From the 2009 Texas State Fair, Cars.com's Patrick Olsen takes a look at the new 2010 Toyota 4Runner. It competes with the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and Nissan Pathfinder.
Transcript
<v Announcer>Cars.com Auto Review. Hi, I'm Patrick Olsen, suburban dad for Cars.com. And today we are at the state fair of Texas looking at the all-new 2010 Toyota 4Runner. We're gonna talk about three things today.
The exterior styling, the interior styling and the cargo space. For this, the fifth generation of the 4Runner, we see that it's added a lot more curves to the body. Got rid of that boxy style, still the headlights flare out. In a way, that's sort of reminiscent of the FJ Cruiser. It gives the front a very angry appearance. You can see that the 4Runner has gained more of the barrel that came with the latest Sequoia, but you'll also notice that even though it's got these rounder lines, it still has these really deep wheel wells that add to that rugged appearance. So it hasn't gotten soft at all. The 4Runner's high stepping I remind you, that this is a body on frame truck, more than it is a car. And you're gonna have a slightly rougher ride because of that. Then the inside is kind of an interesting mixture between the FJ Cruiser Off-road vehicle, and the Highlander, very much a family vehicle. For example, the center console. There's a huge well here for stuff that you'll need to carry with your family. The controls are a blend as well. They have the size that you'll find in the FJ Cruiser. They really have more of the refinement that you'll find in the Highlander. Now there's three approaches you can get to the cargo area of the 4Runner. Now there's the typical flat floor, or there's a version that has some cool tailgating and camping features. For example, there is a load floor that pulls out, that can carry up to 400 pounds. In addition, there's a regular household outlet and a 12 volt outlet in the back. What's also cool is that on the tailgate, the speakers here can be adjusted with a button in the front of the car called Party Mode. What Party Mode does is that it adjusts the base and all the music back here. So when you're having a tailgating party, you can blast away. The 4Runner's optional third row as well, is like other SUV's third rows, in that the seats are a little thin and a little small, and really typically meant for kids. Jetta's made a lot of styling changes to the 4Runner and they've also made some engine changes. They've gotten rid of the optional VA and they've added a four cylinder. We haven't driven it yet, but once we do, we'll tell you how they work. <v Announcer>For more car related news, go to Cars.com or our blog Kickingtires.net.
