Those wheel flares do not go well on the light colors.
2025 4Runner reviewed by Doug DeMuro
- Thread starter wemay
- Start date
It's a beast off-road.
See on rocks/gravel/steep incline or a mixture of these you break traction easier with more power, so with a beastly engine you just slip and fall. 250 hp is more than enough for off road excellence unless you're planning on crashing over stuff instead of crawling over it.
And on road it will do fine too. 1st gear, redline, it'll climb just fine
8 seconds! That's smokin fast! It isn't slow until your 0-60 is over 10 seconds or the same as your 1/4 mile time
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Nope. Current has very high rpm torque peak.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Geez, which part of “no one disputes off road capabilities “ is not clear?
JHZR2
Staff member
Meh. I can get by with 72 hp. The 4Runner is a rocket.
If Toyota is smart they would have installed a garrett or IHI variable vane turbo. Porsche started using this technology on the 996 Turbo and Turbo S. I thought by now it would be fairly common.
Porsche started using variable vane turbos with 997. 996 Turbos had K16 (or K24 for X50, S, GT2) turbo.
BMW’s twin power turbo solution is also a good one.
My dad discovered his 1990 4Runner somehow would keep its speed with cruise control uphills however impossible with pedal. What a pig and the engine was garbage as it blew multiple heads gaskets.
That's a fault with whomever was doing the replacements. There was an initial problem, but the revised head gaskets fixed the issue. That is if the block and deck were within tolerance for flatness. And the block and heads had the correct RA for the head gaskets. And if the heads were installed properly. Making sure everything is correct and done properly, is on the mechanic doing the work.
Sounds like that 3.blow got a bad mechanic each time, and nobody checked the head for flatness. I’ve heard of this engine doing just that, blowing multiple times—but I’ve also heard from mechanics who say they’ve never had a comeback (and they are ones with good internet cred). [Maybe someone got it good with a whizz wheel?]
Still. Well known for being a dog of an engine.
Wish I had something that could do 0-60 in 8 seconds. 10 is as slow as I care for. 0-75 is probably an interesting number, that’s a typical highway speed now, although I think it’s ticking up even more.
Still. Well known for being a dog of an engine.
Wish I had something that could do 0-60 in 8 seconds. 10 is as slow as I care for. 0-75 is probably an interesting number, that’s a typical highway speed now, although I think it’s ticking up even more.
Dog of an engine for power. Choked by the restrictive flow of the crossover in the manifolds. A couple of that model year had head gasket issues, and there was a recall, but mine, a 1990, never did.
I gave it to a friend’s son, at 280,000 miles, and he managed to get involved in three accidents with it. Despite the body damage, it was still on the road, still running reliably, at over 300,000 with the original engine and heads.
So, slow, but reliable. And it would crawl all day on a trail without issue. Very torquey. Correctly geared. I still miss that truck, but I gave it away to get the Tundra, which enabled me to tow the Packard.
Would still like another 4Runner. It was the perfect size and set of capabilities.
Toyota dealers did it twice on their dime . I sold for parents with blown gasket during Covid madness in immaculate condition loaded to hilt 5 speed manual and sitting in barn/field for 6 years for $6500 with 64k.
Oh, a manual! I would have bought that in a heartbeat! The slush box was slow, the manual much better. And I prefer a manual.
I had the factory service manual, which came in two volumes, and was on a first name basis with the parts folks at my local Toyota dealer, so, I would’ve been totally willing to take on a bit of a project.
Still love that vintage for its size and practical features. I mean, wing/vent windows, for example. Nothing has those anymore.
JHZR2
Staff member
Toyota probably put the same turbo as is on my 1980s MB diesels, since it is proven for hundreds of thousands of miles, and well established.
JHZR2
Staff member
That was our favorite feature on the one my wife had!
Ls swap?
I've read of some doing a 3.4L swap, but it's a fair amount of work to pull off. Better motor, but lots of details (ODBII vs ODBI, lots of wiring changes). LS swap might be what all the cool kids are doing, but I believe you now are swapping trans and transfer case. Slice and dice the driveshafts and use a big hammer to make it all fit. Now will the diffs and axles handle the extra torque?
But I'm sure it'd make for quite the ride.
I wonder if adding a dual exhaust, get rid of that cross over pipe, would help a smidge, on a rebuild. Thing is, it's got 400k on the clock. Bottom end might be pristine, but who knows. At that miles it's probably "wise" to just swap with a running 3.0 with far less miles. Then you just have an automatic with 400k on the clock, I'm sure it'll be fine... now that LS swap is starting to sound wiser!
Too bad they never made a V6 LS. Shorten the motor a hair but kept the better flowing heads and whatnot that that the LS's got (but the Vortec 4.3 never did).
