2024 GX/Prado Release and Discussion (2 Viewers)

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FLASH

(AP) July 19 Toyota stunned the automotive world this morning in Salt Lake City with a press conference reveal of its newest SUV, the FRId Pro, expected to join its already illustrious range of off road vehicles in 2024. Frankly speaking, analysts were surprised at the body’s new Tubular Stake ® design and the glitterati of the Toyota influencer world marveled that Toyota clearly could have done much wurst with this new flagship. Buyers, with cash in hand, lined up in and around the new SUV with hot, dogged determination to get on the wait list.


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(It’s hard to have a serious Speculation thread, when the overriding truth is that no matter what Toyota announces there will be a waiting list and all of them will be sold at huge margins. A tip of the hat to you Toyota! Well done!)

[Edit: Hold on. As an afterthought, if Toyota got rid of the Oscar Meyer logos, (bear with me now) gave the FRId Pro a coat of Solar Octane, (are you with me?) a big V6 TT, eKDSS (can you see it?); and then if they got their influencer team to praise the mix of “Heritage and Modernity”, “Suburban Style and Practicality”, “Ultimate People Mover, Camper, Fast Food Stand, Kid Playground!” while a video showing the FRId Pro vanquishing the Rubicon Trail spins in the background as a testament to its incredible “Offroad Capability!” (OMG!) The truth is Toyota would sell thousands of FRId Pros with wait lists and at big margins!]

I guess we always wind up at the same place with the same result.;)
This just in, early spy shots of the test drives.

 
The closest one is going to get an Avalon sedan at the moment if they don't cross over to a Lexus.
I’d get a Lexus ES instead.
 
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I have not been on the Rubicon before but I understand the rough part is around ~12 miles long and takes ~5 hours for an experienced driver to complete and ~11+ for a novice. I typically hike at 2 mph on really rough stuff, 3 mph rocky trails, and 3.3 mph on groomed trails. So, a decent estimate would be 4-6 hours to hike the Rubicon - or faster than most drivers :).

Just my perspective and why I don't have a Jeep/Bronco etc. Rockcrawling may be fun but it's a slower and more expensive than a pair of hiking boots. I use my rig to get me and my family to the trailhead or the backcountry campsite, not to replace the act of hiking.
It's different every year. I think it's pretty challenging non stop for about 15 miles between the gate keeper on the loon lake side and a few miles past Cadillac Hill on the tahoma side I think. There's really no way you'd make it in 5 hours in a 4runner. Not even on 35s unless it's a 1st Gen. In my fj40 (on 39s) with no traffic - sure. But I also have to tow it 700 miles each way, etc. A Bronco Sasquatch, could maybe be done.

But a 4runner on 33s is more than a one day trip and pretty lucky to not end up with at least some body damage even with full armor. The last time I went an lc100 on 35s took a decent bit of damage on both ends despite having ARB bumpers. The ARB front bumper ended up in the fenders a few times. There's spots that true 34"tires on my 4R still require winch and it's basically sledding on rocks on the skids. If it wasn't for a lot of spotting and guidance from the Pryor fam I would never have made it through without some major carnage. They're really Rubicon whisperers for the wagons.

It's just really too much for the vehicle to be good at. And that's not a knock on the 4runner. It's not really made for that. Not enough clearance or gearing. It can do it with lots of armor, careful driving, great spotting, and rock stacking. By the time a current LC or 4runner is ready to go on trails like that it's pretty heavily compromised for the highway. Still a fun all around platform. And I think the new LC and GX really take it up a big level. They're just not really made for the more technical challenging stuff.

I love the new GX. My main hope is just to have some variety of options. The GX and LC are perfect for the swiss army knife of SUVs. I just don't think we need 3 or 4 of them. Maybe let the 4R be something new that's more challenging trail ready? Everyone can find what they're looking for.

I do think I could walk it as fast as driving in a 4runner. But I couldn't carry a week worth of food and beer. And I'd have to walk it again back to my car. It's very rough and you'd need to be something like an ultra marathon runner to go end to end and back in a day. That'd be like 50 miles of boulders.

I do hike quite a bit there. There's a ton of places to go from Rubicon springs or hiking around buck Island. It's a beautiful area. Similar in many ways to Yosemite.
 
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I had an ES loaner a few months back and was really surprised how small it felt. I expected the Avalon/ES to be bigger.
It felt kind of big to me, long, and with lots of blind spots to the rear.
 
I saw the crown in real life.

Was not as impressed.

LC300 felt nicer inside (though to be fair it's a pricier vehicle than the crown)

Also, surprised to see manual hood prop on a vehicle like the crown.
 
Good morning 🌞 !

I am going to assume y'all seen this but just in case.... Posting it.

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Photo shops are looking better..the rear tail gate is a 70/30 split, which I find it hard for them to carry that over to the LC250 and not the GX550. I would love the old split gate on the 550 but not seeing it happen.
I'm not saying it's 100% correct, especially lacking the round headlights and the side marker lights are off a bit. But you heard it here first, a month ago from my Plano source on 6/24/2023.

 
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