Wow that’s a lot of good info.! Anxious to see the new stuff
Me too. I really hope it's great. I know the internal Toyota folks are excited.
I'm kinda luke warm at this point. Here's why: First, the new Tundra was pretty disappointing to me. Both in initial build quality (I had come in I was planning to buy and chose not to after a test drive) and overall design/powertrain. It was a downgrade in a lot of ways from the old Tundra. Interior tech, materials, layout is very nice. But the cabin got smaller, visibility markedly worse, the bed is 1.5" shorter, about 2" shallower, and over 7 inches narrower! Yet the truck actually grew something like 7 inches overall length. It sacrificed a lot of utility for style. I really like the V35A in my limited experience. Great engine. But VERY complex and expensive and effectively unserviceable in the field. It's fragile. Fragile isn't great for me. And the hybrid is highly disappointing; no inverter, giant old-tech battery, expensive, no material mpg benefits, and in the Sequoia it results in a cargo area literally smaller than the 4Runner. So - I'd say a swing and a miss as far as the new Tundra and Sequoia from the same team of designers.
And all indications are that the powertrains are marginal at best other than the GX550 that'll get the V35A. I don't have a clear picture of what the lineup looks like, but I *think* unfortunately the new Tacoma that'll come first with a reveal next month is going to get a 2.5L NA 4cyl, keep some version of the 3.5l v6 GR, and only the TRD Pro will come with the T24A (Turbo 2.4) in hybrid form. So the meat of the lineup will still potentially be the inadequate (IMO) 2GR. Details are still unknown to me though and it's at least possible that the turbo 2.4 could be the std engine in the non-TRD Pro models. T24A and 2GR are roughly the same power, so it's likely to be one or the other in the normal trucks. This leaves the new Tacoma as the least powerful engine lineup in the market even on day 1 of its first all new truck in 20 years. The new Ranger Raptor will have a 400hp turbo6, and even the base engine 2.7 Turbo 4 in the Colorado has significantly more power than the Tacoma will. Unless the early leaks are misleading and maybe the 2GR is really a V35A or something like that - I think it'll be a big let down after some initial marketing push. The 2GR tacoma isn't very good. My parents have a 2020. They would not buy another one. I also would not be interested in owning one as it is. It's 2cyl short of a decent driving experience.
It's a 4Runner. So in that respect it's a pretty well known commodity in terms of overall design. It'll be a body on frame TNGA-F and it'll be IFS and a 5 link rear coil suspension very similar to current design. Nothing magic there. The unknowns are engine/trans combo - early info is it'll only have the turbo 2.4/hybrid setup. That's around 310hp/400tq, but the hybrid part that's 40hp/100tq is only good for about 60 seconds and in steady state use like highway driving it's really 275hp/300tq. The Turbo 6 is reserved for the Lexus version. The turbo4 hybrid is probably a small step up from the current 4Runner. I think the 10 speed transmission will be a HUGE improvement though.
As for the new 4Runner, it's an evolutionary update. It will stay true to its mission with updated styling and likely the same powertrain options as the new Tacoma minus the NA 4cyl unless it has a NA4cyl/hybrid option. But most likely it'll be T24A and T24A hybrid, or possibly the 1GR caries on again. The rumors have gone back and forth between a higher trim optional turbo 6 or not. It seems unlikely, but there's at least still rumors floating around that it may be an option. Not sure.
The biggest issue I see is that Toyota doesn't have something between the small turbo 4 and the bigger turbo 6. The little one is too small, and the big one is probably too big. Toyota needs something equivalent of the Ford 2.7EB or the GM 2.7 T4. low 300's hp and mid 300's tq. So Toyota either needs to bump the T24A to about 2.7-2.8 liters or a smaller version of the turbo 6. The problem is that the V35A is effectively impossible to service in many cases without the body off because of the configuration and it requires a s*** ton of accessory parts to work - double air filters, multiple cooling systems, etc. Inline turbo engines are a better design for serviceability. The turbo hangs off one side and you can get to it easily. In my perfect world Toyota would make a 6cyl single turbo version of the T24A. But I think we know that's not in the cards. So it'll almost certainly be the small engine and remain true to the 4Runner history of being 2cyl short of adequate power.
So - sorry for the rant. It's pretty repetitive of some other comments I've made in other places on here. I'm still hopeful that the new Land Cruiser and 4Runner will be great. In the alternative - the new ford bronco is hard not to like. Even for a Toyota guy.
