Textual content by Tom Appel
2025 Toyota 4Runner Restricted 4WD
Specs
Class: Midsize Crossover
Nation of Manufacture: Japan
Miles pushed: 207
| CG Report Card | |
|---|---|
| Room and Consolation | B |
| Energy and Efficiency | B |
| Match and End | B |
| Gas Financial system | B+ |
| Worth | B |
| Report-card grades are derived from a consensus of test-driver evaluations. All grades are versus different autos in the identical class. Worth grade is for particular trim stage evaluated, and should not mirror Shopper Information’s impressions of your complete mannequin lineup. | |
| Large & Tall Consolation | |
| Large Man | A- |
| Tall Man | B+ |
| Large & Tall consolation rankings are for entrance seats solely. “Large” ranking based mostly on male tester weighing roughly 350 kilos, “Tall” ranking based mostly on 6’6″-tall male tester. | |
| Drivetrain | |
| Engine Specs | 278-horsepower 2.4-liter |
| Engine Kind | Turbocharged 4 |
| Transmission | 8-speed computerized |
| Drive Wheels | 4WD |
Noticed gas economic system: 20.5 mpg
Driving combine: 65% metropolis, 35% freeway
EPA-estimated gas economic system: 20/24/21 (mpg metropolis/freeway/mixed)
Gas kind: Common fuel
Base value: $57,400 (not together with $1450 vacation spot cost)
Choices on take a look at automobile: Energy operating boards ($1005), towing bundle ($400), LED tailgate mild ($200), Third-row bench seat ($1330), tow-ball mount ($65), black roof-rack rails ($420), TRD air filter ($90). chrome wheel locks ($90), cargo mat ($130), LED lantern ($160),
Worth as examined: $62,875
Audio-System Model
JLB
Audio-System High quality
Poor Truthful Good Very-Good Wonderful
Execs and Cons
The nice: roomy and comfy cabin, promise of off-road journey
The great: A lot-improved gas economic system, loads of energy
The not so good: Large value will increase on some trim ranges for 2025
Assessment
Toyota has been blessed with not one, however two, well-regarded and extremely popular midsize utility autos. One is the refined and household road-trip pleasant Highlander, the opposite the rugged-but-functional 4Runner. And although the 2 Toyotas serve completely different masters, they’re finally not all that completely different—at the very least not in day by day use.
Distinctive DNA
What separates the 2 well-liked autos is structure. Whereas the Highlander (and long-wheelbase Grand Highlander) relies Toyota’s TNGA-Ok platform, which it shares with the compact Toyota RAV4 and ultra-refined midsize Lexus RX, the 4Runner relies on the maker’s TNGA-F structure, which additionally underpins such off-road-ready rides because the Toyota Tacoma and Lexus GX.
The distinction comes right down to the Highlander’s carlike “unibody” design versus the 4Runner’s truck-based “body-on-frame” basis.
Highlander and 4Runner Similarities
Really, given the 2 autos’ unbiased DNA, it’s price noting how comparable they’re. Each autos are…
- Roomy
- Refined
- Comparatively straightforward on the fuel
- Seat as much as seven passengers
- Supply loads of cargo house
Additionally they price about the identical, equally outfitted.
Highlander Execs
That mentioned, the Highlander offers…
- Quieter cabin
- Higher journey and dealing with
- Simpler entry that to decrease journey top
- Nicer cabin appointments
- Higher gas economic system
4Runner Execs
Whereas the 4Runner boasts…
- Sportier character
- Higher off street functionality (together with deep snow)
- Larger most towing capability (6000 kilos versus 5000)
- Arguably higher design (we just like the look higher)
And whereas our inside pragmatist needs customers to go along with the Highlander, we totally admire why customers searching for one thing slightly “particular” would possibly go for the 4Runner, as an alternative.
