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I’ve finally driven about 1,500 miles in my TRD Pro and I really do love it more and more every day. Sure it has a few quirks here and there, but overall, it’s the best vehicle I’ve had so far, out of the 11 or 12 over the years. I also just got it a full body Xpel Stealth PPF, full Fusion ceramic coating and Xpel ceramic window tint on all windows, except the windshield for now. More on all of that later, but if you don’t want to read the below, you can skip to the bottom for the pics and video. Here are some thoughts:
Comfort
All around, I find the Pro to be super comfortable. The seats are great, they heat up crazy fast and are actually too hot, the heated steering wheel is fantastic and overall feels good in the hands. The ride is pretty awesome as well. I am still playing with the 3 suspension settings and as if right now the middle setting of 2 works well for me and the semi-rough Montana roads. Even with the rough roads with chip seal, the road noise is really low. Not sure if that has to due with the tires, sound deadening or a combo of both, but the road noise is low. I may have mentioned this in another post, but the lights at night are incredible. The adjustable low beams are so bright and really a cool add on to be able to adjust them. The brights do their job very well and then when you add the light bar, you can see at least 150 -200 feet off the side of the road, which is a great thing to have in rural areas with a lot of animals.
The one complaint I do have here is the wind noise. Above around 50-55 mph, the wind noise definitely picks up. I don’t have a roof rack or cross bars, just the stock Pro. I have seen a thread or two about this. Has anyone else noticed this? Does this bother anyone else?
I haven’t had a chance to really get it off road yet, but now with the PPF, I am going to get on it!
Sound System/14” Screen System
My last car before the Pro was a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland High Altitude, which just had the stock system that was made my Alpine I believe. I also just rented a 2025 Grand Cherokee Limited for a week with a stock system. To my sort of untrained ears, both of those systems are better than the JBL. The JBL doesn’t suck, but it’s just not that great. The high end lacks the clarity of the other base models and doesn’t hold a note to higher end systems. I do really wish Toyota would have offered an upgraded system by a higher end brand. I know there’s an $300 or aftermarket amp that people are liking, which I might eventually try, but are any of you finding anything else to do? Do you think its the speakers? The Toyota amp? I can definitely live with it, but for $70k, it should be much much better.
As for the 14” screen, I love it. I have it in dark mode all the time and I really like the new UI for Sirius/XM. I do wish there was some more usability with certain things like Trip A/B and fuel economy. With the Jeep, you could have the MPG for each Trip A or B and reset them independently. I liked to do that on road trips to compare tanks of gas and overall. Maybe it’s user error, but I don’t think Toyota’s can do that.
Engine
I really don’t have any complaints with the engine. Actually, I think it has a ton of power and is quick enough off the line. I recently took a road trip from NW Montana up to Calgary and back and when the speed limit was 70 and someone was going 65, I dropped it into sport and before I knew it, I was passing them at 85 no problem. At the higher speeds, it gets up and goes! Even if I just kept it in Normal or Eco, pressing the peddle down makes it come alive. I went over a few mountain passes and there was no issue. Very happy so far.
Adaptive Cruise
I am a super heavy user of the adaptive cruise. It’s about a 35-40 minute drive to the nearest Target/REI/Wal-Mart, etc. and it's pretty much all two lane roads going 65-70. I get her up to speed and throw on the adaptive cruise control. I find it works very well and you can change the setting to accelerate quicker or in more of a progressive way. It’s way smoother than Jeep’s system. When recently driving back from Calgary in heavy rain, it did disengage and an alert came up that it was unavailable. After a few minutes it was available again. I’m not sure if there was too much rain, too much water coming off the road, or what. I’ll bring it to the dealership's attention. Lastly, I know there are a lot of people out there that say adaptive cruise eats through your rear breaks and isn’t good for the vehicle. I’ve never had that problem. I used it all the time and on my 2018 Grand Cherokee, I replaced the rear breaks at around 65,000 miles. I’m not worried about the Pro. As an aside, I also really like the automated lane control/steering. I used it extensively on the Calgary roadtrip and thought it worked great. If there is a sharp curve, it might get a bit confused here and there, but overall, I think it’s great.
Windshield and Rear Wiper
Okay, here’s my biggest negative overall for the 4Runner. The wipers just aren’t that great. The windshield wipers actually do a good job clearing the water, but the coverage isn’t the best. Also, when I was going 70 or so and there was a headwind, and rain, the wipers were going every which way and I was a bit worried they might come off. The read wiper is a bit of a joke. I really like how it retracts so you don’t see it at all, but the coverage is so small. I mean you can see out, but it’s not great. I have a feeling it will be interesting in the winter.
