First Drive: 2025 Toyota 4Runner – Something for Everybody

If you’re planning to check out the 2025 Toyota 4Runner be prepared for choice overload. Not only has the automaker given the midsize SUV a complete makeover but it’s added more trim packages — including a 1^st-ever Trailhunter. But once you sort through the nine options you’ll find a competent option for whatever your needs as, as Headlight.News discovered during a first drive. Here’s our review.

If you’re a fan of the Toyota 4Runner – or just waiting for an all-new version of the familiar SUV – you clearly have a lot of patience. It’s been 15 years since the truck last got a complete makeover, at least twice as long as Toyota normally takes to refresh such an important model.

With 2025 finally bringing a new 4Runner to market I jumped at the chance to check out the SUV, taking it for a day’s drive in and around San Diego, including some off-road trails meant to challenge both the TRD Pro package and the all-new Trailhunter trim.

Here’s a report on what I found along the way.

What’s new

There’s almost nothing that Toyota’s designers and engineers haven’t touched in the process of giving the sixth-generation 4Runner a makeover. But they begin with a platform that has already shown its potential, the underlying TNGA-F body-on-frame architecture already in use for the new Tacoma pickup and Land Cruiser SUVs that Toyota rolled out for 2024.

As one would obviously expect, the new SUV gets a substantial design update – though you’ll have no problem recognizing what you see, even from a distance. Inside, the 2025 Toyota 4Runner gets a much more substantial design re-do, much of it to accomodate the sort of updated technology that simply wasn’t available when the outgoing SUV came to market.

The 2025 Toyota 4Runner adds two new trim packages, including the more upscale Platinum and the Trailhunter targeted at those who plan some overloading adventures. All told, there are nine separate trim options available, starting with the competent base SR5.

Another substantial update: two powertrain choices, including the new 2.4-liter turbo-four i-Force engine, as well as the more gutsy iForce Max hybrid.

Bigger, more powerful – and more fuel-efficient

The 2025 Toyota 4Runner grows 194.9 inches in total length, with a wheelbase of 112.2 inches. Base models now have a width of 77.8 inches, though both the Trailhunter and TRD packages are wider than the SR5. That makes room for their off-road suspension packages and larger tires.

Depending upon the trim package, Toyota is offering two powertrain options this year:

• A base iForce 2.4-liter turbo-four engine making 278 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, Depending on the package it delivers up to 26 mpg City, 20 Highway and 24 Combined;
• The new iForce Max hybrid bumps the numbers up to 326 hp and 465 lb-ft. while still delivering 24 mpg Highway, 23 City and 23 Combined, according to the EPA.

With its 1.87 kWh lithium-ion battery, the gas-electric drivetrain gets a low-RPM bump in torque which should help in rock-crawling conditions. It’s also expected to be more fuel-efficient than the base engine, though Toyota has yet to release official mileage numbers.

Both engines are paired to an 8-speed automatic and can be ordered in two-wheel-drive, as well as part-time or full-time all-wheel-drive. Both powertrains can tow up to 6,000 pounds.

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Driving impressions: off-road

With so many different options to choose from I felt the sort of paralysis of choice many 4Runner buyers might experience walking into a Toyota showroom to check out the new SUV. Ultimately, I found enough time to climb behind the wheel of three different package: the Limited, Trailhunter and TRD Pro.

With the latter I focused on its off-road chops, exploring some challenging trails about an hour east of San Diego. The ground was parched and cracked, the harsh Santa Anna winds that have so devastated Los Angeles to the north occasionally buffeting the TRD Pro I started out with.

Familiar with the outgoing 4Runner, my expectations for the 2025 truck were high – and it fully delivered. The 2025 model was sure-footed and confidence inspiring, whether creeping over rocks or charging up a steep hill. It helped, of course, to have all the features you’d expect from a true off-roader, like sway bar disconnect and front and rear locking differentials.

While they can be controlled individually, the new 4Runner also features a driver mode selector which automatically adjusts a variety of different vehicle settings, such as high/low range, throttle sensitivity and shifting, with the turn of a dial.

I was lucky enough to have access to TRD Pro models with both the new iForce turbo and iForce Max powertrains. The latter makes plenty of grunt and was a more than competent choice on the back trails. The hybrid, however, made things even easier, with another 48 hp and a full 148 lb-ft of torque. It simply clambered over any and everything I challenged it with. Add the great fuel economy and it would clearly be my choice.

