Living the Lifestyle: 2025 Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter Test

From the May/June issue of Car and Driver.The Toyota 4Runner is immortal, both aged and ageless, an omnipresent towering riposte to the notion that building sport-utility vehicles the way cars are built is the logical solution to the world’s SUV needs. The 4Runner is tall and ungainly. It is inefficient in packaging and fuel economy, not quick, and expensive for its size. Toyota can’t build enough of them. At least, that’s always been the case. We expect that the new 2025 4Runner will continue the hot streak established by its venerable predecessor, which enjoyed a 15-year production run even though it was basically made of bronze and granite, or maybe because of that. The latest 4Runner is considerably revamped, even though it doesn’t look radically different to the casual observer. Employing the same TNGA-F platform that underpins the Land Cruiser, the Tacoma, the Tundra, and the Sequoia, the reborn 4Runner doesn’t make any radical departures from its ancient template: body-on-frame construction, live rear axle and independent front suspension, rear glass that rolls down into the hatch. A time traveler from the mid-1990s would find the 2025 iteration fundamentally familiar.
Of course, the trusted recipe is now suffused with modernity. Both powertrains use a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder, with uplevel trims hybridized and offering up to 326 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. You can get the obligatory big touchscreen—14.0 inches—and every trim comes with a full menu of driver-assist features. TRD Pro and Trailhunter models include an electronic front anti-roll-bar disconnect for more loosey-goosey off-road suspension articulation. To figure out how all of this newness aligns with the 4Runner mission statement, we procured a Trailhunter and endeavored to see how the redesign complements and enhances the Official 4Runner Lifestyle.HIGHS: Quicker, casually unstoppable off-road, rear window still rolls down.And what’s that, you ask? Well, as a guy who wears Patagonia hats and owns multiple tow straps, I’ll tell you. The 4Runner buyer is a dreamer, and the dream is predicated on outdoor adventures. If you’re not hiking in the backcountry, you’re off-roading. If you’re not off-roading, you’re surfing. If the waves are flat, you’re skiing. That back window is rolled down, and gear is poking out of it for the world to see—and envy. Sure, you might occasionally roll into a Starbucks parking lot, but only on your way to some kind of recreational activity that might require antivenom. So pack your crampons and come along as we put the Trailhunter to work. full specs and details on the 4runner hybridSurfingGreg Pajo|Car and DriverAt Venice Beach in Los Angeles, nobody looks twice when you climb out of a Toyota 4Runner in a sodden wet suit and stride into a hotel. Okay, one guy did: the one who said, “Is that the 2025 4Runner? I was going to wait for one of those, but I got a Tacoma instead!” He looked pained. Here was the new 4Runner, beach sand smeared across the lip of its rear window, driven by a barefoot guy in a wet suit. Presented with this tableau of peak 4Runner life, he was clearly ruing his impatience. Because, sure, a board peeking over the tailgate of a Tacoma is cool, but not as cool as one sticking out of the rolled-down rear window of a 4Runner. We can’t explain why this is true, but it’s a fundamental fact.More on the 4RunnerOn this particular day, I was the only person surfing. I later learned that was due to the presence of bacteria from rain runoff and not just crummy waves and frigid temperatures. But as I like to say, wobbly surfing in spin-cycle breakers is still 100 percent more surfing than the people on the beach are doing. I think the Jeff Spicoli look-alike who rented me the board honestly thought I was just using it for a photo prop, because when I walked in, soaking wet, to return it he exclaimed, “No way! You’re the man!”The aura of the 4Runner was upon me, totally. Only when I walked back out to the parking lot did I realize that my plan hadn’t included a towel or flip-flops. No matter. I easily mopped the Trailhunter’s SofTex synthetic upholstery with a spare T-shirt, and the rubber floor mats were fully compatible with wet, sandy feet. The longboard fit inside—two feet of it extended out the rear window, of course. In places where access to surf spots requires a bit of beach driving, like Cape Cod and the Outer Banks, this would be quite the chariot.
Off-RoadingCactus Flat sounds like the name of a mopey country-music band, but it’s actually a high-desert vehicle playground near Big Bear Lake, about three hours inland. This, I figured, was the place for off-roading and hiking, which tend to go hand in hand—the best way to assess a trail and its obstacles is to walk it first.More on the 4RunnerThe Trailhunter, as its name implies, is built for this kind of work, with Old Man Emu dampers (external reservoirs on the rears), the disconnecting front anti-roll bar, an electronically locking rear differential, and 33-inch Toyo Open Country A/T III all-terrain tires. Production models will include an onboard air compressor and full skid plates, but this prototype was missing the compressor and front skid plate. Even in this superleggera trim, the Trailhunter weighed in at 5441 pounds, 641 pounds heftier than the last 4Runner TRD Pro we tested in 2022.Despite the weight, the new 4Runner is quicker than the 2022 relic. The Trailhunter hits 60 mph in 6.7 seconds, 1.0 second better than the previous gen. That advantage wanes as speeds climb, with the 2025 model running the quarter-mile in 15.3 seconds at 88 mph versus the 2022’s 16.0 seconds at 86 mph. Fine, nobody buys a 4Runner for drag races. Or skidpad heroics—the Trailhunter generated 0.74 g in lateral acceleration. In the 4Runner state of mind, pavement is just that annoying thing you drive on to reach the dirt.
