Review – 2023 40th Anniversary Edition Toyota 4Runner
There is nothing more tried, tested and true than a Toyota 4Runner. Entering the 1984 model year, I always saw the 4Runner as a spacious hard top truck with a built-in canopy. The term SUV never crossed my mind. The 4Runner was the best of both worlds. A 4 x 4 that could take you well into the back country or the top of a peak, as well as, a weekend getaway with all your friends, luggage and ski gear. It was the bomb! Forty years and five generations later, it still is but it’s time the 4Runner to get some upgrades.
When I first saw the 2023 40th Anniversary edition of the Toyota 4Runner, I loved the Barcelona red metallic colour but . . . What is with the ‘Starsky & Hutch’ stripe? I asked just about every person I could what they thought of the exterior. The GenXers instantly made a reference to the television program Starsky & Hutch.
Considering the program ended in 1979, the dynamic duo drove a red Ford Grand Torino and the first Toyota 4Runner entered the market five years later, in 1984, it begs the question – Why?
All I could find, with the help of other car enthusiasts and this thing called a smartphone, was that the stripes were retro-inspired by Toyota’s early off-road racers. Considering Toyota only produced 400 of the 40th Anniversary edition 4Runners in Canada, something more meaningful and attractive would have been a better choice for uniqueness than a striped adhesive graphic (not even paint). The graphic would be the first thing I would remove.
Aside from the stripe, there are subtle, external, striped embellishments in bronze, like the heritage bronze TOYOTA front grill, plus matching bronze 17” TRD wheels and tinted windows to round out the retro style that are more indicative of Toyota’s early years. Black roof rack and running boards plus LED low beam headlamps and LED fog lamps. The lighting provides some of the best after-dark visibility I have yet to experience.
The 40th Anniversary Edition of the 4Runner is celebrated with subtle interior and exterior emblems. (photos shown are courtesy of Toyota Canada and show a black model).
Step inside to an all-leather interior, spacious, 5-seat cabin and you will find 40th anniversary emblems debossed into the front head rests, modern technology and plenty of safety features. In the middle dash, an eight-inch touchscreen display with steering wheel mounted audio and voice recognition controls. Digital and analog tach, speedo and gauges. Apple CarPlay is also available so you can stream your favourite tunes out the eight-speaker system, but only through USB plug-in.
The 4Runner offers keyless, push button ignition, power door locks, heated 4-way power adjustable passenger and 8-way power adjustable driver seats, power slide and tilt moon roof, power windows (but the controls are on the top of the door rather than mid-door), power tailgate window and new for 2023, a heated steering wheel (however, the button for this feature is hidden in the lower dash near the ignition and not on the steering wheel). A big miss for a vehicle this tall, with a large rear door is a power closure. That should have been a must in a special edition.
As for safety features, there are eight air bags, child lock system, back up camera, pre-collision system – B-R-A-K-E – comes up on the dash, lane departure alert with sound, anti-lock brakes, traction control and brake assist.
What powers all of this? A 4.0 litre, v6 engine delivering 270 HP at 5,600 RPM and 278 lb-ft of torque. Match this with a 5-speed automatic transmission (which in today’s mid-sized SUV market seems out-dated) with sequential shift mode, plus four-wheel drive at the turn of a dial. You can haul up to 5,000 lbs (2,268 kilos), which equates to a small boat on a trailer, a quad, dirt bikes or even a small camper trailer. To get where you want to go, the 4Runner will consume an average of 13 litres per 100 km of the 87-litre fuel tank (23 gallons). With today’s gas price of around $1.80/ltr for regular, you are looking at $156 fill up.
As tried and true as the 4Runner is, change is in the air. 2023 marks the last of the fifth generation (2009-2023) 4Runner. Toyota has plans to unveil the first sixth generation model in the first quarter of 2024 planned to hit the showrooms by the third quarter of 2024. Of note, the 4Runner has traditionally been manufactured in Japan but the next generation is said to be moving manufacturing to North America. Considering Toyota has pledged their entire 2025 line-up will have hybrid options, maybe that is what we can expect in the new 4Runner. We will just have to wait and see.
