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Hi all,
Yesterday I picked up one of my dream vehicles, I've owned a LOT of stuff but something that has always stuck in my mind is the green 2nd gen 4Runner my grandpa had when I was a kid. I remember thinking how sweet it looked and riding stuffed in the back with my extended family, and when I saw the new 6th gen in Everest green and the throwback styling cues with modern technology I was in love.
I currently consider myself extremely lucky, I thought with waiting lists for Trailhunters at most dealers in the PNW area it would be quite some time before I'd be able to snag one since I found out about the new generation recently and am not on any lists. I was considering an ORP instead to get one sooner, or even getting something much cheaper used for offroading adventures, but was keeping an eye on the Toyota site to see when stuff popped up and on Wednesday night just happened to see that Toyota of Bellevue showed a Trailhunter that was in-stock. I had been into that dealer earlier in the week to check out a few of the new Tacomas and met my salesman, so I texted him to see if it was really in-stock or already spoken for. The story I heard is that someone ordered and had a deposit on it, but their wife said no when it arrived so it was actually on the lot and available. I had to go in to a dealer anyway for a new lug stud for my Tundra, so the next day I headed in on my lunch break to check it out and ultimately decided I had to have it.
I've bought several cars from other dealerships in the past and I've experienced some decent staff and some nightmare treatment, but I have to say that throughout the entire process from my salesman Sean, the manager Scott and Simon in finance, the guys I dealt with at Toyota of Bellevue were the most friendly, no-pressure team that I've had the pleasure of dealing with. Huge thanks to Sean for coming in on his day off to help me get this done! Just wanted to put that out there before I got to my thoughts on the Trailhunter itself.
As far as background on me so you know my perspective, I've owned over 30 vehicles, mostly sportscars but offroad or SUV or truck things relevant to the subject here include: 2006 Tundra V8 DC, 2015 F150 SuperCrew 3.5 Ecoboost, 2015 Porsche Macan Turbo, 2020 Yamaha YXZ1000R, an assortment of sport quads, dirt bikes. We used to wheel my buddies modded 1989 Toyota Pickup V6 a bunch but this is the first 4Runner I've owned.
Enough yapping about me, let's get to the main subject, my initial thoughts on the 2025 4Runner Trailhunter:
Drivetrain:
I saw a ton of comments on various videos and threads of people worried about the addition of a turbo making things unreliable here, I've owned a ton of turbocharged Toyotas (9 A70 Supras and an ST165 Celica Alltrac) and done more than my share of repairs, but I can say that a turbo failure is something I haven't experienced ever. Headgaskets are another thing entirely and I'll admit the open-deck design of this engine worries me a bit, but the 1GR/2GR blocks were open deck too and unarguably reliable, so I'm hopeful this will continue to be the case here. As far as the driving experience with this powertrain, I've only done 150 or so miles so far, but so far it's been fantastic. The torque is actually surprising down low, and the engine hasn't felt like it will be lacking any power needed to haul things or pass safely or go up steep hills. This is my first hybrid and first vehicle with auto start-stop, so feeling those features come into play will take some getting used to, but I'm happy to have the benefits from them.
EDIT - I can't believe I forgot to talk about the turbo noise from the snorkel, this thing is LOUD with the windows open, I thought my supras made good turbo noises, and the loudest I'd ever heard before was a friend's early 6.0 F250, but with the passenger window open this has them all beat. You can't even hear the stereo if the volume is on anything less than 10 and the turbo is spooling, it's kind of crazy. If the windows are closed though the turbo sound is whisper quiet, I think I remember seeing somewhere that the Tacoma Trailhunter airbox has a rubber plug you can move from the front to the snorkel side if you want to quiet it down, I'll have to look for it when I have a chance.
Suspension:
I was actually pretty surprised here, I had the chance to test drive a Tacoma Trailhunter and I expected the suspension to be a copy paste from that. I remember the suspension being pliable yet surprisingly firm for an offroader, but that drive was over a month ago and I've driven a bunch of other stuff since then so I could definitely be mis-remembering. The suspension on the 4Runner Trailhunter however feels extremely plush, especially on initial impacts. Going over potholes is barely felt and train tracks at speed will upset the rear slightly like you'd expect with a solid axle rear on a short wheelbase vehicle but still feels smoother than anything else I've driven. Earlier this week I drove a 2024 Tacoma TRD PRO and a 2025 Tacoma with the factory 2.5inch lift option, and I would say the 4Runner Trailhunter definitely feels softer during initial travel than either of those.
Economy:
Not too much to report here with only 150mi under my belt in it so far, but I've been driving mixed I-405, state highways and 40mph backroads and averaging 21mpg according to the computer. Will update if things change drastically, but that is the majority of my driving so I expect not much will change.
