2025 Toyota 4Runner FULL Tour: It's Finally Here!

this is the new 2025 Toyota 4Runner and

it's amazing how long I've been waiting

to say those words I love the Forerunner

and I love the current model but it's

been on sale for 15 years now and it's

starting to get a little old well now a

new one is here and today I'm going to

take you on the most thorough tour yet

of the new Forerunner and show you all

of its quirks and

features

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today's video is brought to you by cars

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right time for a thorough tour of the

cricks and features of the new 4Runner

starting with a little overview the

Forerunner has been an iconic SUV name

plate in Toyota's lineup since the 1980s

it's always been kind of a rough and

tumble midsized off-roader SUV and in

recent years it's experienced a surge in

popularity with an increasing interest

in off-roading the Forerunner like I

mentioned now 15 years old in its

current form but it just keeps getting

more popular and more desired by

enthusiasts who want to take it on the

trails now the new 4Runner will be the

sixth generation of this model and it's

built in Japan on the same Global Truck

architecture the same platform that

underpins a lot of Toyota's new trucks

the Sequoia the Land Cruiser the tundra

and the Tacoma and now the 4Runner as

well so with those Basics out of the way

let's talk powertrains the 4Runner will

be offered with a choice between two

engines in both are 2.4 L turbocharged

four cylinders the departure of a V6

from the 4Runner lineup will surely

cause some consternation maybe even some

Shock and surprise but before you get to

upset listen to the details so the Bas

level powertrain 2.4 L turbocharged

4cylinder makes about 280 horsepower and

about 320 lb feet of torque which are

pretty healthy numbers now this engine

will be standard on the lower trims and

on the middle trims of the 4Runner and

I'll cover all of the trims here in a

little bit but if you want more power

Toyota offers it the very same engine is

available on the higher trims with a

hybrid component that boosts power to

about 325 horses and it boosts torque to

465 lb feet which are pretty healthy

numbers even though it's just a hybrid

four cylinder which I'm sure some people

will complain about in fact Toyota says

that that engine is the most powerful

ever installed in any 4Runner V6 V8 from

any previous year and the towing

capacity is a respectable 6,000 lb

despite the hybrid 4-cylinder situation

so it's still going to be a beast just

not with a V6 next up let's talk

exterior with some exterior quirks and

features but we'll start with the

styling now I've just seen the new

4Runner for the very first time about 20

minutes ago so I'm still digesting this

as I'm sure are you but I got to say my

first impression is it looks fantastic

it is unmistakably Forerunner and its

profile and its overall appearance but

it is also clearly been modernized

compared with the outgoing model which

really was starting to look old it has

exactly everything you'd want to see in

a 4Runner toughness and Brawn and the

general overall look and size of the

Forerunner but they don't take any weird

risks or do anything stupid with the

design it's really a great redesign in

this era of strange bizarre styling

choices by some and very small subtle

Evolutions by others this is a big

enough change and yet they didn't screw

up which is a tall order for such a

beloved vehicle but they did reasonably

well so we've covered General exterior

styling but let's talk quirks and

features starting with one of my very

favorites this exterior glass panel for

the cargo area you can see the top is

curv to sort of wrap around the roof

which is an old school 4Runner design

detail going back to the very first

model and the second generation 4Runner

they had that and now it's been brought

back for the newest one which really

contributes to the the overall look of

Forerunner and on the subject of glass

yes the rear window still rolls down

power automatic roll down just like in

previous 4Runner models that's a feature

a lot of people really love frankly I

wish a lot more cars had it but they

don't but the 4Runner does another

interesting Quirk on the outside of the

new 4Runner is lighting starting with

tail lights you can see they're kind of

cool looking they're sort of red striped

when the tail lights are on and these

kind of thin Stripes it's very

distinctive very interesting and

certainly cool and the turn signal also

blinks red and it's a fairly small piece

here just a small horizontal bar

integrated into the stripes of the tail

lights in back now as for lighting up

front also some interesting quirks and

features particularly with this 4Runner

as it's the off-roader TRD Pro model and

so it gets some cool light touches which

