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SUVs Toyota 4Runner Toyota 4Runner vs Toyota Highlander
74 messages, Last post on Jan 30, 2009 at 10:13 AM
You are in the Toyota 4Runner Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
You drove backward before taking the picture, was that to simulate RWD in a FWD vehicle and is that how you outdid the other vehicles?  Rear bumper as snow shovel, definitely a RWD capability. Look, I survived too many years in north central MT with only RWD to question the extra advantage and capability of the HL and/or RX AWD system. I would certainly expect an HL or RX to be able, even more capable, of doing the same. Where I am coming from: Two Jeeps, and 85 and a 92, both with the "deluxe" AWD/4WD system. If you're shopping, or looking, for capability close to those, as was/am I, then the HL nor the RX will not be even a close match. I was hoping the RX330, with the new brake modulation AWD system, would bring it closer to the Jeep drivetrain standard, but now I have learned of a firmware "time-out", maybe as little as 45 seconds, to protect the ABS/VSC/Trac/AWD/BD/BA pump motor from being overtaxed and thereby over-heating. At this point I will probably still buy an RX330, but will devise a ciruit so the pump motor can be more directly and but still automatically activated. I will be buying the air suspension model and WILL be adding wheel spacers all around so snowchains can be safely used, if ever required. Oh, my 78 911 Targa has been out on the west coast sandy beaches quite often, it's a bitch cleaning out the sand afterwards from the wheelies... Never bothered with tire pressures either. |
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That's easy. Once it starts snowing, it's pretty much snowy all winter long, right? So you can take your 2WD vehicle and put some good winter tires on it and even add chains if you want and you'll be doing just as well if not better than a 4WD/AWD vehicle w/o winter tires. In Finland (spent some time here on business), hardly ANYBODY has 4WD/AWD. Most cars are FWD, and when the snowy seasons starts they just put on studded tires. The Finns all have two sets of tires. Here in the DC area the climate is a bit different. There could be 6 inches of snow to plow through one day, and completely dry the next. Nobody uses chains around here. Nobody uses winter tires either. You'll just rip them to shreds as soon as the roads are plowed in a day or so and then it's back to dry pavement. That's why AWD is useful around here. You can run a single set of tires that will work "okay" in all conditions and AWD gives you the extra traction when you need it. But comments like these..... ========== wwest ========== ...are pretty misleading, IMHO. The HL/RX do "not have useful AWD systems"? Not useful to whom? Someobdy that needs to go boulder hopping??!  If that's what you mean, heavy-duty off road, then yes, I'll agree to that. But our HL's AWD system has handled mild to moderate duty off-roading just fine for us. Whether it's unplowed 6in snow roads, or fairly deep sand at the beach, its made it through it all. A snow/ice storm of the decade (not century) just rolled through the mid-atlantic / northeast corridor this past winter, and my fiance was able to make it from the DC area to Pennsylvania WHILE IT WAS SNOWING/ICING just fine. Tons of 2WD cars were off the road and in fact I was begging and pleading for her to NOT make the trip but she insisted. AWD + VSC/TRAC worked just fine. And while my parents had their 2WD cars parked at the bottom of the hill-top development they live on, our AWD Highlander made it just fine all the way up the hill. Now, could a 2WD with snow tires and possibly snow chains have done all this? Sure, I don't see why not. But we don't live in a climate where there is a regular and severe enough snowy season to actually warrant buying and planning for this equipment. Montana is a bit different. So is Finland. If you're to the point where you're hitting this 45 second timeout on the VSC/TRAC, then you're already in it deep enough that you probably need a better AWD/4WD system anyways with either locking or limited slip diffs both front and rear. In that case, buy a Jeep.  Even on the beach, snow, and other bad weather, VSC/TRAC has never been working for more than an instant or two for us. As for your Porsche on the beach... My Maxima has 6.1in of ground clearance, performance biased tires, and an open-diff FWD setup. I could have made it out on the beach just fine too. After a rainstorm packing it all down.  The 5-6in deep completely dry and grainy stuff we cut through in the HL AWD would have gotten my Maxima stuck almost right away, and I bet it would have gotten your Porsche stuck too. So anyways, maybe the HL/RX AWD system is "not useful" to you. But that doesn't mean that you can make a blanket statement about it claiming that it is in general "not useful" to all people. It's certainly been VERY useful to us both in getting my fiance to work through snow/ice when the entire city is shut down, and in having a little fun on the weekend also.  - Steve |
