The 2020 Toyota 4Runner is a reliable choice for weekend warriors produced much better this calendar year thanks to additional protection gear, but pavement-pounders should look somewhere else.
The 2020 Toyota 4Runner is an SUV that may owe its ongoing existence to the way the “Jurassic Park” franchise reignited an fascination in dinosaurs.
The 4Runner’s simple, off-street style would make it a relic when compared to car-like crossover SUVs. Beneath its cumbersome exterior, the 4Runner has a separate frame and a reliable rear axle, weighty-metal bits typically related with pickup trucks. Those rugged parts give the 4Runner really serious off-roading capacity, specifically in TRD Off Highway and TRD Professional configurations. The 4Runner SR5 receives the basic principles correct, even though the decked-out 4Runner Confined appears to miss out on the issue, at minimum to us.
Total, we level the 2020 4Runner at 5. out of ten. (Study additional about how we level cars.)
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This calendar year, the 4Runner receives a necessary infusion of collision-avoidance tech including computerized emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. Its infotainment program now features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. That new gear turns the 4Runner into a dinosaur with a flip cellphone, but that is an upgrade around final year’s two cans and a string.
Underhood, the 4Runner has a 4.-liter V-6 rated at 270 horsepower and 278 pound-toes of torque. A 5-velocity automatic transmission sends power to the wheels. Rear-wheel push is regular, but the 4Runner would make additional perception with the optional 4-wheel-push program. The 4Runner is weighty and rides on massive tires that give it unstoppable efficiency off-street but can leave it with ponderous dealing with on pavement. Choose for the 4Runner TRD Off Highway and the truck can be equipped with trick, hydraulically actuated sway bars that lower lean in curves even though aiding suspension droop off-street to keep the wheels on terra firma. The 4Runner TRD Professional discards that setup for Fox dual-reservoir shocks and a two.5-inch suspension elevate that gives it a plush journey and really serious capacity. On the freeway, the 4Runner’s steering is anxious, nevertheless this year’s freshly regular adaptive cruise control should make it a additional stress-free street-tripper.
Phase up into the 4Runner—hiking boots help—and you are going to obtain massive, gentle seats and a chunky dashboard. The seats sit very low to the floor and head home is not extravagant. The optional third-row seat feels like an afterthought. Cargo is dealt with to about ninety cubic toes of room with the rear seats folded, but really do not look for a power liftgate.
No 4Runner is affordable, but both equally TRD variations are significantly less expensive and much better equipped for daily driver use than identical Jeep Wranglers.
The 2020 Toyota 4Runner has previous-university styling that has aged effectively.
With its sharp front conclusion, the 2020 Toyota 4Runner is an interest-grabber. We level it at 6 out of ten, with a issue above common for its ability to stand out in a group. (Study additional about how we level cars.)
The 2020 4Runner has a blocky profile that is a webpage out of the history textbooks. It sits large off the floor and rides on tires almost as tall as the roof of some sports cars. The 4Runner’s front conclusion has massive air intakes and sharp headlights that dig deep into its flared fenders. This calendar year, the grille style is tweaked to home sensors for the computerized emergency braking and adaptive cruise control units, but you are going to have to look carefully to spot the variances. At the rear, the 4Runner’s styling is not as cohesive. Its tailgate is bland and is not built-in into the relaxation of the truck’s style.
All 4 4Runner trim degrees have distinct personalities, specifically the chrome-laden 4Runner Confined and the large-driving 4Runner TRD Professional.
Within, the SUVs have a blocky dashboard that places an 8.-inch touchscreen up large. Great audio and weather control knobs are comically overwrought. Tough fabric seats appear regular, but several 4Runners on dealer lots are upholstered in effortless-to-clean up synthetic or real leather-based trim.
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The 2020 Toyota 4Runner won’t make you yearn for a curvy street, but it can be moderately polished in selected configurations.
Shop very carefully as the 2020 Toyota 4Runner has a distinct individuality dependent on what is underneath. We level the overall lineup at 5 out of ten, dialing a issue back for sloppy dealing with that we include back for its really serious off-street chops in most trims. (Study additional about how we level cars.)