While out in the back country I also got the opportunity to drive the new 4Runner Trailhunter edition. I’ll get to the details shortly, but the good news is that it delivers the great dirt, mud and rock-crawling capabilities of the TRD Pro, but adds some unique features that make it even more appropriate to those who’re going to spend some time on overland adventures.

Driving impressions: on-road

What’s impressive about the 2025 Toyota 4Runner is just how good it is at specific tasks, whether hill climbing, overlanding or just staying prepared for the worst you can experience on-road. As a Michigan boy I am looking forward to getting into the truck again back home during the depths of winter.

For now, I can point to what I experienced with the new Limited package on a variety of different paved roads in and around San Diego. Significantly, the sixth-gen 4Runner is a much more refined package than the outgoing truck. There was far less sway and roll as I blasted around the hilly route through the back country.

I was particularly impressed with the iForce Max hybrid which had plenty of pulling power, making it easy, on highway, to execute fast passes around slower traffic.

The new 4Runner offers plenty of creature comforts in the Limited and Platinum packages, including good audio options, wireless charging and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

New Trailhunter package

All told, there will be nine different grades available on the sixth-generation Toyota 4Runner, from the base SR5 to the top-line Limited package. New for 2025 is the Trailhunter – a badge Toyota is rolling out for a variety of models specifically targeting those looking to do some serious rock crawling.

While it may sound like Toyota is duplicating effort, there are some distinct differences between the new Trailhunter and the familiar TRD Pro and TRD Off-Road trims, according to 4Runner Chief Engineer Sheldon Brown. “TRD Pro is (meant to) go fast. Trailhunter is meant to go slow,” he explains.

Put another way, the TRD Pro is intended for handling Baja-style conditions where you’re looking to move as quickly as possible. It’s lighter, giving up a bit of underbody protection in the process. And it relies on suspension upgrades like Fox shocks to take a pounding when you blast across moguls and the occasional jump.

By comparison, the 2025 Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter is aimed at those headed out for some rock-crawling and who are more likely to “load up” with the sort of gear they might take on extended overland adventures, explained Brown, such as roof racks and roof campers. To absorb that punishment, Trailhunter gets full underbody protection, including rock rails  and opts for Old Man Emu shocks. The 33-inch tires add two inches of ground clearance up front and 1.5 inches in the rear.

Add a 2,400 watt AC inverter, Rigid LED foglights and other useful overlanding accessories.

Platinum pushes into the luxury market

Even as rising prices have driven many budget buyers out of the new vehicle market, many other buyers are opting up with ever more luxurious packages.

Depending upon the trim, base 4Runner models get a 7-inch digital gauge cluster and an 8-inch infotainment display. Higher-end packages come with a 12.3-inch gauge cluster and 14-inch touchscreen. 4Runner Platinum adds a variety of distinctive touches, starting with black-finished exterior styling elements. Inside, it gets leather seating and more soft-touch details. The front seats are heated and cooled and the outboard seats in the second row are heated.

And the Platinum edition adds an upgraded audio system, a standard tow package, rain-sensing wipers and a Head-Up Display.

A variety of other new tech features are available, depending upon trim, including a Digital Key. All versions feature the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 package of advanced driver assistance systems. Additional ADAS technology, including Blind Spot Monitoring, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert, are optional, depending upon the trim.

Pricing and availability

When Toyota first announced the long-awaited 2025 4Runner package last spring it had hoped to bring it to market by autumn. As it turns out, the redesigned SUV won’t make it into showrooms until this coming January.

Pricing starts at $40,770 for the base SR5 package. At the upper end, the 4Runner 4×4 TRD Pro with the i-Force Max hybrid pushes up to a starting $66,900. The new 4×4 Trailhunter package carries the same price tax. The 4Runner 4×4 Platinum with that turbo-hybrid starts at $62,860.

Add $1,450 to all trims for delivery fees.

The last word

Toyota’s 4Runner has always been a competent option for those who want a classic, body-on-frame SUV, something that’s grown increasingly difficult to find since the Gen-5 truck was originally released. But the old model was clearly well beyond its prime and a complete makeover long overdue.

The good news is that Toyota has delivered precisely what was needed. It’s one of the best updates the automaker has delivered in several years, no small accomplishment considering how many new and updated products Toyota has rolled out.

If there’s a problem with the 2025 4Runner it’s the fact that buyers will have to wade through so many trim packages and individual options. But once they work their way through this choice overload they’ll be likely to find a model that fully meets their individual needs – whether they’re rock crawling, overlanding, or simply hoping to feel safe and secure in winter.