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that a simple FWD RX or HL with VSC/Trac wouldn't have done just as well?? And even I can tell you that a RWD RX or HL would have done all you asked. Beach sand WAS dry and grainy, that's why so much of it ended up inside the car. Grew up in NE Arkansas, mostly, fifth grade in Philly. Other than tractor and mules learned to drive in NH (and Goose Bay) in the USAF. Lots of experience negotiating in and around B47s and KC97s on an ice and snow covered ramp. Then off to MT (and ND) for Boeing on the Minuteman project. Met my wife in MT and stayed over for a bit. Settled in Seattle in 65. My core feeling is that the AWD RX and HL are a waste of money over the FWD with VSC and Trac. |
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I am looking at the highlander / 4runner or lexus 330.. after all the extra's the toyota's aren't that far behind in price. I am leaning towards the lexus .. any comments.
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The only reason I know of to buy one of these is if you expect to encounter really adverse roadbed conditions this coming winter. It truly does have a 4WD, rear biased to boot, and enough suspension clearance for snowchains if needed. If you expect to encounter this type of condition in an HL or RX then get the RX330 with air suspension (it has more rear tire/strut clearance) and add 1" wheel spacers all around so you can use snowchains safely. The 4runner AWD/4WD system will not give up and leave you stranded on a snowy mountain pass some dark and stormy night. The HL or RX might very well. |
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This is kind of a unfair comparison. They are not for the same market. Toyota agrees with me otherwise they wouldn't be selling the two side by side. The Highlander, imo, is like the Subaru Outback. AWD or FWD (both capable of good traction in incliment weather) and good cargo capacity. Designed for the, as Nissan would say, "On-road adventures". The 4Runner is designed to be what the 4Runner always has been- legendary off-road. DSC, VDC, TC, XREAS, locking diff, 4hi, 4lo...I mean this ain't designed just for a snowy day to grandma's house! The 4Runner is on a truck chassis. Rugged, tough frame for off-roading, live axle for articulation, more ground clearance, full array of skid plates, humongus 4 wheel disc brakes. The features are designed for things other than what the Highlander is. The 4Runner is a LEV vehicle and I assume the Highlander is too. Fortunately, the brilliant minds at Toyota also made the 03 4Runner so good ON-road that it's really a "do it all and do it all WELL" suv. That's what an suv should be right? Do everything. The 4Runner can do that. BUT, you don't do "everything" and don't want to. The Highlander fills the bill. Car body, car ride and plenty of room. It gets great reviews and I'm sure they will continue with a new-improved generation Highlander to keep the success rolling. Designed for two different markets. Both perfectly happy to do what they were designed to. |
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Greetings: I am wondering if anyone here test drive or own both 2004 4Runner v6 sport edition and 2004 Highlander v6? If so, which one is punchier (more responsive) when passing other cars on the highway and which one is quieter? Advance thanks for your feedback. Paul |
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the HL is more punchy at highway speeds, although the Runner is no slouch. Unfortunately, it was not quite a fair comparison in that regard, as the Runner was a 4WD, and the HL was a FWD. 4Runner is significantly quieter at highway speeds than the HL. |
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| The 4-runner is way more comfortable for a 6' man than the HL. The HL drives better (less truck) but is definitly not comfortable. The problem is the steering wheel need to telescope and the arm rests need to be part of the center storage conmpartment. | |
| Off-road, highway comfort, and wintertime adverse roadbed conditions. Oftentimes the latter need dictates, regretably, an off-road capable vehicle. | |
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