4Runner Redesign
Fully redesigned for 2025, the 4Runner gained slightly cabin house, and shed itself of its historic and inefficient 4.0-liter V6 engine. For ’25, the 4Runner is fitted with both a 278-horsepower turbocharged 2.4-liter 4, or Toyota’s branded i-Drive Max turbocharged and hybrid 2.4-liter 4 rated at 326 horsepower. Customary-engine 4Runners include both rear-wheel drive or 4WD, whereas i-Drive Max editions are fitted solely with 4WD. All 4Runners comes with an 8-speed computerized transmission.
Trim Ranges and Costs
Toyota roughly thinks of the usual and hybrid 4Runners as separate product strains, treating the hybrids as premium trim ranges. For 2025, the non-hybrid 4Runner lineup appears like this:
- SR5 ($42,795)
- TRD Sport ($49,245)
- TRD Off-Highway ($51,185)
- TRD Sport Premium ($54,605)
- TRD Off-Highway Premium ($56,965)
- Restricted ($59,395)
The 2025 hybrid lineup ranges in value from $53,985 to $68,895, and doesn’t embody a base SR5 trim stage. Obtainable solely in hybrid guise are range-topping Platinum, TRD Professional, and Trailhunter fashions.
Check Automobile
Shopper Information lately spent per week behind the wheel of a 2025 4Runner Premium that includes quite a few important choices (see costs and choices above in Specs) in Heritage Blue. All instructed, our take a look at automobile got here to $62,875. Word: Our tester was outfitted with the choice 3rd-row seat.
Cabin Appointments
In Restricted trim the 4Runner cabin presents effectively. Maybe slightly shy of luxurious, the inside is good sufficient, and is seemingly effectively screwed collectively. Cabin supplies are slightly pedestrian, however we admire the tidy design, open feeling passenger space, and normal simplicity of the design. If you happen to’ve been within the Tacoma pickup truck, the 4Runner cabin will appear very acquainted.
Room and luxury
There’s ample front-row house for giant adults, and entering into—and out of—the 4Runner is lots straightforward. Second-row house is equally beneficiant, and even taller people will discover all of the room they want. The obtainable 3rd-row is much less accommodating, however will simply match youthful—and extra agile—passengers. Simply don’t count on adults to be joyful within the final row on longer journeys.
Controls and Connectivity
Most in-cabin operations are managed by the 4Runner’s massive console touchscreen, and in tremendous Toyota custom the system works effectively as is straightforward to develop into accustomed to. Local weather features are dealt with by a row of actual switches situated beneath the display, and audio quantity is dealt with through an actual, massive knob. Thanks, Toyota. (Quantity can be managed through the steering wheel.)
Journey and Dealing with
And whereas the 4Runner is louder and slightly extra rigid-riding than the Highlander as soon as underway, we admire the firmer, extra exact steering, and normal sense of drive engagement. Likewise, the 4Runner’s turbocharged engine in typically refined, however may be felt and heard greater than the powerplants discovered within the Highlander. That mentioned, we somewhat benefit from the sporty character of the drivetrain, and don’t think about it in anyway crude or coarse.
Gas Financial system
Over greater than 200 miles of testing we averaged 20.5 mpg. This compares to the 18.7 mpg we noticed in a take a look at 2025 4Runner Trailhunter with the i-Max engine, and the 17.3 mpg we averaged in a previous-generation 2022 4Runner TRD Sport fitted with the previous V6.
Worth
Until you reside someplace that suffers from severe snow-sourced entry points, otherwise you’re a doomsday prepper, it most likely makes extra sense to go along with the superb Highlander as an alternative of the 4Runner. That mentioned, we somewhat get pleasure from driving the 4Runner, and discover its driving character refreshing. We advocate you test-drive each—regardless of which you assume you’re contemplating—and let your seat time be your information. Actually, we’d go along with the 4Runner simply because we benefit from the road-feel.
Hearken to the Automobile Stuff Podcast
2025 Toyota 4Runner Restricted Footage
Click on beneath for enlarged photos
2025 Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter: Assessment, Costs, and Specs