MPG
It seems there are some MPG haters out there, but I think most of us knew what we were getting into with the new 4Runner. The best I’ve gotten on a full tank of 91 Octane is 21 MPG. That’s rural driving with some 35, some 45 and a lot of 65. On the road trip from Kalispell, MT to Calgary, it was a bit over 300 miles, I averaged 21.9 and was able to get there on one tank with 53 miles to spare. I was with the wind most of the way, but there were passes and altitude changes. On the way back, I had a headwind a lot of the way, it rained like crazy and snowed for a bit. I averaged 19.5 on the way back and had to stop for gas once. Overall, I’m just fine with it. Hopefully it will get a bit better over time. One subjective note is that when it’s in Eco and I’m babying it a bit vs. having it in Normal, dropping it into Sport every now and then, and just driving it, the MPG seemed to a bit better just driving it and not worrying about it. All of the above is with 91, except for one tank in Canada with 93.
Xpel Stealth PPF, Ceramic Coating and Xpel Ceramic Window Tint
Check out the pics and video the shop put together below. I loved the look before and love it even more now. I know its a crazy expensive thing to do, but it’s a black car with soft paint, I live in rural Montana and want to do some fun trails, so for me it was worth it to spend the money. I got a full Xpel Stealth PPF, with a Xpel Fusion 4-Year Ceramic and then got every window, including the sunroof done with Xpel Ceramic Tint, except the windshield for now. After doing some research, I wanted to go with the Xpel product and there were few choices locally. The nearest place in MT or out of state was about 4 hours away and it was very expensive. I received quotes for around $10k for the PPF and ceramic, not including the window tint. I called Xpel directly and they recommended Shadow Tint in Calgary and they are an Xpel owned provider.
I can’t say enough great things about the team at Shadow. They are incredibly professional, experts in their field and made me feel comfortable leaving my brand new car in another country for 10 days. They had very competitive pricing as well and with the exchange rate, it made it worth it for me. If there is anyone up in Calgary or lives within a reasonable driving distance, I would highly recommend heading there. No affiliation, I just think they did a great job. I’m happy to answer any questions and please feel free to DM me.
Future Mods
I have a pair of CBI Overland Rock Sliders with the kick out that were just delivered and I am having my local dealership throw them on next week. I’ve also ordered the Ark Splash Guard Micro Flares. They have three sizes of mud flaps and I thought I’d try the smallest ones first. They just got delivered today and will put them on this weekend and let you know what I think. I also want to get an air compressor as well. I don’t think I’m going to get one installed in the truck, but I’d like to have a portable battery operated or 12V that I can take with me if I need to air down and up the tires. Does anyone have any good recommendations?
Okay, that’s way more than enough! Please forgive any typos, as full transparency, I am a scotch or two in writing this.. Overall, love the 4Runner, love the Stealth PPF and I can’t wait to get out there on the trails. Hit me up if you’re in the NW Montana area and we can get out there. Or maybe we could get PNW group together? It’s not a super long road trip to get to Seattle or Oregon. Happy driving (without the scotch)!
VIDEO:
PHOTOS:
Comfort
All around, I find the Pro to be super comfortable. The seats are great, they heat up crazy fast and are actually too hot, the heated steering wheel is fantastic and overall feels good in the hands. The ride is pretty awesome as well. I am still playing with the 3 suspension settings and as if right now the middle setting of 2 works well for me and the semi-rough Montana roads. Even with the rough roads with chip seal, the road noise is really low. Not sure if that has to due with the tires, sound deadening or a combo of both, but the road noise is low. I may have mentioned this in another post, but the lights at night are incredible. The adjustable low beams are so bright and really a cool add on to be able to adjust them. The brights do their job very well and then when you add the light bar, you can see at least 150 -200 feet off the side of the road, which is a great thing to have in rural areas with a lot of animals.
The one complaint I do have here is the wind noise. Above around 50-55 mph, the wind noise definitely picks up. I don’t have a roof rack or cross bars, just the stock Pro. I have seen a thread or two about this. Has anyone else noticed this? Does this bother anyone else?
I haven’t had a chance to really get it off road yet, but now with the PPF, I am going to get on it!
Sound System/14” Screen System
My last car before the Pro was a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland High Altitude, which just had the stock system that was made my Alpine I believe. I also just rented a 2025 Grand Cherokee Limited for a week with a stock system. To my sort of untrained ears, both of those systems are better than the JBL. The JBL doesn’t suck, but it’s just not that great. The high end lacks the clarity of the other base models and doesn’t hold a note to higher end systems. I do really wish Toyota would have offered an upgraded system by a higher end brand. I know there’s an $300 or aftermarket amp that people are liking, which I might eventually try, but are any of you finding anything else to do? Do you think its the speakers? The Toyota amp? I can definitely live with it, but for $70k, it should be much much better.
As for the 14” screen, I love it. I have it in dark mode all the time and I really like the new UI for Sirius/XM. I do wish there was some more usability with certain things like Trip A/B and fuel economy. With the Jeep, you could have the MPG for each Trip A or B and reset them independently. I liked to do that on road trips to compare tanks of gas and overall. Maybe it’s user error, but I don’t think Toyota’s can do that.
