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- 2025 Toyota 4Runner
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This is a follow-up to my posts on observations after 1,000 miles, posted here:
https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/threads/observations-after-1-000-miles.2840/
The first 1,000 miles was a breaking in period where everything was shiny and new and I was being ultra careful to follow the engine break-in procedures outlined in the manual. However, I shared my observations during these first miles as I got to know my 4Runner. In the following 1,000 miles I was more comfortable with the vehicleās capabilities, operation, and nuances. I also had the opportunity to get a taste of what I really purchased this 4Runner for ā road trips and light off-roading.
There is probably not a better way to get to know your vehicle than taking it off-roading ā especially on trails that require simultaneous attention to tire position, slope angles, clearance from obstacles, leveraging drivetrain features, and subtle acceleration and braking control. I wanted to take the 4Runner on trails that I am more familiar with first in northern Colorado, but the trails I want to go on are still closed or covered in snow for the most part. I wouldnāt mind taking the 4Runner snow-wheeling, but I just havenāt had the right opportunity yet.
However, last week we took the 4Runner to Moab, Utah where we got to off-road it on several trails that I have never been on before. The most notable trail was called Fins ān Things. If you are not familiar with this trail, it is listed as a 4 out of 10 in difficulty, but I would argue that the trail difficulty is a little higher compared to other trails rated on the same scale. If you have done Fins ān Things, I would say that this trail tested the limits of this 4Runner in its stock configuration. However, there are trails rated 5, and even 6, that I would be comfortable taking this 4Runner on as well (to give you an idea of what I think about the Fins ān Thingsā 4 rating).
I was impressed with the vehicleās torque, multi-terrain select (MTS) in rock mode and crawl control, and camera views. Utilizing these features in 4-low going down (or up) a steep obstacle puts the vehicle in a sort-of slow cruise control where you can focus mostly on steering. If youāve ever done this kind of rock-crawling in an old, heavy vehicle, you would appreciate the braking system on this 4Runner (able to lock the wheels on extreme angles and allow a slow controlled slip as needed).
On less extreme parts of the trail, I found the ability to manually select gears to be a useful feature as well. I donāt know how common this feature is, and Iāve had it in other vehicles. But I suspect this is an under-utilized feature. I learned to drive manual transmissions first and was one of those guys that thought heād always want and have manual transmissions. However, there are some distinct advantages to automatic transmission that are obvious for daily driving, and some not so obvious advantages while off-roading. I wonāt weigh in on which is better overall for off-roading, but I will say that my preference depends on the situation, and I havenāt owned a vehicle with a manual transmission for many years now. But I still appreciate the ability to manually select gears in some situations.
The process of manually selecting gears is straightforward. From the normal drive position you pull the shifter to the left, then up or down to manually change gears. Again, I suspect most people will never use this feature, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
During our Moab trip, I decided to raise my seat position a little to give me a little more view over the hood (with my head closer to the headliner than I originally set my seat position in). I might switch back and forth, depending on whether Iām in a normal driving situation or dealing with steep off-road inclines. People that are the sole drivers of their 4Runnerās might decide to setup two different driving profiles to make this switch more automatic.
My final note on off-roading, using Fins ān Things as a benchmark, is that I realize a small lift (2ā maybe) with slightly larger tires (35ā) would probably have been enough to avoid most, if not all, of the minor scraping that we experienced. The scraping mostly occurred on the backside of the vehicle coming off of steep downhill obstacle ā scraping the tailpipe, spare tire, and bumper. I preemptively removed the hitch guard knowing that I would have lost it in Moab otherwise. There was also some scraping under the vehicle and in the front, but not nearly as much as we experienced in the rear. It was all light scraping and I was driving slow through situations where scraping was possible. If we were hitting these sections fast and hard, then the possibility of damage would have been significantly increased.
In this āgetting to know your vehicleā time I have learned that I like to use the dynamic radar cruise control (DRCC) with lane trace assist (LTA) a lot, and I will leave the lane departure alert (LDA) system enabled as it is a good safety feature for the most part. LTA is easily enabled and disabled, and Iāve found that I prefer to disable it on windy roads (it only works while cruise control is on). The cruise control system also does a good job of holding its max speed going downhill, with a combination of automatic gear selection and braking as needed. In some cases, when I think the cruise control system is being too heavy on breaks and Iām comfortable with letting the vehicle accelerate a little downhill, Iāll take it out of cruise control.