Styling:
In person this thing looks amazing. Like I said earlier, my grandpa's old 4Runner was green so I've always had a soft spot for green 4Runners, but I also really liked the old green/gold two tone color scheme on the 1st Gen MR2's and this kinda reminds me of that. I love how the rear quarter windows curve up over the top like the 1st and 2nd Gen 4Runners did, and how much the shape of the fenders bulge is kind of wild but I do worry about the front tires kicking up rocks and sand and causing paint damage to the rear fenders. That's something I had to worry about on my S550 Mustangs, and should be a concern here too, I'm likely going to do a full PPF to help with protecting from that and branches scraping the sides while I'm on the trail. The Mineral interior trim finish looks amazing in person, and the colors used for the seats and soft touch surfaces definitely make it feel like something special.
Technology:
So far so good here, I'm looking forward to using the camera system and sway bar disconnect while offroading. I wanted a moonroof, but I get why it's not an option on the Trailhunter because of the roof rack. I kind of wish the customization on the gauge cluster was just a bit deeper, I'd like to be able to pick exactly what gauge bars go in which spots and I'd like to have my fuel economy in the center since the cruise control settings have their own little alternate spots anyway. It should be known however that if you accept the connected services trial for WiFi connection, you will have to call AT&T or whoever is the service provider on your build to cancel that before you can fully decline everything. I didn't want to use any of the connected services on mine but connected the app to register it to me, when taking delivery they said I'd have to accept all the agreements at setup in the beginning and then decline the data options in the settings afterward, but it won't let you disable everything until you get the WiFi cancelled with the service provider.
Future Plans:
Like I said earlier, I plan on doing some PPF to protect the paint, the front end and mirrors of that was included by the dealer, but I'll be doing the sides myself to save several thousand on install. I have some 33x12.5 KO2's left over from my F150 that I'd like to see if they fit without any rubbing for a more meaty look and some added protection of the wheels from curbs and rocks. I'll likely be towing with this soon and taking it on trails as soon as I have some time and the PNW weather cooperates so I'll give updated thoughts as I experience more with the truck. For now I'll leave some pictures here that someone else took of it before I arrived at the dealer and one that I took when I got it home, feel free to ask any questions about it or if you want pictures of anything specific and I'll do what I can!
Yesterday I picked up one of my dream vehicles, I've owned a LOT of stuff but something that has always stuck in my mind is the green 2nd gen 4Runner my grandpa had when I was a kid. I remember thinking how sweet it looked and riding stuffed in the back with my extended family, and when I saw the new 6th gen in Everest green and the throwback styling cues with modern technology I was in love.
I currently consider myself extremely lucky, I thought with waiting lists for Trailhunters at most dealers in the PNW area it would be quite some time before I'd be able to snag one since I found out about the new generation recently and am not on any lists. I was considering an ORP instead to get one sooner, or even getting something much cheaper used for offroading adventures, but was keeping an eye on the Toyota site to see when stuff popped up and on Wednesday night just happened to see that Toyota of Bellevue showed a Trailhunter that was in-stock. I had been into that dealer earlier in the week to check out a few of the new Tacomas and met my salesman, so I texted him to see if it was really in-stock or already spoken for. The story I heard is that someone ordered and had a deposit on it, but their wife said no when it arrived so it was actually on the lot and available. I had to go in to a dealer anyway for a new lug stud for my Tundra, so the next day I headed in on my lunch break to check it out and ultimately decided I had to have it.
I've bought several cars from other dealerships in the past and I've experienced some decent staff and some nightmare treatment, but I have to say that throughout the entire process from my salesman Sean, the manager Scott and Simon in finance, the guys I dealt with at Toyota of Bellevue were the most friendly, no-pressure team that I've had the pleasure of dealing with. Huge thanks to Sean for coming in on his day off to help me get this done! Just wanted to put that out there before I got to my thoughts on the Trailhunter itself.
As far as background on me so you know my perspective, I've owned over 30 vehicles, mostly sportscars but offroad or SUV or truck things relevant to the subject here include: 2006 Tundra V8 DC, 2015 F150 SuperCrew 3.5 Ecoboost, 2015 Porsche Macan Turbo, 2020 Yamaha YXZ1000R, an assortment of sport quads, dirt bikes. We used to wheel my buddies modded 1989 Toyota Pickup V6 a bunch but this is the first 4Runner I've owned.
