Let’s return to the final week of August 2009, eh? “The Last Vacation spot” was the highest film, “American Idol” the highest TV present, the Black Eyed Peas claimed the highest tune with “I Gotta Feeling,” and the common gallon of fuel price $2.43, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says is price $3.49 in the present day. Oh, and that month, the present, fifth-generation Toyota 4Runner entered manufacturing in Japan. As colleague James Riswick alluded to, the 4Runner might be of authorized driving age by the point it retires. However now there is a new one not distant, lastly shut sufficient to make sense for Toyota to start the teaser marketing campaign.
On an Instagram slideshow asking followers to determine a 4Runner’s mannequin 12 months, the ultimate picture exhibits a part of a rear finish we have by no means seen earlier than in what seems to be to be a shade just like the brand new Land Cruiser’s Heritage Blue. The variations we are able to determine for now are new, trimmer taillights, a smoother tailgate with a redrawn deal with pull and license plate space, a squared-off bumper with crimson reflectors and metallic-looking trim as an alternative of a body-color end. The 4Runner emblem has been moved from the hatch pull crossbar to simply above the bumper, the “R” in 4Runner now the identical peak as the next letters. Acquainted strains stay, too, equivalent to the fundamental outlines of the rear fascia that we are able to see, the horizontal indentation beneath the taillights, and the crease simply above the bumper.
As for what’s on the way in which, we nonetheless solely have rumor. A thread on the 4runner6g discussion board predicts evolutionary styling with front-end seems to be just like the brand new Tacoma pickup, and a spread of four-cylinder engines in outputs from 228 hp to 326 hp matching the Tacoma specs — together with one with a handbook transmission. Earlier scuttlebutt proposed a entrance sway bar disconnect, locking diffs entrance and/or rear, 32-inch tires from the manufacturing unit, a TrailHunter trim, and the IsoDynamic shock-absorbing seats amongst different Tacoma-sourced bits. A prototype noticed in Arizona final month rode on Tacoma wheels, and appeared prefer it had the same rake to the entrance windshield as the brand new Tacoma, which is larger than the present 4Runner’s windshield rake. Job 1 is predicted to roll down the strains in July. Keep tuned.