Yahoo Autos 2025 Toyota 4Runner Doesn’t Get Tacoma’s Manual Transmission… Yet
Toyota's people have confirmed that there's no manual-shift 2025 Toyota 4Runner. They've also declined to comment on if that'll be a future offering. However, a compelling case for a stick in the sixth-gen version of this iconic SUV can still be made.
The 4Runner is one of the U.S. market's best-established rugged off-roady SUVs, and the outgoing model is still selling pretty well despite (or perhaps because of) its archaic design and powertrain.
The fifth-gen T4R was revealed in 2009 and as of this year is rocking the same basic design and ancient formula of a heavy frame powered by a big V6 and a five-speed automatic transmission.
The sixth-gen is supposed to be available in the fall (this year), with significant changes to the look and underpinnings. The venerable 4.0-liter V6 and auto transmission are finally gone, replaced by two powertrain options: a 2.4-liter turbo four claiming 278 horsepower and 317 lb-ft and a hybrid variant that claims 326 hp and a whopping 465 lb-ft of maximum torque. Both will ship with an eight-speed automatic exclusively. Cynthia Barreras, senior marketing planner for 4Runner, confirmed: "For 2025 4Runner there is no manual transmission."
As Matthew McConaughey might say here, it'd be a lot cooler if you did, Toyota.
I know people don't buy manual-shift cars en masse. And that automakers are more interested in fattening shareholders than being cool. But a few factors align that make a manual 6G 4Runner a more viable proposition than it's been in the past.
Close Relationship With Tacoma
The 2024 Toyota Tacoma can be ordered with a six-speed manual and 2.4-liter engine. It won't be easy to get one, but it does exist. The 2025 Toyota 4Runner is built on the same platform. The powertrains are shared, too. Even the center console pretty closely matches between the two vehicles.
From an engineering perspective, getting a manual in the new 4Runner would be trivial and would not require many parts that aren't already being made. Granted, some engine calibration and of course assembly process adjustment would need to happen. But it would be a lot less burdensome of a project than it would have been getting a stick in the last 4Runner.
Rivals Still Offer Stick
The Jeep Wrangler and even the Ford Bronco can still be ordered with manual transmissions; six and seven-speeds respectively. Limited availability, yes, but those trucks really have the market cornered on the "old-school SUV experience" right now. Toyota could sweeten the nostalgia bait proposition of its offering big time with a manual offering and maybe some kind of graphic kit in the next year or so.
