2025 4 cylinder sounds awful to this 2022 4R Owner!

[BG1]

Hopefully this doesn't sound like a Rant - I'm trying to be helpful to those intending to purchase the first deliveries. Up front we are retired, love powerful cars but prefer a wolf in sheep's clothing, so as not to attract the attention of the boys and girls in blue.

My wife drives our 2022 4R most of the time and loves it. We don't Off Road, but roads in our area are in deplorable condition so you could say we off road every day. However, we do live in a very hilly area that gets lots of snow and ice for that reason I absolutely prefer full time 4WD since the surface can change every few yards and 4WD is much better on highways in extreme weather.
A few months ago we test drove a Tacoma TRD Sport to gauge the engine sound and noise and we hated it - sounded like a sewing machine - along with rough gear changes.
Today we test drove a LC 1958, again to check out the engine sound levels since the average Joe hasn't driven the new 4R and the press just go on about the vehicle looks and price.
The power from the 4 Cylinder Turbo and Hybrid was superb, the noise level (mostly valve train I think) was again awful, gear changes were also rough.
The 1958 is very basic and the cheapest offered, but had several negatives in our opinion.

Sound deadening / isolation was terrible even for the roof - it was raining and it sounded really loud. Remember we are comparing directly to our TRD Sport .The roof lining and pillars being all black and combined with the drivers side grab handle was intrusive to visibility and the front screen seemed smaller than 4R.
The full time 4WD was really good in the rain - no wheel spin, but the limited vehicle spec has strange things included or omitted - the taller LC with 20" wheels and probably better sound deadening (for $12K) more will not fit in our Garage.

So, to focus on the 4 banger .... why is it so noisy - maybe Tacoma truckers and real off roaders like it - not us. The engine sounds really stressed even when pushed fairly gently (dealer was in car) and was quiet about my comments. He just said people like the power - that is not in question.

We also have Rav 4 Platinum, the same engine but no turbo, so we know the engine doesn't have to be so noisy and it's not even a good throaty noise, it sounds like the engine wants to explode when pushed.

Hopefully the 4R's will get better noise "insulation/ Isolation/ deadening" especially the fire wall, if not a lot of folks are going to get an unpleasant surprise.

Fingers crossed, we will be waiting to test drive a TRD Sport - Premium without sun roof.

 

[CrispyTacoLover]

Hopefully this doesn't sound like a Rant - I'm trying to be helpful to those intending to purchase the first deliveries. Up front we are retired, love powerful cars but prefer a wolf in sheep's clothing, so as not to attract the attention of the boys and girls in blue.

My wife drives our 2022 4R most of the time and loves it. We don't Off Road, but roads in our area are in deplorable condition so you could say we off road every day. However, we do live in a very hilly area that gets lots of snow and ice for that reason I absolutely prefer full time 4WD since the surface can change every few yards and 4WD is much better on highways in extreme weather.
A few months ago we test drove a Tacoma TRD Sport to gauge the engine sound and noise and we hated it - sounded like a sewing machine - along with rough gear changes.
Today we test drove a LC 1958, again to check out the engine sound levels since the average Joe hasn't driven the new 4R and the press just go on about the vehicle looks and price.
The power from the 4 Cylinder Turbo and Hybrid was superb, the noise level (mostly valve train I think) was again awful, gear changes were also rough.
The 1958 is very basic and the cheapest offered, but had several negatives in our opinion.

Sound deadening / isolation was terrible even for the roof - it was raining and it sounded really loud. Remember we are comparing directly to our TRD Sport .The roof lining and pillars being all black and combined with the drivers side grab handle was intrusive to visibility and the front screen seemed smaller than 4R.
The full time 4WD was really good in the rain - no wheel spin, but the limited vehicle spec has strange things included or omitted - the taller LC with 20" wheels and probably better sound deadening (for $12K) more will not fit in our Garage.

So, to focus on the 4 banger .... why is it so noisy - maybe Tacoma truckers and real off roaders like it - not us. The engine sounds really stressed even when pushed fairly gently (dealer was in car) and was quiet about my comments. He just said people like the power - that is not in question.

We also have Rav 4 Platinum, the same engine but no turbo, so we know the engine doesn't have to be so noisy and it's not even a good throaty noise, it sounds like the engine wants to explode when pushed.

Hopefully the 4R's will get better noise "insulation/ Isolation/ deadening" especially the fire wall, if not a lot of folks are going to get an unpleasant surprise.

Fingers crossed, we will be waiting to test drive a TRD Sport - Premium without sun roof.

Some of the engine noise you hear, at least on the Tacoma, is artificial. I don’t know about the Land Cruiser or 4Runner. That said, it isn’t a lot better with augmentation disabled.