LOWS: Chatterbox air intake, hybrid battery compromises cargo space, can be more expensive than the Land Cruiser.And out in the boonies, the Trailhunter is hugely capable. My chosen track was steep, narrow, and rock strewn, the kind of trail where there’s a mountain wall on one side and a cliff on the other. Fortunately, the Trailhunter’s 10.1 inches of ground clearance largely obviated my concern about the lack of front skid plate, and the phalanx of cameras meant that I didn’t get as much obstacle-recon exercise as I anticipated since I could precisely locate every rock in the vicinity without leaving the driver’s seat. In low range, with the diff locked and the front anti-roll bar disconnected, the Trailhunter just walked up and over whatever was in its way, with that massive torque available at just 1700 rpm. All of these low-speed exertions were accompanied by a soundtrack of sighs and whistles from the high-mounted air intake, which might prove to be the Trailhunter’s most controversial feature. Clinging to the passenger’s-side A-pillar, the intake is your direct line to the very chatty turbocharger, and it’s actually not a snorkel—its intent is to find dust-free air up high, not to enable heroic deep-water crossings. I love some intake noise, but the Trailhunter’s constant screes and whooshes will test your commitment to the concept because there are few scenarios when the bulky, shed-shaped 4Runner isn’t under boost. The snorkel also saps three horsepower from the turbo four, reducing the combined output to 323 ponies. Hey, if you don’t want to hear the turbo all the time, you can go for any of the other eight trims. Or a Highlander. SkiingGreg Pajo|Car and DriverThe best ski day of my life was enabled by a 4Runner. Back in 2010, when the previous generation was new, I was driving from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe as a blizzard set in. At a checkpoint ahead of the Donner Pass, highway officials were forcing lesser vehicles to chain up or turn around. The 4Runner, though, got a nod of approval, and I was allowed through just before they closed the pass entirely—meaning that the next day, I awoke to four feet of powder and no crowds. What was in the parking lot was 90 percent 4Runners.This time, there was no blizzard, but history repeated itself when I pulled into the hotel parking lot in Big Bear Lake and slotted the Trailhunter between two other 4Runners, one of which was running. I’d hoped the driver would notice the new 4Runner and comment, but he was oblivious, which I guess proves that the sixth-gen 4Runner will not shock the sensibilities of the faithful. Its styling does not scream all-new.Widdle Wadders If you’re not familiar with this 4Runner-specific meme, it involves making fun of a 4Runner with a roof ladder in the manner of an impressed toddler: “Oh, got a widdle wadder on your TRD Pwo? So you can cwimb up your widdle wadder to the top of your woof?” The Widdle Wadder movement is so widespread that you can now buy tiny magnetized ladders to stick on 4Runners (or your fridge). Perhaps not coincidentally, Toyota does not offer a ladder, widdle or otherwise, on the 2025 4Runner.Under the skin, though, the Trailhunter’s hybrid system represents a major shift from the prior generation’s big V-6 and five-speed automatic. The i-Force Max powertrain, as Toyota calls it, augments the turbo four and eight-speed automatic with a 48-hp electric motor and an estimated 0.9-kWh nickel-metal hydride battery pack. The battery is one reason why the cargo floor is about three feet off the ground. With the cargo net in place, throwing a suitcase into the back feels like one of those strongman keg-tossing competitions. The hybrids also forgo the third-row seating available in the SR5 and the nonhybrid Limited.Besides its power upgrade, the hybrid system also bumps up fuel economy, at least on paper. Nonhybrid four-wheel-drive models earn an EPA combined estimate of 21 mpg, while the hybrids are rated at 23. That seems optimistic given that my best tank of fuel—burned mainly in highway driving and while descending more than 4000 feet in elevation—scored 18 mpg. The hybrid system does allow limited electric-only driving, which raises eyebrows in a ski-area parking lot: Why does that 4Runner sound like a Prius?It is true that, on the day of my Big Bear visit, a 4Runner Trailhunter was not strictly necessary to reach the mountain. But it did help my cred in the resort parking area, which was a party unto itself, with music blaring and drinks flowing as adventurers donned their gear. I could have contributed to the cacophony with the removable JBL Bluetooth speaker that doubles as the audio system’s center channel on the dash, but I chose to use my parking-lot time to learn how to disable Proactive Driving Assist, which functions like an overly fastidious driver’s-ed instructor grabbing the wheel and prodding at the brake pedal. I would’ve done this sooner, but the system wasn’t as obnoxious in SoCal’s infamous traffic. The JBL speaker, the branded overland accessories, and even the hybrid system all fall under the category of things a 4Runner can do without. I know the point of a model like the Trailhunter is to demonstrate the 4Runner’s potential (while banking fat profits), but I suspect that the soul of the range lies closer to trims like the $44,220 SR5 4WD: simple, rugged, and more attainable to people who actually play in the mud with their SUVs. VERDICT: The 4Runner goes Hollywood.Should a 4Runner cost more than some Land Cruisers? The Trailhunter prompts that question, but it’s one that doesn’t necessarily need an answer. You don’t need perfect waves, as long as you’re out there. CounterpointsI’m happy to see a new 4Runner after so many years, even if I maintain a soft spot for the outgoing model’s rugged simplicity. The new version’s modern interior, plethora of configurations, and latest Tacoma underpinnings make for a strong foundation. My worry is that Toyota is trying too hard to satisfy too many tastes, with such a large spread in price and capability. The cabin certainly doesn’t feel $60K-plus nice, and I’m not sold on the benefits of the hybrid system. The lineup’s overlap with the also-new Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus GX550 further complicates matters. While there’s a lot to like here, if I were in the market, I’d be very discerning with the order form. —Mike SuttonModern powertrains are resilient. It’s rare in our testing to observe a thermal overload, but with Toyota’s latest hybrid configurations that power the Sequoia, the Tacoma, and the Tundra, we’ve noticed the transmission temperatures flirting with the red zone. The same goes for the new 4Runner. After a handful of acceleration runs, the transmission heats up to the point that it upshifts earlier in the tach swing, and the thrust is dialed back. We don’t hear a fan blowing in an attempt to cool the transmission fluid, and the temps are very slow to recover. All this while testing in mild ambient conditions has us wondering how this gearbox would stand up to abuse in the dunes or in sweltering heat. —David BeardSpecificationsSpecifications
2025 Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter
Vehicle Type: front-engine, front-motor, rear/4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door pickup
PRICE