Engine
I really don’t have any complaints with the engine. Actually, I think it has a ton of power and is quick enough off the line. I recently took a road trip from NW Montana up to Calgary and back and when the speed limit was 70 and someone was going 65, I dropped it into sport and before I knew it, I was passing them at 85 no problem. At the higher speeds, it gets up and goes! Even if I just kept it in Normal or Eco, pressing the peddle down makes it come alive. I went over a few mountain passes and there was no issue. Very happy so far.
Adaptive Cruise
I am a super heavy user of the adaptive cruise. It’s about a 35-40 minute drive to the nearest Target/REI/Wal-Mart, etc. and it's pretty much all two lane roads going 65-70. I get her up to speed and throw on the adaptive cruise control. I find it works very well and you can change the setting to accelerate quicker or in more of a progressive way. It’s way smoother than Jeep’s system. When recently driving back from Calgary in heavy rain, it did disengage and an alert came up that it was unavailable. After a few minutes it was available again. I’m not sure if there was too much rain, too much water coming off the road, or what. I’ll bring it to the dealership's attention. Lastly, I know there are a lot of people out there that say adaptive cruise eats through your rear breaks and isn’t good for the vehicle. I’ve never had that problem. I used it all the time and on my 2018 Grand Cherokee, I replaced the rear breaks at around 65,000 miles. I’m not worried about the Pro. As an aside, I also really like the automated lane control/steering. I used it extensively on the Calgary roadtrip and thought it worked great. If there is a sharp curve, it might get a bit confused here and there, but overall, I think it’s great.
Windshield and Rear Wiper
Okay, here’s my biggest negative overall for the 4Runner. The wipers just aren’t that great. The windshield wipers actually do a good job clearing the water, but the coverage isn’t the best. Also, when I was going 70 or so and there was a headwind, and rain, the wipers were going every which way and I was a bit worried they might come off. The read wiper is a bit of a joke. I really like how it retracts so you don’t see it at all, but the coverage is so small. I mean you can see out, but it’s not great. I have a feeling it will be interesting in the winter.
MPG
It seems there are some MPG haters out there, but I think most of us knew what we were getting into with the new 4Runner. The best I’ve gotten on a full tank of 91 Octane is 21 MPG. That’s rural driving with some 35, some 45 and a lot of 65. On the road trip from Kalispell, MT to Calgary, it was a bit over 300 miles, I averaged 21.9 and was able to get there on one tank with 53 miles to spare. I was with the wind most of the way, but there were passes and altitude changes. On the way back, I had a headwind a lot of the way, it rained like crazy and snowed for a bit. I averaged 19.5 on the way back and had to stop for gas once. Overall, I’m just fine with it. Hopefully it will get a bit better over time. One subjective note is that when it’s in Eco and I’m babying it a bit vs. having it in Normal, dropping it into Sport every now and then, and just driving it, the MPG seemed to a bit better just driving it and not worrying about it. All of the above is with 91, except for one tank in Canada with 93.
Xpel Stealth PPF, Ceramic Coating and Xpel Ceramic Window Tint
Check out the pics and video the shop put together below. I loved the look before and love it even more now. I know its a crazy expensive thing to do, but it’s a black car with soft paint, I live in rural Montana and want to do some fun trails, so for me it was worth it to spend the money. I got a full Xpel Stealth PPF, with a Xpel Fusion 4-Year Ceramic and then got every window, including the sunroof done with Xpel Ceramic Tint, except the windshield for now. After doing some research, I wanted to go with the Xpel product and there were few choices locally. The nearest place in MT or out of state was about 4 hours away and it was very expensive. I received quotes for around $10k for the PPF and ceramic, not including the window tint. I called Xpel directly and they recommended Shadow Tint in Calgary and they are an Xpel owned provider.
I can’t say enough great things about the team at Shadow. They are incredibly professional, experts in their field and made me feel comfortable leaving my brand new car in another country for 10 days. They had very competitive pricing as well and with the exchange rate, it made it worth it for me. If there is anyone up in Calgary or lives within a reasonable driving distance, I would highly recommend heading there. No affiliation, I just think they did a great job. I’m happy to answer any questions and please feel free to DM me.
Future Mods
I have a pair of CBI Overland Rock Sliders with the kick out that were just delivered and I am having my local dealership throw them on next week. I’ve also ordered the Ark Splash Guard Micro Flares. They have three sizes of mud flaps and I thought I’d try the smallest ones first. They just got delivered today and will put them on this weekend and let you know what I think. I also want to get an air compressor as well. I don’t think I’m going to get one installed in the truck, but I’d like to have a portable battery operated or 12V that I can take with me if I need to air down and up the tires. Does anyone have any good recommendations?
Okay, that’s way more than enough! Please forgive any typos, as full transparency, I am a scotch or two in writing this.. Overall, love the 4Runner, love the Stealth PPF and I can’t wait to get out there on the trails. Hit me up if you’re in the NW Montana area and we can get out there. Or maybe we could get PNW group together? It’s not a super long road trip to get to Seattle or Oregon. Happy driving (without the scotch)!
VIDEO:
PHOTOS:
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