I've been driving a '14 4Runner as a rental for the last few days while in Alaska. I wrote a few comments for the NCLR club website and thought I'd throw them up here as well. Re-reading it I sound pretty negative, but the truth is it's not a bad vehicle at all. I won't be buying one, but hey, for what I'm doing here it's actually better than my built LR3.
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We have an SR5 model. Part time 4WD w/lo range but no lockers or fancy traction control algorithms. It's the V6, not the V8. It's running a basic all-season sort of light truck tire (Bridgestone?).
The exterior:
Well, as long as you don't see the front of it it's not so bad. Nothing special to make it appealing, but nothing horrible either. It suffers from a common Japanese care malady of late - headlight/taillight bloat. For some reason the Japanese seem to love making the lights bulge out of the bodywork in recent years. The high floor/low roofline does make for poor visibility out; you feel like you're driving a pill box compared to a Disco/LR3/L4. And whoever designed the rear hatch needs a demotion. You have to reach over a good foot-deep sill to get into the thing. Of course, that area is filthy from all the road grime so you basically get dirty every time you try to get something out of the rear.
The interior:
Again, OK. It has another Toyota-esque feature I've encountered on the Camery and the Tundra where they just try to make everything bigger instead of making it better. All the knobs for the HVAC for example are gigantic. It feels like the Fisher Price 'my first 4x4'. The door handles on the exterior feel like cheap thin plastic - the same sensation I get from the Tundra. Remember the old line about how the doors on a Mercedes closed like a bank vault? Not so much here. As I mentioned, the exterior visibility isn't great because the roofline is relatively low so you can't see out as well, though visibility to the rear is decent for backing. I think it has a 3rd row seat but I haven't actually looked. Heck, we only put bags in the rear seats so I can't even say how they are. The step-in height is more than I expected but not a problem, though I could see that somebody buying it as a mall crawler might be annoyed. The (front) seats are firm with good lumbar and comfortable, but very wide and flat. Perhaps good if you're in need of a visit to Jenny Craig, but a little lateral support wouldn't hurt.
Driving:
Not bad - if you judge it as a truck. By car standards the steering is way too light and numb with no on-center feel. It inspires no confidence or desire to explore it's limits and you have to stay focused or you'll find yourself easily drifting around in your lane. But it's not bad as a truck. And given this is one of the last body-on-frame SUVs, I'll say the chassis is tuned decently. The ride is firm but not harsh. Not too much body roll. All in all, better than I expected.
The same can be said about the V6. Granted, I'm not demanding a lot of it on this trip; driving a lot at 50-60 mph on flat or moderate hills, but there's plenty of power for passing even going up-hill. Honestly - and I can't believe I'm saying this - I don't think the V8 is needed unless you're towing or at elevation. OK, my opinion might change if I were at home where 85 mph is normal, but over all it seems fine. There is one issue with the motor, and that's the awful sound it makes under any load. Rev it past 3000 rpm and it just sort of moans and feels like you're trying to kill it. It will still pull, but you won't enjoy the experience and it will do everything it can to convince you it doesn't like it either!
So far I'm showing a bit over 20 mpg on the dash meter. Again that would be lower if we were at home driving in a city or on a freeway or in stop and go traffic. We've had nearly perfect conditions for maximizing economy with rural low-speed 2 lane highways much of the time at 50-60 mph.
Off-Road:
Well, I don't really know. I've driven in a bit of sand and some loose gravel on the beaches, and a little icy/snowy/slushy pavement. In both cases I was in 4-high, though I could have done either in 2wd I'm sure. I didn't want to take any chances with a rental, alone, with no recovery gear, so I'm not pushing any limits. I may yet find a trail or two, but I'm not counting on it. I was hoping to get out into some snow (the main reason I booked a 4wd) but there's just not much snow on the ground around here at this point.
.
.
.
We have an SR5 model. Part time 4WD w/lo range but no lockers or fancy traction control algorithms. It's the V6, not the V8. It's running a basic all-season sort of light truck tire (Bridgestone?).
The exterior:
Well, as long as you don't see the front of it it's not so bad. Nothing special to make it appealing, but nothing horrible either. It suffers from a common Japanese care malady of late - headlight/taillight bloat. For some reason the Japanese seem to love making the lights bulge out of the bodywork in recent years. The high floor/low roofline does make for poor visibility out; you feel like you're driving a pill box compared to a Disco/LR3/L4. And whoever designed the rear hatch needs a demotion. You have to reach over a good foot-deep sill to get into the thing. Of course, that area is filthy from all the road grime so you basically get dirty every time you try to get something out of the rear.
The interior:
Again, OK. It has another Toyota-esque feature I've encountered on the Camery and the Tundra where they just try to make everything bigger instead of making it better. All the knobs for the HVAC for example are gigantic. It feels like the Fisher Price 'my first 4x4'. The door handles on the exterior feel like cheap thin plastic - the same sensation I get from the Tundra. Remember the old line about how the doors on a Mercedes closed like a bank vault? Not so much here. As I mentioned, the exterior visibility isn't great because the roofline is relatively low so you can't see out as well, though visibility to the rear is decent for backing. I think it has a 3rd row seat but I haven't actually looked. Heck, we only put bags in the rear seats so I can't even say how they are. The step-in height is more than I expected but not a problem, though I could see that somebody buying it as a mall crawler might be annoyed. The (front) seats are firm with good lumbar and comfortable, but very wide and flat. Perhaps good if you're in need of a visit to Jenny Craig, but a little lateral support wouldn't hurt.
Driving:
Not bad - if you judge it as a truck. By car standards the steering is way too light and numb with no on-center feel. It inspires no confidence or desire to explore it's limits and you have to stay focused or you'll find yourself easily drifting around in your lane. But it's not bad as a truck. And given this is one of the last body-on-frame SUVs, I'll say the chassis is tuned decently. The ride is firm but not harsh. Not too much body roll. All in all, better than I expected.
The same can be said about the V6. Granted, I'm not demanding a lot of it on this trip; driving a lot at 50-60 mph on flat or moderate hills, but there's plenty of power for passing even going up-hill. Honestly - and I can't believe I'm saying this - I don't think the V8 is needed unless you're towing or at elevation. OK, my opinion might change if I were at home where 85 mph is normal, but over all it seems fine. There is one issue with the motor, and that's the awful sound it makes under any load. Rev it past 3000 rpm and it just sort of moans and feels like you're trying to kill it. It will still pull, but you won't enjoy the experience and it will do everything it can to convince you it doesn't like it either!
So far I'm showing a bit over 20 mpg on the dash meter. Again that would be lower if we were at home driving in a city or on a freeway or in stop and go traffic. We've had nearly perfect conditions for maximizing economy with rural low-speed 2 lane highways much of the time at 50-60 mph.
Off-Road:
Well, I don't really know. I've driven in a bit of sand and some loose gravel on the beaches, and a little icy/snowy/slushy pavement. In both cases I was in 4-high, though I could have done either in 2wd I'm sure. I didn't want to take any chances with a rental, alone, with no recovery gear, so I'm not pushing any limits. I may yet find a trail or two, but I'm not counting on it. I was hoping to get out into some snow (the main reason I booked a 4wd) but there's just not much snow on the ground around here at this point.
