In any case, the 4Runner’s 3-liter engine runs smoothly, quietly and somewhat frugally compared with the competition. The power setting delays the transmission’s shifts and lets the engine rev higher, but this does little to improve performance. A button on the console allows the driver to switch from economy to power modes. Our test 4Runner came with a computer-controlled four-speed automatic. You have to look far ahead to make sure there are no other vehicles in the vicinity, because there is no way the 4Runner can quickly overtake traffic at speeds between 40 and 55 mph. Passing slower traffic on a two-lane highway is a difficult and potentially stressful maneuver. The 4Runner’s sedate V-6 coupled with more than 2 tons of weight makes for slow going. The Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee come with in-line six-cylinder engines that make 190 horsepower. With just 150 horsepower on tap, the 4Runner ranks as one of the least powerful sport-utilities you can buy with a six-cylinder engine.Ĭhevrolet’s Blazer, Oldsmobile’s Bravada and GMC’s Jimmy offer V-6-powered sport-utilities with engines that make 210 horsepower. The 1993 model had few reported problems – a record not many other vehicles can match. According to Consumer Reports, theV-6 4Runner has one of the best records for reliability. Perhaps offsetting that is the 4Runner’s enviable quality. But the Toyota comes up short in terms of equipment, performance and safety features when compared with the competition. This week’s test vehicle, the four-wheel drive, four-door 4Runner V-6, has a price that puts it in the upper end of the compact sport-utility market, dominated by the Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited, Land Rover Discovery and Ford Explorer Limited.
The full-size Land Cruiser off-road vehicle, another nicely styled machine, handles like an old dump truck compared with the Chevy Blazer, Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee. The full-size T100 truck doesn’t come with a V-8 and lacks power and performance. The great-looking four-cylinder Previa minivan is doggedly slow and very expensive. There are not many weak links in Toyota’s long chain of high-quality cars.įrom the least expensive $10,000 Tercel to the $60,000 Lexus LS 400 luxury sedan, Toyota consistently makes the most user-friendly and best-built vehicles in the world.īut when it comes to sport-utility vehicles, trucks and vans, Toyotas almost always seem to have lacked something.
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