Driving Impressions

Toyota's 4Runner showed off its impressive highway performance on a lengthy drive through Virginia and North Carolina. I was headed to Harker's Island near the southernmost tip of North Carolina's Outer Banks to go fishing and quickly found the 4Runner is extremely stable at high speeds. One of the nicest features is the 3.4-liter V6 engine. It is a sweetheart. Though it lacks the stump-pulling grunt of the V8s available in some of the competition, it's exceptionally high in smoothness and driving pleasure, with excellent throttle response and a silky feel throughout its wide rev range. And there's more than enough power to deal with a full load of passengers, luggage and a medium-sized trailer. Toyota's 3.4-liter twin-cam V6 delivers 183 horsepower and 217 pound-feet of torque. Expect fuel economy to be around 16/19 mpg city/highway for four-wheel drive models; rear-wheel drive versions achieve about 1 more mpg overall. It's rated to tow trailers up to 5000 pounds. From a handling standpoint, the 4Runner has one of the best chassis and suspension arrangements in its class. While some mid-size sport-utilities have front suspensions of struts or even live axles, the 4Runner has an independent suspension with upper and lower control arms and coil springs. In the rear, the axle is mounted with a multi-link arrangement and coil springs instead of the more common, and less sophisticated, leaf springs. The 4Runner also has the precise feel of rack-and-pinion steering and a tidy turning circle of 37.4 feet. The result is a combination of ride comfort and handling ease that is exceptionally good for a vehicle of such outstanding off-road and rough-road capabilities. Living with the 4Runner and driving it on a daily basis is easy and free of hassles. It doesn't drive exactly like a car, of course, but it's no truck either. It rides nice, it handles nice, the engine runs great, it's nimble in tight shopping mall parking lots, and it basically does all the things you'd like it to do in the ways you'd like it to do them. About the only negative I logged was that, like most compact SUVs, the 4Runner does not provide good grip on wet pavement. The rear tires will often spin when trying to take off aggressively in the rain. We also had the chance to take the 4Runner off-road. With its high ground clearance, aggressive tire pattern and Toyota's on-demand shift-on-the-fly four-wheel drive system, the 4Runner is practically unstoppable. All four-wheel drive models come with a two-speed transfer case that provides low gearing to slowly creep down steep declines. Toyota builds the RAV4 and Highlander for light-duty non-pavement trekking, but also offers the 4Runner, Land Cruiser and Sequoia for those seeking more serious off-road adventures.

Final Word

The 4Runner is a textbook example of Toyota's insightful, thoughtful, comprehensive care in design and engineering. Everything about it is correctly done. It's highly capable off road, better than all but a very few SUVs. Of course, the 4Runner comes equipped with Toyota's quality, durability, and reliability.