Thought about trading the GX for a 5th Gen 4Runner....

[Hoosier Daddy]

... until I drove one.



Man, those 5th gens look soooo good with a lift and big tires. Just plain sexy. My wife is nuts about them, so that was incentive enough to explore trading in the GX.

We went down to the Toyota dealer today and picked out a Trail Premium. I had high hopes, but I also had some concerns about going from a V8 to a V6. I had sold my cherry FZJ-80 last year because it was too slow.

Turns out, I'm just waaay too spoiled by the V8 in the GX. The 4Runner engine felt awfully coarse and lacked torque. Driving up hills was torture, and this was on stock tires. I'd imagine bigger tires, especially at high altitude, would make it far worse. I've read the 5th Gen is only a half second slower to 60 than the GX, but I would have guessed that differential to be a lot wider.

Funny thing was, the salesman had anticipated this, and he had a 2015 Land Cruiser warmed up and ready for a test drive when we got back. He had guessed I would not be impressed by the 4Runner. The 5.7 in the Cruiser was nice, but the Cruiser feels really huge compared to the GX. Not necessarily in a bad way, but I think I prefer the GX as an everyday driver for my own purposes.

GX all the way.

 

[mtwilly87]

I traded in my 2012 Sr5 4Runner for a GX. You are right. Properly lifted, and with bigger tires I think the 5th gen 4Runner looks awesome, but sitting on stock rubber, to me it just looks really boxy, and that it skipped leg day. There were several other things that irked me-I didn't like seeing the hood move in front of you at highway speeds, you could watch it moving. The doors when you closed them, and I had the model before the refresh, I never could get used to the orange glow of the dash lights. All little things, and they are great vehicles over all. But I'm with you, the v8 in the G is hard to beat.

 

[jclarke450]

My big complaint about the new 4runner is the price tag with a V6. It's the same engine since my 2007 FJ with some refinement. NO thanks. Not $40k+ for that. I think the GX is 10 x the platform long term. I love my 80, 100, and 200 but the gx fits nicely between my 100 and 200.

 

[co4wheel]

We drove the 4Runner TRD Stock it was not really that nice. Ride was rough. Engine was underpowered and just coarse feeling. From 15mph to 60mph it just felt slow and overworked. My 04 GX at 80K miles is much nicer. My fiancee did not like the 2016 4runner. She loves the GX with just the mild lift. She wishes it was lower to the ground like the 4Runner. Oh well.