2025 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro Review
2025 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro
Price: A fully loaded 2025 4Runner TRD Pro is priced around $72,500.
Engine Specs: The i-FORCE MAX hybrid powertrain is a 2.4-liter turbocharged inline-four that produces 326 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque.
Fuel Efficiency: In our week of mixed driving, we averaged 18 MPG.
0-60 Time: The 0-60 mph time is around 7.5 seconds.
—-
Guy who did stuff: Yousef Alvi
It's a common observation that much of the content on the internet is designed to elicit an instant emotional reaction. Maintaining relevance and "reach" often depends on generating negativity, as it's a powerful and consistent driver of engagement. This is true across many platforms, as the algorithms favor content that instigates strong reactions, leading to higher search rankings and a wider audience. This cycle of negativity is self-perpetuating, and it tends to reward those who echo popular, negative opinions.
This phenomenon is highly relevant to the new 2025 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro. Read or watch almost any review of this vehicle, and you'll find a common thread: complaining about the new powertrain. It's easy to assume this criticism is universal because the engine is genuinely flawed, but that isn't the case. The reality is that content creators often avoid expressing a genuine opinion that goes against the grain, as doing so risks being buried by the algorithm. The path to success is to latch onto popular (and in this case, negative) opinions and simply restate them.
The widespread complaint is that this new 4Runner has lost its 4.0-liter V6, which is replaced by a 2.4-liter turbocharged inline-four, or a hybrid version of the same engine. Based on the amount of criticism, you might think the old V6 produced incredible power and fuel efficiency. In reality, the engine that everyone is lamenting only produced 270 horsepower and 278 pound-feet of torque. It was bolted to a dated 5-speed automatic transmission and yielded a painfully slow 0-60 mph time of around 7.7 seconds. In the real world, this meant that merging onto a highway or attempting to pass someone was a frustratingly slow and futile act. The old engine was glacially slow in every situation. While it did have a certain character and sounded great when it came "on cam" just before redline, its performance was sluggish with poor low-end and midrange torque, and its real-world city fuel economy was abysmal, often hovering around 13 MPG.
The new engine is the complete opposite. It's so full of torque that you can simply float around town on a wave of low-end power. It doesn't putter out on the top end, either; put your foot down to pass on the highway, and the 4Runner will pin you to your seat. In our week with the new model, we averaged nearly 18 MPG in mixed driving, a far cry better than the 15 MPG we got from the previous generation. On the highway, we netted almost 23 MPG, while the old model could barely achieve 16 MPG. So, what is all the complaining about again?
It seems the criticism exists because content creators feel they have to say something negative to gain any sort of traction. In the case of the 2025 4Runner, the powerplant is the only thing they can seem to criticize, because everything else about the vehicle is brilliant. Take the styling, for example. Can you name another SUV that matches the aggressive yet strangely refined design of this new generation 4Runner? The only vehicle that comes close is the Mercedes G-Class, which exists in a completely different universe from the working-class 4Runner. This generation retains the boxy madness of the last but adds a layer of sophistication that was previously missing. It has so many little design details that you could spend hours staring at it, pointing out and exclaiming "ooo" to yourself like a weirdo.
The brilliance continues on the inside, where the interior is just as exciting as the exterior—but not in the way you might expect. It's exciting in its beautiful simplicity. We live in an age where automakers are so tech-focused that basic functions like vent controls are now relegated to a touchscreen. They'll do anything to "one-up" the competition, no matter how ludicrous the idea may be. Not so in the 2025 4Runner. It's as if Toyota realized that actual human beings operate their vehicles and that these "squishy biologicals" would prefer to focus on the act of driving rather than fiddling with mundane controls. So the 2025 4Runner has huge, physical knobs and dials to turn and logically placed buttons to physically press. Actual, physical switchgear. It's so beautifully, reliably simple that it brings a tear to my eye.
Another thing that brings a tear to my eye is the lighting. The TRD Pro's integrated light bar, when activated, can project a luminosity rivaling a neutron star onto the road. It's so bright, clean, and crisp that you have your own mini daylight at night. It's also auto-activated with the high beams, so you're not "that person" who blinds everyone on the road. Add to that the Rigid foglights, and you have a front lighting system that's one of the best available.
Okay, the only other thing to address is the new Land Cruiser. While the new 4Runner is a fantastic vehicle, its pricing is a bit confusing. A Land Cruiser has a higher starting price, but a mid-level 4Runner with the hybrid powertrain can cost the same or even more than a base Land Cruiser. Furthermore, the top-tier 4Runner trims like the TRD Pro and Trailhunter are priced higher than the top-tier Land Cruiser trim. The Land Cruiser is bigger all around, giving you a larger interior with more head and legroom in all rows and a larger cargo area. If anything, the Land Cruiser looks even better to me personally, and lastly, it's powered by the exact same i-FORCE MAX hybrid drivetrain, making the same 326 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque. So my head hurts now.
Regardless, the entire review was a lot more "ranty" than I had intended, but it was cathartic to get it all out. It was cathartic because this new 4Runner isn't just good; it's arguably stacking up to the best off-road-centric SUV you can buy today.*
*if you forget about the Land Cruiser
Yousef Alvi