All 4Runners use a 4.-liter V-6 rated at 270 hp and 278 lb-ft of torque. The engine is paired to a 5-velocity automatic transmission that is down a few gears to most competition. 4Runner SR5 and Confined trims appear regular with rear-wheel push and a element-time 4-wheel-push program is optional on SR5 and regular with possibly TRD trim. Only the 4Runner Confined delivers a 4-wheel-push program that can be utilized on dry pavement.
These SUVs journey on massive tires and have a large amount of floor clearance, so it’s not astonishing that they can be a handful on pavement. Most variations bounce softy around massive bumps and have light steering that necessitates extra corrections at velocity. Their brakes are lots sturdy, but endure from numb pedal experience.
Any edition is decently able at taming a grime street, nevertheless TRD 4Runners give additional self confidence thanks to some spectacular 4-wheeling gear. The TRD Off Highway provides a locking rear differential, a knob that tailors the traction control program to distinct situations this sort of as mud or rocks, and an off-street cruise control program that can lope the SUV together at a snail’s rate around really serious moguls. The crawl control program is productive but incredibly loud. We advocate the optional Kinetic Dynamic Suspension Technique on the 4Runner TRD Off Highway, which is composed of thicker, hydraulically actuated sway bars that lower lean on pavement and enhance wheel vacation off-street. The suspension does not remodel the 4Runner, but it assists quell the sloppy regular suspension.
Choose for the 4Runner TRD Professional and Toyota slaps a lifted suspension underneath paired to Fox shocks that give it a plush journey on or absent from pavement. For most end users, the suspension is in all probability overkill, nevertheless its journey high quality is remarkably compliant. The 4Runner Confined goes in the reverse way with its twenty-inch wheels and comparatively brief tire sidewalls that give it a rigid journey. Off-roady SUVs with massive wheels really do not make a lot perception to us.
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The 2020 Toyota 4Runner is spacious, but not all that comfy inside.
The 2020 Toyota 4Runner has a comparatively brief cabin with a large floor and a very low roof. It is not best for travellers, nevertheless its massive footprint signifies there’s lots of room inside for gear.
We level it at 5 out of ten, dialing a issue back for an inside that is a chore to climb into but adding 1 for superior cargo utility. (Study additional about how we level cars.)
The 4Runner’s front seats are huge and plush. Motorists and front-seat travellers sit with their legs out, rather than the chairlike upright posture additional popular in SUVs. The rear seat has good room for outboard travellers but the middle posture is limited. A cramped third row of seats is optional on some trim degrees, despite the fact that we’d look at other vehicles if hauling additional than 4 travellers is a precedence. Head home is suitable in each seat, but not generous with the optional sunroof. High window sills and beefy roof pillars indicate outward vision is not terrific.
The 4Runner does not give a power tailgate like several competition, but its rear window slides down at the contact of a button. Cargo room is superior at about 48 cubic toes with the second-row seat upright and almost ninety cubes with it folded. There’s just 9 cubic toes at the rear of the optional third row, nonetheless.
To make up for the 4Runner’s large cargo floor, Toyota delivers a useful slide-out floor as an solution on 4Runner SUVs devoid of the third row.
Even in Confined trim, the 4Runner is not specifically deluxe inside. The regular fabric upholstery has a durable, tricky experience. The optional synthetic and real leather-based trim is a superior choice for these certain to get their SUVs dirty due to the fact it’ll be less difficult to clean up.
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Newly regular lively protection tech addresses a key deficit for the 2020 Toyota 4Runner.
The 2020 Toyota 4Runner now comes regular with a full suite of lively protection tech including computerized emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and blind-spot screens. Which is sufficient for a issue above common, but it loses details for unimpressive federal and independent crash tests. It is a 4 out of ten on our scale. (Study additional about how we level cars.)
The NHTSA rated the 4Runner at 4 out of 5 stars all round, including 4 stars for frontal crash, 5 for facet-influence crashes, and a few stars in the calculated rollover analysis.
The IIHS agrees. The 4Runner earned “Good” scores in several crash tests, but the “Marginal” in the driver-facet modest-overlap test that simulates influence with an item this sort of as an oncoming car or a utility pole is concerning. The 4Runner’s headlights rated “Poor” in the IIHS’ tests, way too.
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