I have tracked every single fuel fill-up so far and I have averaged 19.7 mpg overall. This number doesnāt mean much without a lot of details, but I will just say that it includes a variety of around-town driving, mountain highway driving, dirt roads, and off-road trails. I averaged 23.6 mpg on my last fill up, which is the best Iāve seen so far. My worst average was 15.4, which included a lot of off-road miles. Iāve owned the vehicle for 33 days now and put 2,149 miles on it today. So, Iāve averaged about 65 miles per day ā but the distribution of miles is more sporadic with road trips accounting for most of the miles. I expect my average miles per day to go down, but I will still increase mileage sporadically with long road trips.
In case youāre wondering ā no, I donāt plan to do a write-up every thousand miles! But, if I feel thereās anything interesting to add, I will try to share. Hopefully, the 4Runner will continue to run well, but I will share if/when I have any issues or I make any interesting modifications. Iāll probably visit these forums occasionally to see what other issues people are having, modifications they are making, etc. What I'm sharing here is the kind of information I wish I had known before I bought the vehicle.
I am still planning to get some additional armor ā skid plates and side rails. Iām on the fence about roof rack upgrades (including roof top tent), a lift, smaller wheels with wider stance, and larger tires. Iām waiting to see someone do a true 2ā+ suspension lift (not spacers) with 35ā tires and full suspension-cycle test. I might go this route if/when Iām certain I can get a 2ā+ suspension (not spacers) lift, 35ā tires, not need significant body modifications, or negatively impact or lose any features (sensors, cameras, DRCC, safety features, etc.), or void my warranty. I realize this might be too much to ask, but Iām happy leaving this vehicle stock and investing in other vehicles for off-roading purposes. FWIW, I realize these mods will negatively impact fuel efficiency. But Iām not too worried about that as long as it is still a good road-trip vehicle. After I've abused these stock tires a little and decided what I want to do with tire size moving forward, I will probably upgrade to KO3s.
Hopefully this helps others decide whether to buy this vehicle or not! I suspect thereās a lot of people that go through the same decision process that I went through for road-trips and off-roading trade-offs. This 4Runner has exceeded my āexpectationsā for both of these uses, but I realize there are better choices if you just focus on off-road capability or if you just focus on-road capability. I think the 4Runner is the perfect balance - for my purposes. The one thing I canāt tell you (and I donāt think anyone can) is what kind of issues these vehicles will have in the future, or how long we should expect them to last. But Iām hoping that my family will have many years and many miles of happiness with this 4Runner!
https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/threads/observations-after-1-000-miles.2840/
The first 1,000 miles was a breaking in period where everything was shiny and new and I was being ultra careful to follow the engine break-in procedures outlined in the manual. However, I shared my observations during these first miles as I got to know my 4Runner. In the following 1,000 miles I was more comfortable with the vehicleās capabilities, operation, and nuances. I also had the opportunity to get a taste of what I really purchased this 4Runner for ā road trips and light off-roading.
There is probably not a better way to get to know your vehicle than taking it off-roading ā especially on trails that require simultaneous attention to tire position, slope angles, clearance from obstacles, leveraging drivetrain features, and subtle acceleration and braking control. I wanted to take the 4Runner on trails that I am more familiar with first in northern Colorado, but the trails I want to go on are still closed or covered in snow for the most part. I wouldnāt mind taking the 4Runner snow-wheeling, but I just havenāt had the right opportunity yet.
However, last week we took the 4Runner to Moab, Utah where we got to off-road it on several trails that I have never been on before. The most notable trail was called Fins ān Things. If you are not familiar with this trail, it is listed as a 4 out of 10 in difficulty, but I would argue that the trail difficulty is a little higher compared to other trails rated on the same scale. If you have done Fins ān Things, I would say that this trail tested the limits of this 4Runner in its stock configuration. However, there are trails rated 5, and even 6, that I would be comfortable taking this 4Runner on as well (to give you an idea of what I think about the Fins ān Thingsā 4 rating).
I was impressed with the vehicleās torque, multi-terrain select (MTS) in rock mode and crawl control, and camera views. Utilizing these features in 4-low going down (or up) a steep obstacle puts the vehicle in a sort-of slow cruise control where you can focus mostly on steering. If youāve ever done this kind of rock-crawling in an old, heavy vehicle, you would appreciate the braking system on this 4Runner (able to lock the wheels on extreme angles and allow a slow controlled slip as needed).
On less extreme parts of the trail, I found the ability to manually select gears to be a useful feature as well. I donāt know how common this feature is, and Iāve had it in other vehicles. But I suspect this is an under-utilized feature. I learned to drive manual transmissions first and was one of those guys that thought heād always want and have manual transmissions. However, there are some distinct advantages to automatic transmission that are obvious for daily driving, and some not so obvious advantages while off-roading. I wonāt weigh in on which is better overall for off-roading, but I will say that my preference depends on the situation, and I havenāt owned a vehicle with a manual transmission for many years now. But I still appreciate the ability to manually select gears in some situations.
