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- 2025 Toyota 4Runner
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This is a follow-up to my post “Observations after 200 miles” miles here:
https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/threads/observations-after-200-miles.2607/
In the 300 miles I have driven since this post, rolling over the 500 mile mark, I’m getting more used to the 4Runner as my daily driver. 500 miles is still a very low number of miles to start making judgments, but I will share my observations anyway.
I finally got to take my 4Runner (Off-Road Premium) on an interstate freeway today on a little longer day trip. This gave me an opportunity to get a feel for the vehicle at higher speeds, listen to road and wind noise levels, and use the dynamic radar cruise control (DRCC) with lane tracing assistance (LTA).
The 4Runner still impresses me with its power and responsiveness, although I’m still not trying to hot rod it (and that’s not my “style” anyway). But it undeniably has excellent acceleration and road handling, especially for an off-road capable SUV.
The 4Runner cabin noise is probably a little noisier than my old Ram 1500, but it’s quieter than my wife’s Mazda CX-5 and a lot quieter than my Jeep Wrangler. We can have a nice quiet conversation on an Interstate at 80+ miles per hour. I don’t think the freeway sounds that I can hear are unreasonable or will be exhaustive on long road trips. I have been in much quieter vehicles, but I just want it “quiet enough” (for me) – which really means being able to talk with others in the vehicle without anyone needing to speak louder than they would normally have to. That’s my litmus test for good enough.
I had driven rental vehicles with DRCC and LTA before, so these features were not new to me, but I have never owned a vehicle with these features. This was a big selling point for my 4Runner (Off-Road Premium trim), having used these features with rental vehicles on long desert highways. The system works incredibly well in my opinion. There’s a button to set the vehicle in DRCC mode. Here are my observations…
Edit: I removed a section here where I incorrectly stated that there didn't appear to be a resume button for cruise control that remembered the last speed. I didn't notice this while driving and I didn't check before writing this up. There's a toggle on the steering wheel cruise control that presumably resumes to the last set speed, but I haven't tested it yet.
The LTA system is almost a little creepy and gives you the sense that the steering wheel is guiding your hands rather than the other way around. I found myself subtly fighting the system to center the vehicle in the lane at times, but it was unclear to me whether my sense of the center was slightly off or it was the LTA system. Eventually, I adapted my driving to “go along” with what the LTA wanted to do. To be specific, in the far left “fast” lane the system tended to center me closer to the lane to my right rather than the shoulder to the left. The difference was probably marginal (inches) and could be a nuance of my perception and the way I drive. Or the system might trace the lane based more on a specific distance to one of the outside road lines rather than attempt to split the difference. In any case, the LTA behavior seemed “reasonable enough” and I could just adapt my preference to drive a few inches closer to the right than felt “perfect” to me.
On a side note, I’m wondering if LTA will make it less obvious if/when there is damage that requires re-alignment (just a random thought that came to mind, but I guess you can disable the system, or it might still be obvious).
The LTA was very good at keeping the vehicle in the lane even in temporary curvy sections of the Interstate due to construction. I kept the distance between me and the vehicle in front of me at a default maximum distance, which is more of an invitation for other folks to go around me. As people would occasionally change lanes in front of me, the DRCC would adjust the distance (temporarily letting off the throttle).
On one occasion, freeway traffic unexpectedly slowed through a construction zone. I was prepared to slow down, but felt the brake engage about a half second before I started to brake myself. I think that is because I expect my distance to close a little as a normal reaction, but the DRCC attempts to maintain its programmed distance. At this point I had pressed the brake pedal, canceling cruise control, so I’m not certain how the system would react in a more violent sudden slowdown or stop on the freeway (which I should be paying attention to of course, but I am still curious how the system would react).
I also got to see this braking system in action backing up to a trash can. I guess I’m a bit of a brute sometimes. I was backing up to reposition my 4Runner on the street, saw the trash can and didn’t care if I bumped it a little while I got the most amount of room to reposition myself. However, the 4Runner evidently cared. It made a nice little honking sound inside the cab and applied the brakes “for me”. I was a little surprised, but eventually gave in and agreed with the 4Runner that it was a little too early in its life to go carelessly bumping up against trash cans. Maybe we’ll reach a point in our relationship in the future where we’re both OK with this.
Toyota differentiates LTA from its lane departure alert (LDA) system, although there are similarities in how the vehicle corrects steering, which is almost certainly the same mechanical system marketed differently for different driving conditions. In any case, the vehicle provides steering assistance based on sensor inputs.
