Believe it or not, 2025 marked the first time “new” really meant something when used to describe a 4Runner since 2010. Talk about having a lot riding on your shoulders. As it turns out, the new 4Runner is endearing, fun, and easy to mesh with, but—like the new Land Cruiser—it isn’t particularly great. But what should be used as a reference point? The outgoing 5th generation Toyota 4Runner had a huge come up in enthusiast perception with the explosion of the overlanding hobby, and that plus the reputation of Toyota’s mainstream rough-and-tough 4×4 has together made the 6th generation greatly anticipated. Up against that, Toyota chucked everything they had at it.
Farethewell, 5th gen and hello 6th gen
So what exactly is new here? Everything except the name. The 2025 4Runner is on Toyota’s scalable TNGA-F platform (shared with the Tacoma, Tundra, Sequoia, Land Cruiser, LX600, etc.) and all 4Runners use a turbocharged 2.4-liter inline four-cylinder engine. A performance-focused hybrid joins the party as you climb the trim ladder.
The TRD Pro seen here is one of those hybridized versions, with outputs at 326 horsepower and 456 lb-ft of torque (up over the 278 horsepower and 317 lb-ft of the non-hybrids), all routed through an 8-speed automatic gearbox and part-time four-wheel-drive. A precision Cable Harness Assembly ensures seamless communication between the hybrid motor, transmission, and 4WD systems. That’s a huge jump over the 5th gen’s V6 and its 270 horsepower and 278 lb-ft of torque, but bear in mind the new T4R’s newfound muscle comes with quite a bit of extra mass.
Up comes the pricing
Pricing is, expectedly, drastically different; buyers get in the 4Runner door at around $41k and it runs up to $66,900 for the TRD Pro (For reference, the 2024 Pro’s MSRP was ~$55k). For buyers looking to finance a purchase or leverage their current vehicle’s value, options like an auto equity loan can provide additional flexibility when managing higher price points. Our test unit had some options making it a $73,388 4Runner. For the same money you can also get a Trailhunter—a new trim for the 6th gen T4R—which favors overlanding and low-speed rock crawling over the Pro’s high-speed off-road proclivities. But let’s focus on the TRD Pro, which is finally differentiated versus other 4Runners for the first time ever. As a refresher, the 5th gen got Fox suspension and some appearance goodies; otherwise, buyers got special paint options and that’s about it.
Toyota knew they had to go big, so they did. The 6th gen Pro has a 4” wider stance than non-Pros, 33” Toyo A/Ts, Fox 2.5” QS3 shocks with piggyback-style remote reservoirs in the back, SDM (Stabilizer Disconnect Mechanism), Multi-Terrain Monitor (MTM), an onboard air compressor, 2400-watt A/C power via the cargo hold, Rigid brand fog lights and LED bar, and a look all its own. Needless to say, you could buy this, take it to the trail, and not think twice about whether it has the right– and enough– equipment. That Trailhunter? It swaps the Fox kit for Old Man Emu parts, throws on an ARB roof rack, and adds a snorkel designed specifically to channel in clean, less dusty air (i.e., not to improve water fording depth). Both models—and TRD Off-Road trims—have an electronically locking rear differential. Pick your poison.
There’s a lot to like…
So, the Pro has what it takes on paper, but is it any good in the real world? Yes and no. Its appearance is more than adequately aggressive and it feels hyper-modern inside (thanks largely to a 14-inch touchscreen). The powertrain is plenty lively and the transmission is light years better than the outgoing truck’s slushbox. Whether around town or on the highway, there’s no question that this was the update Toyota needed to keep the 4Runner relevant.
Other good tidbits: The rear window still rolls down, and isn’t that the most important hallmark of a 4Runner? Otherwise, the new rig is just a fun thing to drive and live with. It’s easy to use, everything works flawlessly, and the overall package is very comprehensive. You could spend tens of thousands of dollars on top of the base price of another vehicle to build a rig like this and never get close to the cohesiveness.
…and then reality hits
Time to drop the other shoe: Not all is good. The ride quality is poor by modern standards, which we find surprising given the high-end suspension. It might be great at absorbing impacts off-road, yet on the street—where most of these will spend the majority of their time—it’s much less buttoned down than expected. The truck just isn’t as refined on the plushness side of things as it should be for the price.
Cargo space is also a detriment, largely due to the hybrid battery impeding load height. In fact, the cabin feels more claustrophobic from the firewall to the cargo door than the 5th gen despite being statistically more spacious.
Then there’s the hybrid powertrain, which makes us revisit the refinement issue. At low speeds/load it stays in EV mode with the four-pot firing up once needed. The transition is fairly seamless, however it translates to a lot of on-again off-again powertrain handover in stop-go traffic. There are clearly a very specific set of parameters that the engine output algorithm plays with to determine whether the truck runs in electric only, gas only, or a sequential combination of the two. Sadly, when driving in conditions with a lot of variability—for example, suburban locales—it just comes off as slightly unfinished. Call it the price to pay for a T4R that’s faster and more efficient than ever before.
Yours truly is also not overly fond of the Pro’s styling, a category which is admittedly subjective. The 4Runner has historically carried an understated and simple design, and it feels like Toyota ditched that subtlety in favor of trying to be appealing on social media. It’s too ultra-macho.
It’s going to divide Toyota 4×4 enthusiasts
Evaluating the 4Runner as an automotive journalist is one thing, but there’s the personal side of this review, too. I have owned three 4Runners (Two 4th gens and a 5th gen) and the 2018 Lexus GX460 that I’ve been building up over the last four years shares a platform with the 5th gen 4Runner and was sold elsewhere in the world as a Land Cruiser Prado. I’m deeply ingrained in the Toyota 4×4 and off-road community and have many good friends that have come from such. Needless to say, the 6th gen T4R is a big deal to me—as it is to the countless others who love 4Runners.
With that, it’s hard to say this: Toyota might have missed the mark for its core enthusiast base with the 6th gen 4Runner TRD Pro. Then again, remember that 4Runners are never best when they debut; it’s always years on when the reliability and durability have long since proven themselves that the fandom runs wild. Such is the plight of Toyota 4x4s when a new generation comes to life. And with a complicated powertrain, its hardest-trying styling ever, and a relatively extreme amount of tech, this new T4R might just be a bridge too far to win over true, die-hard 4Runner fans like myself—at least from the onset. That will undoubtedly change over the years.
Mass appeal?
As for the 2025 4Runner TRD Pro’s mainstream appeal, things are very different. Aside from the price and compromised cargo hold, the new vehicle is a sweeping success. The 4Runner is now truly competitive in every draw-buyers-into-the-dealership measure. It’s techy, capable, eye-catching, and modern, all while being more efficient, powerful, and safer than ever before. Buyers will flock to it in the future if they don’t out of the gate, and it’s possible Toyota will have another hit on its hands. Case in point: July and August of 2025 were the two highest selling months for the 4Runner ever. I’m as shocked as you are.
The “best” 4Runner ever
In typical 4Runner fashion, just because it’s not the best vehicle in every measurable regard in no way means it’s not a success. If any, the long-term downfalls might be the powertrain and pricing strategy—as we saw with Jeep and how it’s lowering Wrangler prices—but Toyota has effectively countless other CUV/SUV options across all price brackets if the 4Runner is out of reach. Will the buying public and 4Runner enthusiast base care that the first new 4Runner in what feels like an automotive eon isn’t particularly great? That remains to be seen. One thing is for sure: The TRD Pro makes a statement, for better and worse.