The process of manually selecting gears is straightforward. From the normal drive position you pull the shifter to the left, then up or down to manually change gears. Again, I suspect most people will never use this feature, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
During our Moab trip, I decided to raise my seat position a little to give me a little more view over the hood (with my head closer to the headliner than I originally set my seat position in). I might switch back and forth, depending on whether Iām in a normal driving situation or dealing with steep off-road inclines. People that are the sole drivers of their 4Runnerās might decide to setup two different driving profiles to make this switch more automatic.
My final note on off-roading, using Fins ān Things as a benchmark, is that I realize a small lift (2ā maybe) with slightly larger tires (35ā) would probably have been enough to avoid most, if not all, of the minor scraping that we experienced. The scraping mostly occurred on the backside of the vehicle coming off of steep downhill obstacle ā scraping the tailpipe, spare tire, and bumper. I preemptively removed the hitch guard knowing that I would have lost it in Moab otherwise. There was also some scraping under the vehicle and in the front, but not nearly as much as we experienced in the rear. It was all light scraping and I was driving slow through situations where scraping was possible. If we were hitting these sections fast and hard, then the possibility of damage would have been significantly increased.
In this āgetting to know your vehicleā time I have learned that I like to use the dynamic radar cruise control (DRCC) with lane trace assist (LTA) a lot, and I will leave the lane departure alert (LDA) system enabled as it is a good safety feature for the most part. LTA is easily enabled and disabled, and Iāve found that I prefer to disable it on windy roads (it only works while cruise control is on). The cruise control system also does a good job of holding its max speed going downhill, with a combination of automatic gear selection and braking as needed. In some cases, when I think the cruise control system is being too heavy on breaks and Iām comfortable with letting the vehicle accelerate a little downhill, Iāll take it out of cruise control.
I have tracked every single fuel fill-up so far and I have averaged 19.7 mpg overall. This number doesnāt mean much without a lot of details, but I will just say that it includes a variety of around-town driving, mountain highway driving, dirt roads, and off-road trails. I averaged 23.6 mpg on my last fill up, which is the best Iāve seen so far. My worst average was 15.4, which included a lot of off-road miles. Iāve owned the vehicle for 33 days now and put 2,149 miles on it today. So, Iāve averaged about 65 miles per day ā but the distribution of miles is more sporadic with road trips accounting for most of the miles. I expect my average miles per day to go down, but I will still increase mileage sporadically with long road trips.
In case youāre wondering ā no, I donāt plan to do a write-up every thousand miles! But, if I feel thereās anything interesting to add, I will try to share. Hopefully, the 4Runner will continue to run well, but I will share if/when I have any issues or I make any interesting modifications. Iāll probably visit these forums occasionally to see what other issues people are having, modifications they are making, etc. What I'm sharing here is the kind of information I wish I had known before I bought the vehicle.
I am still planning to get some additional armor ā skid plates and side rails. Iām on the fence about roof rack upgrades (including roof top tent), a lift, smaller wheels with wider stance, and larger tires. Iām waiting to see someone do a true 2ā+ suspension lift (not spacers) with 35ā tires and full suspension-cycle test. I might go this route if/when Iām certain I can get a 2ā+ suspension (not spacers) lift, 35ā tires, not need significant body modifications, or negatively impact or lose any features (sensors, cameras, DRCC, safety features, etc.), or void my warranty. I realize this might be too much to ask, but Iām happy leaving this vehicle stock and investing in other vehicles for off-roading purposes. FWIW, I realize these mods will negatively impact fuel efficiency. But Iām not too worried about that as long as it is still a good road-trip vehicle. After I've abused these stock tires a little and decided what I want to do with tire size moving forward, I will probably upgrade to KO3s.
Hopefully this helps others decide whether to buy this vehicle or not! I suspect thereās a lot of people that go through the same decision process that I went through for road-trips and off-roading trade-offs. This 4Runner has exceeded my āexpectationsā for both of these uses, but I realize there are better choices if you just focus on off-road capability or if you just focus on-road capability. I think the 4Runner is the perfect balance - for my purposes. The one thing I canāt tell you (and I donāt think anyone can) is what kind of issues these vehicles will have in the future, or how long we should expect them to last. But Iām hoping that my family will have many years and many miles of happiness with this 4Runner!
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