Land Rover turns 70 this year, and will still happily sell you a vehicle of supreme off-road competence.
The number of people who use their shiny new Land Rovers off-road is four, and they’re all members of the British aristocracy wandering around looking for peasants to shoot. I mean pheasants.
So, if you’ve got aspirations to go for a romp in the great outdoors, never mind hugely expensive, incredibly complicated English luxury with faintly wobbly reliability. Instead, pop on down to your local Toyota dealership, where you can buy one of the oldest new cars on sale today.
The Toyota 4Runner is not crammed with new technology. Among other things, while the Tacoma now gets a 3.5-litre V-6 and a six-speed automatic transmission, the 4Runner makes do with the old 4.0-litre ‘six and a five-speed.
But don’t turn up your nose. You know what made Land Rover’s name in the first place? Simplicity. Honest, simple, rugged design. Well, that and also you could fix them with twine and a large rock (and frequently had to).
The 4Runner is just like that, except for the having-to-hit-it-with-a-rock bit. It’s more Land Rovery than the Land Rover, and that’s good news.
Design
A new model in the range, this TRD Pro trim is big, and chunky, and looks like the Tonka toys I used to throw at my brother. Errr ... I mean, share with my brother. Sorry mom.
There’s not much sleek about any 4Runner model, even the upscale ones, and the TRD is no exception. It looks like a box with some more boxes added to it.
Things to like include the retro Toyota grille, and the all-black 17-inch TRD alloys. When shod with proper tires, they look squishy and rugged, a slap in the face to all those so-called Sport Utility Vehicles riding around on 20-inch wheels and rubber-band tires.
Environment
Like the exterior, the 4Runner’s inside is not particularly pretty. Instead, functionality is paramount.
Thanks to the boxy styling, there’s plenty of space in here, though smaller kids will have trouble scrambling up into it. If, like me, your children are small apes, they’ll soon get used to it.
Actually, from a family-friendly standpoint, the 4Runner is quite lovable. Your kids/apes will like it because it looks like the kind of thing they’d drive on Paw Patrol. You will like it because it’s easy to load stuff in and out. (And also because you secretly like Paw Patrol too.)
All the knobs can be operated while wearing gloves, and the TRD shifter is the size of a Christmas ham. The dashboard looks plastic and rubbery – and so does the rest of the truck – but it should easily be able to shrug off any muddy abuse perpetuated on it by a mountain biker, trail runner, or two year old.
One slight annoyance comes as a result of a 4Runner heritage feature: retractable rear glass in the tailgate. Whether it’s a packaging issue, or just down to cost, you can’t get a power tailgate. That’s not a big deal for most, but a mild irritation more than one 4Runner owner has expressed to me.
Performance
According to the spec sheet, the 4Runner’s 270 h.p., 278 foot-pounds of torque 4.0-litre V-6 should be well up to the task of motivating it. Most testing sees the 4Runner getting to 100 kilometres per hour in a little less than eight seconds. Not too shabby.
In reality, especially if you’ve grown used to the low-end torque that a turbocharged engine in a modern crossover might provide, Toyota’s V6 can feel quite sluggish. Pulling out into traffic requires stomping the accelerator into the floorboards. The five-speed automatic is not a very complicated piece of equipment, but it should be reliable.
Lateral grip is perfectly acceptable, but the handling is a bit roly-poly. You expect this sort of behaviour from a proper body-on-frame truck, and the 4Runner delivers it. Far from being a detriment, it actually adds a bit of character.
Add in considerable road noise from those chunky tires, and you rarely find yourself pressing above the speed limit. Many modern cars are so quiet, you have to keep one eye on the speedometer. Not so with the 4Runner.
But the really good stuff happens when you get the 4Runner dirty. The TRD package isn’t just some badges and different wheels; it includes a terrain-select system, a low-speed crawling system, a locking rear differential, and proper selectable low-range four-wheel-drive.
With snow tires, it’s basically a tank. With chains and snow tires, it’ll push a literal bow-wave of fresh powder, as if it was some kind of fast-attack torpedo boat. For the type of off-road exploration any outdoorsy family is likely to do in the Squamish-Whistler corridor, it’s pretty much perfect.
Features
Base price on the 4Runner is a little more than $44,000, but the TRD Pro package pings the register at $54,832 after delivery and levies – taxes are extra. That’s a lot; however, like the Tacoma, 4Runners retain a huge portion of their value.
Official economy figures are old-fashioned SUV not-great at 14.3 (litres/100 kilometres) in the city and 12.0 on the highway. You’ll get more like 14.0 in mixed mileage driving, especially when it’s cold out.
Green light
Simple, rugged design; durable interior; great off-road.
Stop sign
Expensive; not much new technology to speak of; no power tailgate
The checkered flag
Basically an old-fashioned Land Rover that won’t break. That’s a good recipe.
Competition
Toyota Highlander ($36,450): Wait, you can’t compare a Toyota to a Toyota, can you? Of course we can, and many a customer standing in the Toyota showroom will likely wander over to the Highlander to see if it wouldn’t be a more sensible choice. I mean, how much off-roading are you going to do, really?
The Highlander’s got the ground-clearance to handle a bit of rough road, and it’s far more civilized on the tarmac. However, it doesn’t have the character of the 4Runner, and don’t overlook the 4Runner’s strong resale when comparing price tags.
