Video: Off-Roading in the 2025 Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road

And we recently did just that at Holly Oaks ORV Park in Michigan where we did some higher speed dirt driving and some low speed sand crawling. (upbeat music) Before we hit the trail, we had to remove the 4Runner's plastic front air dam. It was previously damaged during some on-road driving, we're not really sure where, and it definitely had to come off before going off road. It hangs extremely close to the ground and it really doesn't make a lot of sense to put on an off-road SUV, but fortunately it's only held in place by a handful of easy-to-remove screws. The 4Runner was not in its happy place on our high speed dirt road course, but it gamely made a go of it and it was actually fun to drive in moments like when sliding in the sand in corners. We had it in 4 High and in the multi-terrain selects Sand Mode. For the most part, this was a test of what it'd be like to take the 4Runner on a rough dirt road and as you'd expect, it did just fine, but the suspension would let you know if you got going too fast because around 25 miles per hour, some of the bumps hit pretty hard. Just remember, this is a TRD Off-Road, not a TRD Pro and you cannot drive it like one. I like the 4Runner's front camera views because they really helped you see what was ahead when you were approaching a steep rise in the road and they appear on the large center infotainment screen, but a downside is once you get to nine miles per hour or so, it disappears and defaults back to the infotainment system, which made them less useful when we were driving faster than that. So if the speed threshold was a bit higher, that'd make 'em more useful when going off road. After bouncing around a bit in the 4Runner on the higher speed off-road course, we decided to slow things down a little bit for some trail cruising and sand crawling and that really allowed us to test some of its other features, including crawl control, which allows you to go up and down hills without having to touch the gas or brake pedal at all. You just have to focus on steering. It's basically an off-road cruise control. And even when you're not using the 4Runner's off-road tech, you can still get through some reasonably challenging off-road terrain just by using the gas and the brake pedal. I took it on some steeper sand sections and it had no trouble at all getting through that, even with the more street-focused Michelin LTX Trail tires. (upbeat music) So all in all, the 4Runner proved itself to be a light off-roading champ that should meet the needs for someone looking to venture off the beaten path, but not too far off. For that, there are TRD Pro and Trailhunter versions of the 4Runner that are more capable and more expensive. The underbody protection of the TRD Off-Road is minimal for something with off-road in its name, but if you stick to the soft stuff, you should be just fine. For more coverage on our long-term Toyota 4Runner, be sure to check out cars.com/news. (upbeat music)