Review: 2010 Toyota 4Runner Trail

By Andrew Ganz - Posted December 15th 2009

Darwin would probably be pleased with the evolution of the SUV. The vehicular example of “survival of the fittest” might be illustrated better by Toyota’s thoroughly revised 2010 4Runner than any other vehicle on the road. While its rivals have all but vanished, the 4Runner keeps on truckin’ – literally.
Just 15 years ago, almost every suburbanite in America felt compelled to discard perfectly reasonable sedans for body-on-frame behemoths meant to make mole hills out of mountains, even though the roughest thing these trucks might have encountered was a speed bump in the Target parking lot. Automakers and buyers alike learned quickly that rugged trucks meant for rock crawling and trailer hauling made lousy family transporters, so they began introducing car-based crossovers that offered predictable and safe handling with a modicum of rugged style.

But, as our Darwinian allusion suggests, a handful of these dinosaurs have survived thanks to a small, strong and fiercely loyal base of consumers who demand rugged off-road capability in something other than a pickup.

What is it?
Now in its fifth generation, Toyota’s 4Runner is one of the oldest names in the 4×4 kingdom. When it was launched in 1984 as mildly massaged pickup with a bed cover, the 4Runner squared off against the brand new Jeep Cherokee, Isuzu Trooper, Mitsubishi Montero, Ford Bronco II and Chevrolet Blazer. What do all of those have in common?

By the 21st century, the 4Runner had become a bulky, softer seven-seater best suited to suburban slogging, not rock crawling, and its sales dwindled due in part to internal competition from the on road-oriented Highlander. Thus, Toyota looked back to its roots for the 4Runner’s fifth generation redesign by creating a rugged truck at home on the trail.

Our tester was an off roader’s dream: The Trail model, which comes complete with big 265-series tires, gobs of ground clearance, a locking rear differential, low-speed crawl control and a multi-mode system designed to optimize traction in various terrain. Toyota is limiting production of the Trail for the 2010 model year, but we hope it makes up a bigger slice of the segment in the future since it better defines the vehicle than either the entry-level SR5 or luxe-loaded Limited grades.

What’s it up against?
Now that most rivals have gone the way of the dodo bird, the funny Saturday Night Live sketch and the Pontiac, the 4Runner really only goes up against the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and the Nissan Xterra.

Our 4Runner Trail tester was priced within spitting distance of the Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon we recently tested, but it comes up about five grand more than the lower-spec Xterra Off Road. Our test vehicle was so fresh off the line that Toyota’s regional Gulf States distributor had not even received license plates for it in time for our testing. To break it in, we rushed off of the pavement and threw it into four low.

Any breakthroughs?
The 4Runner Trail doesn’t specifically bring much new to the table but it pulls the best bits from its competitors into one package. Tech-friendly off roaders will be impressed with the electronic trickery, most notably two roof console-mounted knobs that control low speed off road crawling and help select the correct traction mode for terrain from loose sand to a boulder-strewn path. We’ve seen a similar system from Land Rover for years, but Toyota is the first to offer such a comprehensive program at this price point.

Oddly, Toyota requires selecting the optional rear DVD player setup to gain access to the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System, which automatically disconnects the sway bars for increased wheel travel (articulation) in the rough stuff. Our press fleet tester wasn’t equipped with the package.

All of these off road goodies are only available on the Trail trim level, although other four-wheel drive 4Runners do offer the same basic four wheeler capability minus the electronic trickery.

On road fans (and those who select other trim levels) might find the stereo system’s “party mode” useful. Press a button on the dashboard (oddly located below the ignition) and sound is optimized for the rear of the 4Runner for tailgate partying. Safety-conscious consumers will be pleased by the airbag count: In addition to standard front, side and side curtain airbags, the 4Runner has a pair of standard knee airbags, as well as active front headrests.

How does it look?
The look is undeniably trucky at first glance. The basic design language harks back more to the second and third generation 4Runners, although some of Toyota’s more modern overstyling themes take over in the details. Thanks to the tall suspension and the lack of running boards, the 4Runner shows off its underpinnings in a decidedly aftermarket-modified way, which will no doubt appeal to many buyers.

Head-on, the 4Runner’s canted headlamps and busy lower fascia are interesting, but they remind us of the previous generation Subaru Forester (although the 4Runner could drive over the Subbie without much difficulty). We do like the non-functional hood scoop but we’ll pass on the antiquated whip antenna mounted to the fender. The rear features a complex design befuddled by too many styling themes, but at least the 4Runner’s now traditional power-operated rear window makes an appearance again.

In Trail guise, the 4Runner gains black plastic fender flares, unique wheels and revised front and rear fascias. The add-ons lean more toward the Xterra definition of rugged simplicity than the earthy two-tone style we used to see in this segment.

And the inside?
The interior is a Toyota typical affair, which is to say that it’s well screwed together and generally logical, but suffers from mediocre materials and multiple examples of overzealous design. The worst offender of the latter is the center stack, which is needlessly styled with its various bulges, knobs, nooks and crannies. Everything you need is there and easy enough to locate, but the overall design will scream “2010” in about a decade’s time.

