2026 Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road Premium: The Real Story
The new engine makes the 4Runner a different vehicle, but at $58,000 a piece of plastic held back this off-roader.
The 2026 Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road Premium starts at $56,000 for the gas version. My tested unit came out to just over $58,000 after some add-ons. For reference, the old TRD Off-Road Premium was around $48k.
The Engine Is Smaller Yet More Responsive
Toyota 4Runner, for the last 15 years, used to come with a 4.0-liter V6 and a five-speed automatic gearbox. Toyota did not update it because it sold anyway, and the loyalty around that truck is borderline religious.
The 2026 Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road Premium comes with a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine that is lively and responsive. It also has a much more modern eight-speed automatic transmission. The old combination felt like rowing a canoe against the tide. This does not.
This SUV accelerates from 0-60 mph in about 7.5 seconds, which on paper sounds mediocre but good for a vehicle of this size. What matters is that it never disappoints when I need it to merge on the highway or climb a hill station.
One thing that annoys people, including me, is when you put the 4Runner in sport mode, a fake engine noise is pumped into the cabin. It sounds like it belongs in a video game. However, one can disable it through a third-party app called Carista.
Then there is the exhaust drone. Cruising at around 45 mph while the engine goes into the top gears creates an audible drone that some owners find annoying. It quiets down above 55 mph when wind and road noise take over, but in that middle-speed zone, it nags at you. Not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing before you buy.
I got the fuel economy between 18 and 20 mpg. That is acceptable for a body-on-frame SUV with all-terrain tires.
How it Drives
This is a body-on-frame truck. You will feel some road movement in the cabin, and the steering is slower than what you would get from a crossover. That is not a criticism but just physics. If you are coming from a car-based SUV, the transition will feel big. If you have driven a previous 4Runner or any truck-based vehicle before, you will be right at home and probably more comfortable than before.
The 4Runner never exhibited the pronounced brake dive that was common in the fifth-gen model. Braking is good. The suspension tuning has been cleaned up noticeably.
The surprise is how livable it is as a daily driver. On a 950-mile, 15-hour drive from the San Francisco Bay Area to Moab, Utah, the interior, turbocharger, and eight-speed transmission made it a comfortable road trip companion.
Off-Road Is Where Things Get Interesting
The TRD Off-Road Premium comes with an electronic locking rear differential, Bilstein monotube shocks with remote reservoirs, 33-inch Falken Wildpeak all-terrain tires on 18-inch wheels, and composite skid plates protecting the front, transfer case, and fuel tank.
You also get some handy off-road software tools. Multi-Terrain Select adjusts wheel spin, brake pressure, and throttle response across modes like mud, sand, and rock. However, Multi-Terrain Select only works when the truck is in 4WD, which catches a few people off guard. Then there is Crawl Control, which acts as off-road cruise control, managing speed so you can focus on steering during technical sections. It is especially useful on descents.
The cameras show multiple angles of the trail on the 14-inch screen, which is useful but has one frustrating quirk. It turns off automatically at low speeds, right when you often need it most.
Now here is the part that matters most if you actually plan to use this thing off-road.
The front fairing, that plastic piece attached to the lower bumper, hangs very low and eats into the 4Runner’s 9.6 inches of ground clearance. On the rocky canyon trails in Moab, it scraped on obstacles that should have been effortless for a truck with this spec. The TRD Pro and Trailhunter trims do not have this fairing. The good news is that it held on by clips and a few screws, so most owners pull it off as literally their first modification.
Inside, It Is Better Than Before
The interior gets a 12.3-inch digital cluster and a 14-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The climate controls are available separately below the screen, which is exactly how it should be.
The SofTex seating material, which is a vinyl-leather imitation, is actually a practical choice for a trail vehicle. It cleans more easily than fabric after muddy rides. The front seats are heated and ventilated. There is a wireless charging pad, two USB-C ports up front, and two more for the rear.
In my experience, the heating on cold days is not as strong as I want, and the single-zone climate control means the driver and passenger share one temperature setting. Second-row legroom is tight for taller adults, and they will catch their head on low clearances when going over bumps off-road.
Hard plastics are present throughout the cabin. For a $58,000 vehicle, that is a fair criticism, though it is on par with what you get from a Jeep Wrangler at a similar price.
Some owners reported significant interior rattles, door panel vibration, and hood flex at highway speeds within the first few hundred miles. Others with over 14,000 miles report zero rattles whatsoever. This appears to be a quality control inconsistency rather than a systemic design problem.
The Verdict
Toyota did not just update the 4Runner but also saved it from irrelevance. The engine upgrade is the most important change, and it delivers. The on-road behavior is better than anything wearing this badge before it. Off-road capability is genuinely strong, with the Bilstein and Falken combo giving it a smooth, planted feel on rough terrain that is hard to argue with.
The front fairing issue, however, is frustrating but fixable. The fake engine sound is annoying. The rear seat space and the single-zone climate are not adjustable, so they matter more.
At $58,000, this sits comfortably below the TRD Pro and Trailhunter while sharing most of their mechanical DNA. If you actually use it off-road regularly, pull that front fairing off first thing. If you are mostly road-tripping and light-trailing, this is one of the best versions of the 4Runner ever made. Just turn off the fake engine sound on day one.