Enough yapping about me, let's get to the main subject, my initial thoughts on the 2025 4Runner Trailhunter:
Drivetrain:
I saw a ton of comments on various videos and threads of people worried about the addition of a turbo making things unreliable here, I've owned a ton of turbocharged Toyotas (9 A70 Supras and an ST165 Celica Alltrac) and done more than my share of repairs, but I can say that a turbo failure is something I haven't experienced ever. Headgaskets are another thing entirely and I'll admit the open-deck design of this engine worries me a bit, but the 1GR/2GR blocks were open deck too and unarguably reliable, so I'm hopeful this will continue to be the case here. As far as the driving experience with this powertrain, I've only done 150 or so miles so far, but so far it's been fantastic. The torque is actually surprising down low, and the engine hasn't felt like it will be lacking any power needed to haul things or pass safely or go up steep hills. This is my first hybrid and first vehicle with auto start-stop, so feeling those features come into play will take some getting used to, but I'm happy to have the benefits from them.
EDIT - I can't believe I forgot to talk about the turbo noise from the snorkel, this thing is LOUD with the windows open, I thought my supras made good turbo noises, and the loudest I'd ever heard before was a friend's early 6.0 F250, but with the passenger window open this has them all beat. You can't even hear the stereo if the volume is on anything less than 10 and the turbo is spooling, it's kind of crazy. If the windows are closed though the turbo sound is whisper quiet, I think I remember seeing somewhere that the Tacoma Trailhunter airbox has a rubber plug you can move from the front to the snorkel side if you want to quiet it down, I'll have to look for it when I have a chance.
Suspension:
I was actually pretty surprised here, I had the chance to test drive a Tacoma Trailhunter and I expected the suspension to be a copy paste from that. I remember the suspension being pliable yet surprisingly firm for an offroader, but that drive was over a month ago and I've driven a bunch of other stuff since then so I could definitely be mis-remembering. The suspension on the 4Runner Trailhunter however feels extremely plush, especially on initial impacts. Going over potholes is barely felt and train tracks at speed will upset the rear slightly like you'd expect with a solid axle rear on a short wheelbase vehicle but still feels smoother than anything else I've driven. Earlier this week I drove a 2024 Tacoma TRD PRO and a 2025 Tacoma with the factory 2.5inch lift option, and I would say the 4Runner Trailhunter definitely feels softer during initial travel than either of those.
Economy:
Not too much to report here with only 150mi under my belt in it so far, but I've been driving mixed I-405, state highways and 40mph backroads and averaging 21mpg according to the computer. Will update if things change drastically, but that is the majority of my driving so I expect not much will change.
Styling:
In person this thing looks amazing. Like I said earlier, my grandpa's old 4Runner was green so I've always had a soft spot for green 4Runners, but I also really liked the old green/gold two tone color scheme on the 1st Gen MR2's and this kinda reminds me of that. I love how the rear quarter windows curve up over the top like the 1st and 2nd Gen 4Runners did, and how much the shape of the fenders bulge is kind of wild but I do worry about the front tires kicking up rocks and sand and causing paint damage to the rear fenders. That's something I had to worry about on my S550 Mustangs, and should be a concern here too, I'm likely going to do a full PPF to help with protecting from that and branches scraping the sides while I'm on the trail. The Mineral interior trim finish looks amazing in person, and the colors used for the seats and soft touch surfaces definitely make it feel like something special.
Technology:
So far so good here, I'm looking forward to using the camera system and sway bar disconnect while offroading. I wanted a moonroof, but I get why it's not an option on the Trailhunter because of the roof rack. I kind of wish the customization on the gauge cluster was just a bit deeper, I'd like to be able to pick exactly what gauge bars go in which spots and I'd like to have my fuel economy in the center since the cruise control settings have their own little alternate spots anyway. It should be known however that if you accept the connected services trial for WiFi connection, you will have to call AT&T or whoever is the service provider on your build to cancel that before you can fully decline everything. I didn't want to use any of the connected services on mine but connected the app to register it to me, when taking delivery they said I'd have to accept all the agreements at setup in the beginning and then decline the data options in the settings afterward, but it won't let you disable everything until you get the WiFi cancelled with the service provider.
Future Plans:
Like I said earlier, I plan on doing some PPF to protect the paint, the front end and mirrors of that was included by the dealer, but I'll be doing the sides myself to save several thousand on install. I have some 33x12.5 KO2's left over from my F150 that I'd like to see if they fit without any rubbing for a more meaty look and some added protection of the wheels from curbs and rocks. I'll likely be towing with this soon and taking it on trails as soon as I have some time and the PNW weather cooperates so I'll give updated thoughts as I experience more with the truck. For now I'll leave some pictures here that someone else took of it before I arrived at the dealer and one that I took when I got it home, feel free to ask any questions about it or if you want pictures of anything specific and I'll do what I can!
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