I'm sure will be different depending on

the version you get but for the pro you

have a cool new running light signature

which you can see here it's this pale

orange light that's illuminated below

the regular headlights that's always on

as the daytime running light and it

certainly gives a distinctive flare to

this truck again I suspect probably

distinctive to the TRD Pro also

distinctive to the pro if you look over

on the passenger side headlight when you

turn it on it illuminates a small little

piece that says TRD if you go over to

the driver's side and look in that exact

same spot illuminates a small piece that

says Pro and so if you look across the

entire front of the truck and see those

little light up spots it says TRD Pro of

course to match the trim of this truck

which is pretty cool again I'll get more

into all of the different trim levels in

a little bit as for sizing the new

4Runner is about 3 in longer than the

old model so it's a little bit bigger on

the outside and in terms of capability

Toyota says an approach angle of about

32° and a departure angle of about 24°

unclear exactly which model that refers

to but it's a reasonably strong number

for off-roaders who want to take their

Forerunner out on the trail and next up

we move inside the new 4Runner and I

must first apologize for the mud in all

of the images you're about to see this

truck had been beautifully cleaned by

the Toyota people here but then it

rained in this area where we are it's

all muddy and so you will see mud people

often complain about that I'm sorry it's

just the way it works after all this is

an off-roader SUV and so we're off-road

but open up the door the new 4Runner the

first thing you notice is the door panel

which has characteristic Forerunner

toughness a lot of right angles and you

can see two different layers of storage

one kind of higher up and one a little

bit lower down of course this one being

a TRD Pro you also have that badge there

to remind you of your cool off-road

earnet but open up the door move further

inside and one of the first things

you'll notice is that the seats have the

same sort of camo trim as my seoa which

I recently complained about in a

different video the seats still have

that trim and probably can't be removed

just like in my Sequoia which I guess

whatever thankfully the fenders in the

TRD Pro 4Runner do not have that same

camo trim which I got to say looks

pretty good and I have a suspicion I'll

be wrapping my Sequoia fenders to match

the look of these but anyway next we

move further inside and I'm going to

start with some of the features in here

specifically with the off-roader

equipment so four-wheel drive you can

see this switch here will adjust between

two wheel drive four high and four low

and it's kind of weird to operate you

push this button on the side to

basically unlock it and then you switch

the switch to whichever one of those

items you want of course two wheel drive

high is kind of the default when you're

just cruising around town now

interestingly the new 4Runner will be

available in three different drivetrain

configurations you can still get it in

base rear wheel drive two wheel drive

only with no four-wheel drive component

or you can get it with full-time

four-wheel drive which is always on or

you can get it like this truck is

equipped with part-time four-wheel drive

meaning that it's in two wheel drive

until you shift into four-wheel drive

when you need it now in addition to that

you can see on top of the four-wheel

drive rocker switch there's a big dial

here a very big dial and right now it's

configured to control the drive mode

that you're in and your Forerunner but

you can adjust exactly what it's

controlling by pressing the buttons on

top so if you want it to control your

multi-terrain select system that's MTS

you push that and then the dial has a

new purpose and you can adjust what type

of surface your driving on and the truck

will respond accordingly you can also

see that this new 4Runner still has

crawl control which is a fantastic

off-road kind of cruise control Auto

driving get yourself unstuck feature

that Toyota's been buffering in its top

tier off-road models for years and this

new 4Runner has it at least in TRD Pro

Trims and I suspect other versions as

well next we move on to these buttons

here in the center console and you can

see one is marked stabby bar with a

little X next to some wheels that will

automatically disconnect your stabilizer

bar this is a first for the 4Runner

being able to do this with the push of a

button and it's kind of a neat feature

that obviously enhances your off-road

capability now directly next to that you

have your rear differential lock which

is standard on the TRD Pro and a new

trim called Trail Hunter which I'll

cover soon of course that also enhances

your off-road capability and directly

next to that there is a button marked