The center console’s randomly placed cupholders and a gear lever positioned too far back in the console area are the biggest offenders, but at least the armrest storage box could swallow an alpaca and, by golly, there’s a traditional tug-it-yerself transfer case lever. Glory be, we almost forgot how to use these things! Thankfully, ever thoughtful Toyota continued its tradition of mounting instructions on the sunvisor. Whew.

Generally speaking, however, the interior is a comfortable place to whittle away the miles. Toyota has learned from its parts bin days and now offers a unique (rather GM-inspired) audio system, a nifty thin strip that displays trip computer, temperature and clock information (the ubiquitous Japanese car clock is gone!) and a useful rearview mirror with a built-in rear camera display. A chunky steering wheel fits the 4Runner’s mantra, although it should be leather-wrapped at this price point.

Firm front seats and a nicely scuplted, roomy rear seat make the outboard seating positions more than tolerable. We weren’t enthused about the black fabric, which has some sparkly bits (really, on a rugged truck?), but dual power seats are a nice touch. Other 4Runners offer seven seat capacity, but our Trail tester was not so equipped. Instead, we got a silly-looking slide-out tray that might be useful for tailgaters but otherwise seems like engineering excess. How much are owners lifting that they need to slide out the cargo area closer to them by about five inches? We’d rather see a lower, simpler cargo area.

But does it go?
The fifth generation 4Runner feels like its second and third generation predecessors in more than just styling and off road positioning; the cylinder count feels positively ’90s, as well. Gone is the V8 option, replaced instead by a standard 2.7-liter four-banger (for two-wheel-drive 4Runners and marketing purposes only). The 4.0-liter V6 that also does duty in the Tacoma returns, and it cranks out a more than acceptable 270 horsepower and 278 lb-ft. of torque. A five-speed automatic transmission is the only option, although we bet some off roaders would love to see the Tacoma’s standard six-speed stick make an appearance.

The 4Runner is a big vehicle, especially for an off roader, so its 4,500 or so lb. curb weight comes as no surprise. It had plenty of get-up-and-go from any speed during our mixed testing and the automatic provided quick downshifts. The V6 wasn’t a rev-happy motor like its variable valve timing and Toyota heritage might suggest, but that was a good thing as its slightly gruff sound was kept to a minimum. We did notice an occasionally odd shift when slowing down to a near stop and then re-accelerating – when rounding a sharp corner, for example – but otherwise the combination was impressive.

Fuel economy is good for a truck-based SUV; the EPA rates the 4Runner at 17 mpg in the city and 22 mpg on the highway, and while we had a hard time seeing the higher figure on a highway trip, we averaged a more than acceptable 19 mpg in mixed driving over the course of a week.

On road, the 4Runner had the bouncy, soft ride you would expect from tall profile road-oriented tires. The Bridgestone Dueler H/Ts Toyota selected are appropriate for other trim levels, but they’re awfully tame for the Trail model. On the bright side, they kept road noise quelled on the highway and gripped reasonably well in sharp turns. Don’t go thinking the 4Runner is a sports car, however. The steering was vague and slightly overboosted, and although handling proved more than competent, it certainly trails crossovers.

But on road handling is not what the Trail is about. Toyota took a page from Jeep’s lesson plan by developing the 4Runner on the rugged Rubicon Trail in California. High ground clearance, great approach and departure angles and, of course, those whiz-bang knobs to control crawl speed and traction settings made the 4Runner a delight during our off road testing. We didn’t find many rocks to crawl, but the 4Runner walked over small moguls and crawled right through mud-strewn paths with a minimum of fuss when we selected the appropriate mode. In fact, traction was so good that it almost took the fun out of things – we almost never felt wheel slippage from the on-road tires on our test course, which has left more than a few rugged ‘utes struggling for grip.

The 4Runner offers about 80 percent of the capability you’ll find in the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, which should be more than enough for most casual off roaders. It won’t struggle to get you to your campground or fishing spot and, unlike the Jeep, it will do it in comfort for the passengers. The Jeep’s biggest advantages come in its solid front axle articulation, its locking front differential and its standard automatic swaybar disconnects, but make no mistake: The 4Runner is a capable machine once again.

Why you would buy it:
Off roading is your thing but you need a perfectly comfortable daily driver.
 
Why you wouldn’t:
The thought of slogging through the muck in a $36,000 SUV gives you the chills.

Leftlane’s bottom line
After the tepid fourth generation 4Runner, we were pretty much ready to give up on the model – so were most buyers, as the sales figures indicate. But Toyota took a rather un-Toyota-like approach by developing a niche vehicle that targets a small but tremendously loyal section of the market. Don’t be surprised if most 4Runners wind up in the mountains; it’s the anti-Highlander and it helps define the traditional SUV for the 21st century, while capitalizing on Toyota’s impressive off road heritage (something Prius owners tend to forget).

At nearly $37,000, the 4Runner isn’t cheap, but it strikes us as a much better value than our recent Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. The 4Runner makes a comfortable and refined daily driver that offers most of the Jeep’s capability in a more sensible package for many buyers. On roaders should continue to make Darwin happy by flocking to crossovers, but for those with a yearning for wide open spaces, Toyota hit this one just right.

2010 Toyota 4Runner Trail base price, $35,700. As tested, $36,555.
Destination, $855.

Words and photos by Andrew Ganz.