2025 Toyota 4Runner Will Get Tacoma’s Hybrid, Manual, TRD Pro Goodies: Report
It isn’t being replaced by the new Land Cruiser.
On the eve of the Toyota Land Cruiser's return, it seems we have confirmation that it won't replace the more affordable 4Runner. Like its twin the Tacoma, the 2025 Toyota 4Runner will carry forth with a turbo four-cylinder and keep its top TRD Pro off-road trim despite the Land Cruiser's return.
This report comes via 4Runner6G.com, which attributed "a long-time credible insider source" for all the information here. They reportedly indicate the next 4Runner has been testing in the U.S. since at least March 2021, and that it'll enter production in July 2024 as a 2025 model. As before, it'll basically be a Tacoma SUV, with all of the 2024 Toyota Tacoma's changes reflected accordingly.
This reportedly means switching to Toyota's TNGA-F platform and borrowing its styling, while making the C-pillar steeper for easier ingress. It'll use the same 2.4-liter turbo four-cylinder with identical power outputs: 228 horsepower and 243 pound-feet of torque on base models. 278 hp and 317 lb-ft for mid-range trims.
The top option will be the Tacoma's hybrid engine, making 326 hp and 465 lb-ft, which will be paired only with an eight-speed automatic transmission. A six-speed manual will also be available, but it'll be tuned for only 270 hp and 310 lb-ft. There'll be no more six-cylinder engines, with the 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6 remaining a Lexus exclusive in the GX and LX SUVs.
The TRD Pro off-road trim meanwhile will stick around, and one imagines it'll carry over the Tacoma's IsoDynamic shock-absorbing seats. That puts the top 4Runner in a tricky position, however, because it'll have to fit alongside the more rugged Land Cruiser. Exactly how that'll work isn't clear yet, but the Land Cruiser has always been an upmarket off-road option, whereas the 4Runner has traditionally been a lighter-duty SUV.
Between that and reports of the Land Cruiser adopting retro styling, it seems likely the 4Runner will be the more affordable of the two, and the Land Cruiser the more capable. All will be certain when Toyota's off-road legend returns to the spotlight tomorrow.
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