My 4Runner came with the digital rear view mirror. I had never had one of these before and didn’t see the point. Now I know. Digital rear view mirrors are awesome. First, there are no obstructions like there are with a mirror attempting to look through the vehicle and out the back window. The camera is mounted to the back of the vehicle. Second, the image quality is incredibly clear. I can clearly see the faces of the people behind me as they pull up behind me at intersections. This immediately made me self-aware of how clearly vehicles in front of me can see me in my vehicle! I had no idea it worked that well. Third, the light quality is a lot better at night. You get a much clearer picture of what is behind you. Fourth, the bright lights of people behind you don’t hurt your eyes at night. The light is not being directly reflected into your eyes from a mirror. You’re just getting a real-time video of what is behind you, with brightness limited to the display capability. Now I don’t think I’ll ever want a new vehicle without a digital rear view mirror.
A minor observation was that I assumed the position memory of my power seats (for different people) would require some complex programming in the menus. I had not noticed the simple button on the driver’s side door that allows you to set two different positions. So now, when I switch back and forth with my wife, I can simply push one button for the power seats to return to my position. This also includes how I had the lumbar support and power steering wheel positioned. On that note, I had not adjusted the lumbar support until recently. This works well – with adjustment to raise or lower the support on your back and to push it further into your back or recess it back into the seat. This is another thing that will be great (for me) on longer road trips.
I had mentioned there was an awful smell in my observations at 200 miles. At 500 miles, I no longer notice any unpleasant smells. I have also thoroughly cleaned and treated the interior with chemicals that had their own smell. So, perhaps that helped a little too. I did this mostly because I noticed that the new interior was a dust magnet. I wanted something that would protect the interior surface and repel dust, so I purchased and applied products for this purpose.
The only modifications I have made to the 4Runner so far are removing the air dam and running boards and adding a GMRS radio and antenna. I also purchased an all-weather cargo mat to match the all-weather floor mats that came with my options when I purchased the 4Runner. I still plan to add rock rails and skid plates, and maybe eventually modifications to increase clearance (still thinking about this one).
The only thing I have found a little annoying so far is how Android Auto favors phones plugged in via USB, versus the wireless charger. So, for instance, if I’m driving and my phone is on the wireless charger and my wife plugs her phone into the USB, Android Auto tries to switch to her phone. I’ll also sometimes have to tell Android Auto to connect to my phone, even if I’m the only person in the car (i.e., it does not auto-connect sometimes). There might be settings that improve how this works, and it still works about ten times better than the Uconnect 4 system in my old Ram. But I had to find something to complain about!
Hopefully, I don’t find a lot more to complain about, but my next concerns are related to winter weather and off-road performance. I live in Colorado at about 5,000 feet and frequently travel to 9,000+ feet. I made the mistake of not immediately upgrading the tires on my last new vehicle, but I want to see how the stock Falken A/T3WA tires perform on this vehicle.
I’ve seen others complain about the LTA/LDA operation in heavy rain/snow conditions that impact the LTA/LDA sensors and thus degrade its operation. To be honest, I’m not very concerned about this because I’ve been in crappy winter conditions and couldn’t imagine radar working with snow building up on the front of the vehicle, or visual sensors see road lines that I can’t see. The LTA system appears to be easy to disable temporarily. I haven’t tried disabling the LDA system, but I’ve seen some YouTube videos on how to do it (and skipped through the manual on this section). So, I’ll probably practice turning it on and off in case it does get annoying or I’m expecting conditions (e.g., a blizzard) where the system would not be expected to operate well.
That’s all I can think about for now. At 500 miles, I’m at the point in the break-in where I can tow a trailer. This is important to me because I happen to have a need to pull a utility trailer to make a bunch of runs to a landfill (I’ll still stick with “light” loads for now). I’m considering doing a “paranoid” oil change, as many people do – much earlier than the maintenance recommendation due to initial engine break-in concerns. I figure I can do this anytime now. The oil filter looks relatively easy to get to. To get to the drain plug, it looks like I’ll have to remove the crappy decorative (useless) skid plate that Toyota put on these ORP trims for some reason. I’ll likely just leave this off until I’m ready to put on a real protection plate. The Toyota skid plate was over $500, so I planned to look at aftermarket options first. It's just a metal plate with mounting holes in the right places! $500+, really? But, I might end up paying this price if I don’t see a better option.
So, 500 more miles and then I’m done with the break-in driving stuff. I’ll wait to get past this before I do a lot of off-roading or any road-trips (basically avoiding the situations where I’m driving at the same speed for extended periods of time). I’m sure I’ll get through 500 miles pretty quickly.
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