view which turns on a new feature for

the 4Runner it's called the

multi-terrain Monitor and it allows you

to use the camera system to view

obstacles that are coming up on the road

in front of you this of course will

enhance your ability when you're off the

pavement to see what's coming up and

adjust to condition accordingly and it

will display what it's seeing on this

Giant Center screen in the middle of the

center control stack and speaking of

this Giant Center screen it really is

Giant and it's the new infotainment

system that's rolling out in basically

all of the other Toyota models the

Forerunner has kind of been stuck in an

old ERA with old technology but now it

gets the newest latest largest

infotainment screen Toyota's latest tech

and frankly it's pretty good I've

reviewed it in many other Toyota models

it's very responsive very intuitive

simple to use move your finger around

the screen it responds quickly Apple

carplay Android auto standard and very

compatible and easy to use with this

system it really is a great infotainment

system and speaking of screens in the

new 4Runner you also get a new gauge

cluster screen which is also fantastic I

really love this system which is an

upgrade over previous Toyota models I

haven't quite loved as much because they

weren't that configurable well now it is

you can configure all three panels left

Center and right to show you all

different types of displays whether it's

a map or the music you're listening to

or trip data or ecofriendly data or tire

pressures or all sorts of different

stuff it can all be configured in this

gauge cluster screen so you can show

exactly what you want to display

directly in your field of vision at all

times it's a really excellent gauge

cluster display and since we're on these

subject jective screens there is one

more kind of hidden screen in this car

and that would be the rear view mirror

you can see right now it's just a

traditional mirror but if you flip this

switch it becomes a camera with a screen

that's showing what's going on behind

you now there's going to be some

Forerunner purists who say well that's

just another thing that'll break but

you'd be surprised how useful this

feature is when you load up your

Forerunner with people dogs and gear and

you can't see out the back window just

flip that switch and suddenly you have a

perfect field of vision behind you I

have this feature in my Sequoia I love

it and I really wish that other

automakers offered it but right now it's

only Toyota and a couple of others and

since we're talking about technology

it's also worth pointing out that all

new 4Runner models come standard with

Toyota safety Sense

3.0 which is Toyota's name for its Suite

of safety features that basically

includes everything that's adaptive

cruise control that's Lane tracing

assist so it'll go around Highway curves

for you it's blind spot monitoring it's

automatic high beams a long list of

standard safety equipment in any trim of

4Runner even if you only get the base

level model that's pretty impressive but

anyway next we move past the technology

and on to the rest of this interior to

discuss well let's start with how tough

it is in here you don't have any

sweeping curves anywhere there's no wood

or luxury touches instead it's all right

angles and upright dashboard just like

you would expect from a tough Toyota

truck situation in the interior and

toughness is further emphasized with

well for example the floor mats which

have this tire tread pattern going over

the Earth and over on the passenger side

of the dashboard you have this giant

Toyota lettering printed on this carbon

fiber look trim that's cool and tough

and off-road you also have this big grab

handle here on the passenger side that's

rubberized so the passenger can hold on

when the driver starts to do crazy stuff

Offroad now next to that grab handle you

have a rather useful storage pocket in

here this could be obviously a place

where you put your smartphone and

especially useful because it's directly

next to some charge ports as you can see

so you can charge it up there too and

also next to the wireless charging pad

in this car where you can stick your

phone and have it well charge wirelessly

next up another cool interior Quirk

slash feature at the top of the

dashboard you have this it looks like a

stereo speaker for the stereo system in

the truck and it is but you can also

press this eject button and then it

comes out and it's a portable speaker

that you can take with you to a campsite

on a trail whatever which is a pretty

cool feature you always have a portable

Bluetooth speaker with you since it's

integrated into your dash and another

cool touch in this truck over on the

passenger side of the dashboard of

course you have a glove box here but if

you look higher up there's also a little

tray where you can store stuff this

