Incorrectly rendered for the umpteenth time, the 2025 Toyota 4Runner won't look anything like the design study in the video below. According to information shared by a credible insider, the body-on-frame sport utility vehicle will share much with the 2024 Toyota Tacoma in terms of front-end styling.
The rest of the body-on-frame SUV's exterior design is best described as evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Said insider also understands that the C pillars are more upright, therefore resulting in easier ingress and egress for third-row passengers.
Expected to enter series production in July 2024, the 2025 Toyota 4Runner has reportedly been testing on American soil since March 2021. The carparazzi have yet to catch anything remotely similar to the 4Runner, not even a chassis mule. As per the cited source, a 2.4-liter turbo inline-four will be standard across the board, thus mirroring the Tacoma.
The insider also understands that the TRD Pro will soldier on, although it's not clear whether its T24A-FTS engine will be joined by a hybrid setup or not. After all, the Tacoma TRD Pro and Tacoma Trailhunter both come as hybrids from the outset.
Speaking of trim levels, pixel artist Digimods DESIGN proposes the "4RUNNNER GR" as a new entry in the range. There is, however, a problem with that. Rather than the triple N used in the video's title, Toyota's current nomenclature puts the GR (as in Gazoo Racing) before the model's name. What's more, the GR 4Runner wouldn't make much sense.
Photo: Toyota
A GR Sport take on the 4Runner would also be pointless. Over in Europe and quite a few other markets, the Hilux can be had in GR Sport attire, with GR Sport being the next step down from the full-blooded GR treatment of the GR Yaris, GR Corolla, GR86, and GR Supra. The 300-series Land Cruiser is available in GR Sport flavor as well. The 300's closest equivalent in the US market is the Lexus LX, although the luxury-oriented sport utility vehicle doesn't have anything remotely similar to the GR Sport grade.
At the end of the day, however, there's no such thing as a GR Sport in Toyota's lineup for the United States market. We also have to remember that there's no need for a GR Sport in the 4Runner's case due to the TRD Off-Road and TRD Pro. With a bit of luck, we may also get a Trailhunter grade for rock crawling.
It's not known whether the manual transmission of the Tacoma will be available, and chances are it won't. Because the all-new 4Runner is joined at the hip to the Land Cruiser 250 series, which comes with an 8-speed automatic and the hybrid version of the 2.4-liter turbo, it's hard to imagine the heavier and more practical 4Runner getting the iMT2 manual with rev-matching and anti-stall technologies.
As for the stuff that isn't exactly hard to imagine, look forward to a higher starting price. For example, Toyota wants $31,500 for the Tacoma SR or $28,600 for the previous model year. With the 4Runner SR5 currently retailing at $40,455 sans destination charge, the 2025 model could start at circa $43,355.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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