You can always just crank up the music and ignore it.

 

[mars001]

Some of the engine noise you hear, at least on the Tacoma, is artificial. I don’t know about the Land Cruiser or 4Runner. That said, it isn’t a lot better with augmentation disabled.

You can always just crank up the music and ignore it.

What do you mean 'artificial'? Intentionally added or intensified?

 

[BG1]

Wow underpowered - didn't feel that way to me.
I agree about the GX550 - it's just the $$$. We shouldn't need to pay so much just to get decent sound protection from the 4 banger and interior color options. Toyota has dropped the ball here IMHO.

 

[CrispyTacoLover]

What do you mean 'artificial'? Intentionally added or intensified?

Do some searches.

 

[Positronic]

What do you mean 'artificial'? Intentionally added or intensified?

https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/thr...ke-engine-noise-in-2025-4runner-6th-gen.1391/

I believe folks are referring to this fake engine noise that gets piped through the JBL system equipped vehicles. I'll be turning this off either via Carista or the dealer ASAP

 

[LLL1990]

I would be very interested to know what people would say about the engine after driving it if they didn't know what kind of engine it was.

I think a lot of the criticism of the turbo 4 is confirmation bias, they want a V6 or V8 and don't believe a 4 cylinder is appropriate for this vehicle.. The OP stated they have a 22 4R and although the 4.0 V6 is bullet proof it has never been a nice sounding smooth engine. Then there are the comments about being underpowered and gasping for air. It's more powerful in HP and torque than the outgoing 4.0 V6 and having forced induction it's never gasping for air, even at altitude.

 

[Nodak]

1. most toyota vehicles have fake engine noise pumped via the speaker now. our 23 tundra has it and i turned it off via carista along with the seat belt chime.

2. the LC engine noise is way worse than the 4R from the YT reviewers sound checks

3. dont get the 4R with the snorkel, the noise is super annoying especially with the windows down, see TFL and other YT reveiws

4. the limited from what i can tell you can barely hear the engine, i hear mostly the fake engine noise during YT reviews since they cant turn the fake engine noise

5. engine noise is very noticeable when standing near the engine bay with hood down from YT reviews, it really sounds horrible at least to me, but interior sound dampening seems to filter it out very well

 

[CrispyTacoLover]

1. most toyota vehicles have fake engine noise pumped via the speaker now. our 23 tundra has it and i turned it off via carista along with the seat belt chime.

2. the LC engine noise is way worse than the 4R from the YT reviewers sound checks

3. dont get the 4R with the snorkel, the noise is super annoying especially with the windows down, see TFL and other YT reveiws

4. the limited from what i can tell you can barely hear the engine, i hear mostly the fake engine noise during YT reviews since they cant turn the fake engine noise

5. engine noise is very noticeable when standing near the engine bay with hood down from YT reviews, it really sounds horrible at least to me, but interior sound dampening seems to filter it out very well

Regarding the engine noise, I turned off the Toyota enhancement so I could hear it unaugmented (2024 Taco).

It’s really no big deal unless you grew up with a 350 v8, straight pipes and glass packs.

 

[AtomicSushi]

This is my first post on this forum. I had a stripped down 4Runner in the past that was 2WD, and uninspiring but was absolutely bulletproof and on TX roads with no off road adventures, was suited to task. It had no artificial engine noise pumped in.

Currently I drive a Mustang GT which I plan to keep when I purchase, either a 4Runner Trailhunter or a GX 550 Overtrail.

What I want to say is, I am utterly appalled by fake engine noises. Chevy does it, Ford does it and in most cases it is impossible for the driver to disable without some of the aforementioned work-arounds. To me, this is borderline criminal from ANY manufacturer, especially since it has nothing to do with safety or performance. Some engines, some exhausts sound like garbage. Forcibly altering that garbage sound by adding additional garbage sound reduces the value of the vehicle to me.

The only thing worse is the automatic engine shutoff at red lights that I see in many modern vehicles. I laugh when my window is down and when I hit the gas at green, I hear all these clowns engines start back up. Such a stupid, backwards thinking idea that doesn't help anyone. Nobody wants it, and it makes the experience worse on the whole. I have serious questions as to the quality of both the marketing, and engineering degrees being given out these days.

But all thing being equal, my vehicle, I will do what I want to fix the mistakes (intentional or otherwise) from the factory. I figure it gives me leverage against the sales rep that thinks I'm gonna pay anywhere near MSRP for a new vehicle.

 

[mars001]

I wholeheartedly agree that fake engine sound is the most ridiculous thing! Didn't know that others are doing it too. If I want to hear fake engine sound I go play my racing game on my computer.