isn't closing or locking but if you're

on the trail and you want to put

something down for just a second that's

another neat spot where you can just

drop it off and next up also worth

pointing out in this interior the dials

to adjust stuff in the center control

stack the dials to adjust the climate

control absolutely massive same deal

with the volume dial and basically all

of the buttons the theory here is you

can use them with work gloves you don't

have to take them off you're out

somewhere in the in the frigid cold you

got big gloves on you can still adjust

all this stuff but they also look cool

and again contribute to the feeling of

toughness inside this truck now we move

on to the left side of the steering

wheel and you can see several rows of

buttons over here the top row is some

fairly standard stuff your power

tailgate your auto high beams controls

for the regular things below that you

have a few auxiliary switches you can

hook those up to accessories if you want

to install them in your truck so for

example a winch if you want to install

one of those you have a switch forward

and you don't have to wire up some janky

looking aftermarket switch that doesn't

really fit with the look of the truck or

another light bar whatever it is that

you want and speaking of light bars it's

also worth pointing out that you have

the control for your TRD light bar right

here you can press this and turn it on

and it illuminates a giant horizontal

LED light bar up in the front of the

truck now these only come on when you

turn on your high beams you can't just

drive around with your light bar on in

normal driving but it does do a pretty

good job of Illuminating the world when

you have your high beams on and you're

on a dark Country Road or a dark

off-road Trail trying to find your

campsite and next up we move on to the

back seat in the 4Runner you can see

this second row back seat is a full

bench in this particular TRD Pro and it

has the same camo treatment as the rest

of the interior which I'm not the

biggest fan of but at least it's

relatively subtle now a few interesting

items back here worth pointing out for

one you can see in the center you got

your rear climate vents which is nice to

have and directly below that you have

two different USB C ports and also a

household charge port next to them where

you can plug in your regular devices

it's cool to have a household Port

within the interior the actual seats not

just the cargo area in case you want to

plug in a blender for example not that

you would maybe you would anyway moving

on you also have the door panels which

are pretty cool you have this little

storage compartment down here which is

kind of sized perfectly for smart phones

and you have a cup holder that's well

integrated and molded into the door

pocket a lot of times I see door pocket

cup holders but they're sort of vaguely

cup holders and you get the sense that a

cup would fall down or roll around but

not here that's a pretty good idea

especially if you're on the trail and

riding around in the back now one other

item worth pointing out with the second

row it's not exactly huge back here you

got space but I have the front seat

about where I would position if I was

sitting in it and my knees are kind of

up against it my head is sort of up

against the ceiling despite this

vehicle's kind of growing size over the

years you don't have an enormous amount

of room in back you do have decent space

though in back I mean an adult can sit

back here fairly comfortably but if

you're looking for some giant vehicle

where people can lay out you're going to

want to get something a little bigger I

guess in the sequoia or maybe Tundra

realm however with that said one nice

benefit of the 4Runner the second row

seat folds very easily you just pull on

this latch the back rest folds down kind

of pull it again in and then it folds

forward and I mention this is important

because this gives access to the third

row this particular Forerunner is not

equipped with one but the new 4Runner

will offer an available third row seat

the 4Runner has kind of gone yes and no

with third row seats over the years but

this newest one does have one available

in case you want to take your whole

family off-roading and next up we move

on to the cargo area in the new 4Runner

but before we get there let's talk again

about the roll down rear window now you

can open it on the inside with this

switch in the ceiling you push it down

it rolls down you pull it up it rolls up

pretty standard but you can also open it

up from outside the 4Runner which is

pretty cool you got these two buttons

here in this panel over the license

plate obviously they're shaped like

arrows so the top one points up so it

rolls the window up which is pretty cool

and the bottom one points down and so it

rolls the window down it's pretty

