choices on the market. My query was answered as soon as we got to the off-road course Toyota had set up for us."
"I decided that the proceeding at a virtual crawl wasn’t exciting enough, and decided to speed things up a little bit. As a result, I was met with one of the most gut-twisting *BANGS* I’ve ever heard while behind the wheel of anything, while my face flushed a deeper crimson than the paint that adorned our tester.
'And that,' Zach said between laughs, 'is why you want a body-on-frame off-roader.' I started blankly. 'If this was anything else, you would have creased the unibody.' Needless to say, I approached the rest of the course as if my own newborn child was perched on the roof of the car. And it was still great fun.It turns out that driving at 3-5 mph can be a blast, as long as there’s no pavement involved.”
"Knowing only slightly more about off-road driving as a result of my adventure, I would like to say that the 4Runner is about as capable as anything else you can buy once the pavement turns to mud (or deep water, which we traversed, Africa-style, but without a snorkel)."
All in all, I agree with his assessment of the runner. Anyway, thanks for reading it, I hope someone got something out of it.
The author is saying it like it is....
The vast majority of off-roading (by the average person) can be handled by the likes of a Subaru Crosstrek. With that you get 8.7 inches of clearance and 33 MPG highway with full-time AWD. Yes, it's a lot smaller than a 4runner, but any crossover will be more capable than what most people use.
The 4Runner is quickly quickly quickly becoming a niche vehicle. In my opinion, the 4Runner is the best at what it does, but the reasons to purchase a 4Runner are dimishing; i.e, people aren't buying them to be everyday drivers like they did in the past. And when it comes to vehicle abilities, most drivers want a car that can handle snow and dirt trails, not technical off-roading.
I have to admit, my 4Runner is as reliable a vehicle as I've ever owned and I love it, but with 165,000 on it, I've only ever towed with it once, and on the many long travels I go on, the MPG's of the typical crossover is downright appealing.
The vast majority of off-roading (by the average person) can be handled by the likes of a Subaru Crosstrek. With that you get 8.7 inches of clearance and 33 MPG highway with full-time AWD. Yes, it's a lot smaller than a 4runner, but any crossover will be more capable than what most people use.
The 4Runner is quickly quickly quickly becoming a niche vehicle. In my opinion, the 4Runner is the best at what it does, but the reasons to purchase a 4Runner are dimishing; i.e, people aren't buying them to be everyday drivers like they did in the past. And when it comes to vehicle abilities, most drivers want a car that can handle snow and dirt trails, not technical off-roading.
I have to admit, my 4Runner is as reliable a vehicle as I've ever owned and I love it, but with 165,000 on it, I've only ever towed with it once, and on the many long travels I go on, the MPG's of the typical crossover is downright appealing.
LandCruiser
New member
Derek is one of the better automotive bloggers out there.
Most of his assertions in the article were spot on and paint a picture that the 4Runner is quickly becoming last of a dying breed--and that the reason most SUVs these days are crossovers because no one will drive them off road EVER.
I blame the decline on the initial popularity of these things in the 90s as status symbols. People who had no reason to buy an SUV were buying them, and wanted garbage like car-like amenities and handling.
I'm still interested about Toyota's "commitment" to BOF while pruning off their BOF offerings.
Most of his assertions in the article were spot on and paint a picture that the 4Runner is quickly becoming last of a dying breed--and that the reason most SUVs these days are crossovers because no one will drive them off road EVER.
I blame the decline on the initial popularity of these things in the 90s as status symbols. People who had no reason to buy an SUV were buying them, and wanted garbage like car-like amenities and handling.
I'm still interested about Toyota's "commitment" to BOF while pruning off their BOF offerings.
1engineer
Moderator
You mean Jeb? Or Eskimo Chaos? Oh well...
Toyota probably included luxury trims in the 4Runner and LC for mass market appeal. Everybody, even off-road enthusiasts, enjoy car-like amenities, and everybody enjoys a car-like ride until you take it off-road. The problem is, most people can't afford multiple vehicles, so they buy something like a 4Runner to be their everyday driver and weekend warrior, and because it's their EDD they want creature comfort.
Other people (affluent people), want a luxury car that can tow their toys.
What kills me is that as time goes on, the ground clearance shrunk and yet the size of the vehicle grew. They're trying to paint with too broad a stroke when it comes to their SUVs. The 4Runner is a giant SUV now.
And this is just my take, but Toyota really could have hit a homerun with the FJ Cruiser, but fell far short. The premise was spot-on, but the details sucked. To me it's an example of a marketing blunder: why in the world would they decide to make a true off-road vehicle with good ground clearance and good angles, yet then offer the thing in vibrant, almost childish colors and with a cartoonish sort of look? And why give an off-road vehicle (why give ANY vehicle) piss-poor visibility? It's as though they were attempting to appeal to the enthusiasts who enjoy the outdoors and appeal to teenage girls at the same time.
They tried to be different and clever and cunning with the looks of the thing. Blah; that's not what we want. If they wanted to be clever, why not give it a turbo 4 banger, or, even better, how about a turbo diesel? Make it tough, capable, and reliable with almost bland good-looks (and good driver viability) with a turbo 4 cylinder diesel... they would not have been able to produce them fast enough to meet market demand.
Sorry for the rant.
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They have to paint a broad stroke. The guys here at T4R.org aren't going to buy enough trucks to make a business case. Unfortunately, we somewhat rely on soccer moms that want a tough looking truck as an image thing to make enough volume. There are 4 SR5s and 1 Limited in my 1000 person town. 3 of them are driven by soccer mom types that never take them off road. The 4th is some guy that always has his clean. Mine has AT tires and big mudguards. Yea, it is pure anecdote, but I would venture that 20% of 4Runner buyers actually use some of the capabilities. Despite being a guy that does the occasional offroading, I probably couldn't justify the $32k that your hypothetical truck would cost. It wouldn't have a comfortable interior that is reasonably kid friendly. The on-road ride would probably be atrocious instead of merely poor. And frankly, the 4 door Wrangler has that market tied up. Toyota isn't going to match the Jeep image (and I guarantee you that Jeep gets a lot of sins forgiven by buyers thanks to image).
I personally think that the '14 SR5 goes a long way toward filling that gap between the FJ and the previous SR5. The fancy body kit is gone, they say they are offering a more stripped type version to get the cost down. Assuming the FJ is truly dead, we might see a little downsizing for the 6th gen and maybe a return of the 6MT with a 2GR with direct injection (like the Tacoma is getting next year). I think diesel is wishful thinking at this point because it is a $5k premium on any truck and SUV that gets it (or it offers similar power and not a massive improvement in mileage).
I personally think that the '14 SR5 goes a long way toward filling that gap between the FJ and the previous SR5. The fancy body kit is gone, they say they are offering a more stripped type version to get the cost down. Assuming the FJ is truly dead, we might see a little downsizing for the 6th gen and maybe a return of the 6MT with a 2GR with direct injection (like the Tacoma is getting next year). I think diesel is wishful thinking at this point because it is a $5k premium on any truck and SUV that gets it (or it offers similar power and not a massive improvement in mileage).
