Why the hate for the TRD Sport?

[jgutierrez89]

I wish the Sport came with the option of the hybrid powertrain. It looks much cleaner with all the body color match stuff and darker taillights. Because if it did I would have bought over the Off Road.

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[Joestac]

Never heard of any “hate” for a 4Runner trim

There are a few one here that are pretty elitist with trim levels. Especially when folks with "lower" trims try and add stuff to look like TRD Pro or Trailhunter. Shame really. At least none of the trim have rubber duckies on their dang dash.

 

[Nodak]

At least none of the trim have rubber duckies on their dang dash.

give them jeepers this

 

[Minnesota4Runner]

Love our Sport. Customized it to our liking. We require snow prowess. No mud or rock crawling. Works great.

 

[MikeD]

This thread keeps popping up with new entries so thought to add my perspective from a year ago (April 2024) when I was DEEP into research and shopping - and choosing between TRD OR and TRD Sport and Limited (I was also debating the third row (hence looking at limited) and Hybrid vs ICE.

My wife and daughter made the choice of color for me (Heritage Blue - which I love) and convinced me to go 4Runner vs. Tacoma (which were heavily discounted in comparison at the time). So... TRD OR vs. TRD Sport.....

First: I strongly preferred the look of the paint matched fenders on the Sport. And I kind of like the hood scoop. But in the end, as things came down to TRD ORP or Sport P I was convinced by this video: Sport vs Off-road comparison that there was just more value in the TRD ORP for virtually the same MSRP cost (MSRP was the best I could do at local NoVA dealers in April 2025).
It kind of comes down to:
- TRD Sport P: paint matched fenders/side view mirrors/door handles, hood scoop, larger wheels, clear taillight lens
- TRD ORP: larger tires, rear locking diff, MTS & Crawl control, composite "skid plates", & full size spare

I'd not done much serious off-roading before, but once I pulled the trigger on the TRD ORP I have found a new hobby and spend a lot of time going places where I have taken advantage of ALL the TRD ORP differences (except replaced the composite skids with LC Steel and steel transmission and diff skids and rock rails too - maybe I just should have gotten a Trailhunter:>) I ended up going Hybrid because one showed up at the dealer 3 weeks before the non-hybrid I had put a deposit on was scheduled to arrive. I enjoy the extra power and torque so glad I did it.

TLDR: For me: I like the look of the Sport better but I thought the Off-road offered more value for the same $$.

 

[Oldhoosier]

Obviously, to each his own, but my off-road version has the black fender flares, and I like them. This is my first Toyota, having driven numerous Jeep Wranglers over the years. The advantage of the black plastic is that if you do any offloading at all and get close to a tree branch or a tree and scratch or damage the fender flare, you don’t have to take the new one to a body shop to get them painted. I’ve replaced several over the years in 30 minutes for under $100.

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