intuitive and it's neat to be able to do

that from the outside in case you have

some smaller item you want to load in

you don't want to open up the whole

tailgate you can just drop the window

pretty easily now these buttons also

serve as lock and unlock for the outside

of the car so if you just do a quick tap

on the upper button it locks all the

doors and you can walk away quick tap on

the lower button will unlock the doors

whereas if you hold down the buttons it

opens up the rear window you can also of

course open up the full tailgate power

operated tailgate and it opens up and

reveals the cargo area in the new

4Runner now one big complaint about the

new Sequoia has been that the cargo area

load height is too high and in the case

of the seoa apparently that's due to

some Hybrid componentry battery

architecture underneath the cargo area

that looks like it's going to be the

same situation here I don't find it a

problem in my new Sequoia but some

people do and they may also in the

Forerunner since it is fairly high but

one nice benefit the outer edge of the

load floor it actually lifts itself up

and out so you can put smaller items in

here it's like a little extra storage

panel at the front of the cargo area

same deal on the other side this panel

lifts up and again it can be a little

storage compartment for putting little

items in there if you want to now other

items worth pointing out in the cargo

area of the new 4Runner for one you got

another household style power outlet

which again adds to the practicality

you're on the trails you want to plug in

an air compressor fill up your tires you

can do it back here pretty easily you

also have some storage Pockets over on

the side now these pockets are obviously

mainly going to be used by third row

passengers in 4Runners equipped with a

third row as cup holders or rear storage

but even if you don't have the third row

they're pretty useful to have little

extra storage compartments on the side

of the cargo area that add a little

extra practicality if you want a place

where you can put gear and not have it

roll around in bag and finally I want to

talk Market positioning pricing and trim

levels with the new Forerunner like I

have already mentioned this particular

Forerunner is the TRD Pro that's the

tough off-road version and it is one of

nine trim levels that the new Forerunner

is now offering the trim levels are

there is the Bas SR5 as there always has

been then the TRD sport the TRD sport

premium the TRD off-road the TRD

off-road premium The Limited the TRD Pro

the platinum and the trail Hunter now

the two big new trims for the 4Runner

this year are the trail Hunter and the

Platinum so let's cover them Trail

Hunter is going to be an overlanding

focused version of the 4Runner whereas

the TRD Pro is for technical off-roading

in the toughest possible spots the trail

Hunter is more for going camping and

far-reaching places the regular

overlanding things and as a result

both Trail Hunter and TRD Pro are

heavily off-road equipped but in

slightly different ways specifically the

trail Hunter will have its own

suspension shock setup from old man emu

it will have an ARB roof rack for your

camping year of course it will have a

high mount air intake so when you go

Ford Rivers Water won't get into your

engine that'll be distinctive to the

trail Hunter it'll also have rock rails

down the sides and more skid plating

underneath for added protection and it

will have more interior powered

availability for charging devices and

plugging in other accessories that you

might need when you're overlanding and

spending days at a time out in the

middle of nowhere Off the Grid now as

for the other important new 4Runner trim

this year the Platinum model that now

sits above the limited if you're looking

for the most luxurious Forerunner

experience possible it delivers with

with blacked out exterior trim as

opposed to chrome trim on The Limited

heated rear seats a nice touch a heads

up display which will be a nice new

modern tech feature for the 4Runner and

automatic windshield wipers these things

aren't High luxury features for a lot of

models but they certainly are for the

4Runner and the Platinum will have them

so that's the new 4Runner I am very

impressed with it I think it is a

fantastic redesign of an iconic vehicle

which is an easy thing to screw up and

it's clear that they haven't but with

all of that said and all of the praise

that I think this vehicle deserves I'm

still a little confused by the whole

situation I don't quite understand

exactly where this fits into the Toyota

off-road SUV lineup I was thinking that

Toyota would resurrect the 4Runner as an

open toop convertible SUV like the Ford

Bronco the Jeep Wrangler and the

original Toyota 4Runner I figured they

would go and compete with those but

instead the Forerunner and the Land

Cruiser seem to share fairly similar