Base/As Tested: $68,350/$68,350
POWERTRAIN
turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 2.4-liter inline-4, 275 hp, 317 lb-ft + AC motor, 48 hp, 184 lb-ft (combined output: 323 hp, 465 lb-ft; 0.9-kWh nickel-metal hydride battery pack)
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
CHASSIS

Suspension, F/R: control arms/live axle
Brakes, F/R: 13.4-in vented disc/13.2-in vented disc
Tires: Toyo Open Country A/T III
265/70R-18 116H 3PMSF
DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: 112.2 in
Length: 194.9 in
Width: 79.9 in
Height: 74.0 in
Passenger Volume, F/R: 56/44 ft3
Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 83/43 ft3
Curb Weight: 5441 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS

60 mph: 6.7 sec
1/4-Mile: 15.3 sec @ 88 mph
100 mph: 21.1 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec.
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 7.4 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 4.1 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 4.8 sec
Top Speed (gov ltd): 112 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 178 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.74 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY

Observed: 17 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMY

Combined/City/Highway: 23/23/24 mpg
C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDEzra Dyer is a Car and Driver senior editor and columnist. He’s now based in North Carolina but still remembers how to turn right. He owns a 2009 GEM e4 and once drove 206 mph. Those facts are mutually exclusive.
Source: caranddriver.com