Here's a veritable match made in traditional off-road SUV heaven - the old-school N280 Toyota 4Runner SUV married the new-age N400 Tacoma mid-size pickup truck and quickly spawned this TNGA-F offspring. There's just one problem – the 2024 Land Cruiser 'uncle' might be a little jealous.
Toyota is hot on the heels of GM after the Q1 sales tally showed a very small difference between them. For sure, the Japanese automaker's latest off-road SUV introductions, like the 2024 Lexus GX 550 and 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, will help shrink the distance – but even more so, will assist the 2025 Toyota 4Runner when it goes on sale in the fall later this year.
As per the leak that appeared mere hours before the official premiere, the sixth generation 4Runner, which was a long time coming since the N280 predecessor appeared in 2009 (!), shares a lot of design traits with the younger fourth-generation N400 Tacoma, including the exterior and interior styling. While the former is kind of easy to differentiate even at the front because the 4Runner doesn't have the plastic detail below the headlights and open bed at the rear, the cockpit is almost identical between the two models, which is not exactly a bad thing.
Also, the 4Runner is finally ready for an all-new platform, switching to "Toyota's tough TNGA-F global truck platform that is shared with Tacoma, Land Cruiser, Tundra, and Sequoia." As always, it will continue to be manufactured in Toyota Motor Corporation's Tahara plant in Japan and will arrive in the United States this fall with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 standard on all trim variants. Speaking of grades and versions, the company announced 2WD, part-time 4WD, or Full-time 4WD models with no less than nine options: SR5, TRD Sport, TRD Sport Premium, TRD Off Road, TRD Off Road Premium, Limited, Platinum, TRD Pro, and Trailhunter.
The Multi-Terrain Select system now rocks across 4WD-High and 4WD-Low Mud, Dirt, and Sand. Plus, it features the new, quieter Crawl Control function, and there's also an optional electronically activated locking rear differential along with Downhill Assist Control. Toyota keeps the 4Runner with three rows, so it hopes not to affect sales of the two-row, possibly more expensive Land Cruiser, and the off-road SUV is capable of towing up to 6,000 pounds (2,722 kg) in its most powerful powertrain configuration.
Speaking of engines and transmissions, the 2025 Toyota 4Runner will be available with Tacoma's 2.4-liter four-cylinder i-Force, packing 278 horsepower and 317 lb.-ft. of torque mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission – it's standard on SR5, TRD Sport, TRD Off-Road, and Limited grades. Next up, the 326 horsepower and 465 lb.-ft. of torque i-Force Max hybrid is optional on TRD Off-Road and Limited, standard on TRD Pro, Trailhunter, and Platinum models.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News