KEEP IT WILD GOOGLE+ HANGOUT | 2014 Toyota 4Runner Live Event!

[Buster]

My biggest gig is to see how well this baby handles in a variety of situations. How does it handle the terrain, areas of sand, areas of mud, areas of snow, and the like. How would you rate these situations on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best?

 

[MickyD]

Wow! There are some great questions here in this thread!

Have you had the opportunity to take a look at and drive each of the new 4Runners - the Limited, Trail, and the SR5? If so, which is your personal favorite Rutledge and Andy? Which do you feel handles the road better and which do you like to offroad excursions? I am sure they are very similar, but are there any things you noticed that were relatively different that you really liked?

 

[James]

When does the hybrid model of the 2014 Toyota 4Runner come out? How is the fuel economy of the hybrid and how many horsepower does it produce?

 

[toyotafan]

I think I'm going to have to second the questions that are around the suspension systems and the KDSS and other features like Hill Descent and stuff like that.

 

[MuddyTacoma]

Ben George here from the Toyota's ad agency. I'm putting this wild thing together.

Just wanted to clarify, Andy will be driving the Trail model on off-road terrain and Rutledge will host next to a parked SR5 model that we can get inside, show off, and talk about.

Unfortunately, we won't have a Limited model for this Hangout. We'll answer all Limited questions as best we can without the model on hand.

Let me know if I can clarify anything else about the Hangout itself. I'll let Andy and Rutledge answer your questions, live.

Thanks!

Keep It Wild,

Ben George

Thanks Ben, just wanted to say again that this is really cool and getting our questions answered by some pros who get to show us how to do it ...... well, I have no friggen clue how you're going to get this done, maybe I'll have to call in sick, er I mean maybe I'll be sick that day, just so I can watch live. Are we going to be able to ask questions and have them respond live? I can't see how that would happen at all in a Google+ Hangout.

Ok, so it sounds like we're going to get to see a lot of off-road capability with this thing. Is there anyway to have cameras all around the vehicle so that we can see what the ground clearance is like, how far the suspension can travel when going over rocks and holes, etc.

Just re-reading what the other people asked got me thinking some more. Plus, I'm in an ihop right now and I just asked some people here what they would like to see and my server is a lady from Colorado so she had a lot of input for these questions.

STORAGE / TOWING WHEN GOING OFF-ROAD - I'd also like to see what the storage looks like for camping and how well the 4Runner handled off-road terrain when it's loaded down and especially towing a trailer. You HAVE to show this, even if it's just for a few minutes. CAN the 4Runner go off-road loaded down a bunch of camping gear and also tow a small trailer? (Not trying to make this seem like a Top Gear bit that you guys did, but that would be really cool to see!!!!)

ROAD COMFORT ON WASHBOARD / DIRT / POTHOLE FILLED ROADS? What about the bumpiness of dirt roads with potholes. How well does the system automate the suspension at speed while you're on something like a logging road or a service road before you get to the trail. We fully expect to see how well it handles the tough stuff, but what about the 50-miles of washboard dirt/gravel road that you have to drive to before you even get to the really hard off-road stuff?

BUILT-IN GPS NAVIGATION SYSTEM WORK WHEN AWAY FROM PAVEMENT? How well does the built-in navigation work when you're not near civilization? Does it tie into the satellites directly, or does it rely upon cell towers or a mixture of both? Is this even an option? I know that in the more expensive suction-cup mounted GPS systems will handle off-road trails and can show you things like your altitude, is there any option for this on the build-in GPS navigation system?

That's it for now. I'll keep thinking though.

 

[James]

I can't wait to see Andy driving the trail model. I am interested to see all of the features up close and in action. I am really excited about this event and have never participated in something like this before.

 

[TheWildOne]

Hey MuddyTacoma,

Great questions!

All answers and off-road demonstrations will be LIVE! We have three guests confirmed right now (Slaton White - Field & Stream Magazine, Steve Elmer - Autoguide.com, and your very own admin, Steve Bluhm. They'll be asking their own pre-vetted questions, like the ones you submitted above, and then we'll answer with thoroughly researched specs and demos.

The last third of the Hangout will consist of live questions AND live answers. The first people watching live to ask a question will be answered in order of submission when we get to this section. Most answers will be limited to verbal discussion and visual tours versus demonstration for safety concerns and feasibility. However, after the live hangout, we'll continue filming answers to as many questions as we can before sunset.

We'll then edit everything, cut out the boring bits, and repost a edited video of the Hangout and all questions answered afterwards for all to enjoy. I'm adding your questions to my list. Stay tuned.

Keep It Wild!

Ben George
Copywriter

 

[toyotafan]

These are good questions folks. Keep them coming.

 

[toyotafan]

Just to update ... we're getting together a list of questions and NEED YOUR INPUT! If you area reading this, then send us some questions about what you would like to see about the 4runner.

 

[James]

MuddyTacoma STORAGE / TOWING WHEN GOING OFF-ROAD - I'd also like to see what the storage looks like for camping and how well the 4Runner handled off-road terrain when it's loaded down and especially towing a trailer. You HAVE to show this, even if it's just for a few minutes. CAN the 4Runner go off-road loaded down a bunch of camping gear and also tow a small trailer? (Not trying to make this seem like a Top Gear bit that you guys did, but that would be really cool to see!!!!)

I think this has to be one of the questions during the Google Hangout.

 

[TheWildOne]

Hey ToyotaTruckClub!

I just wanted to thank everyone for their amazing 4Runner questions! Steve Bluhm did an amazing job keeping it wild for you guys in the Hangout.

If you missed the live broadcast, watch the full uncut version here:

We'll be posting an edited down version with more answered questions in the next week or so.

Keep It Wild!

 

[James]

Ben George, will there be future events like this?

 

[TheWildOne]

Toyota is open to more Hangouts if there's interest from the 4Runner or Tacoma/Tundra community. It all depends on how many views this thing and the final edited video get. At this moment though, there is not another off-road Hangout planned.

If you want more Andy Bell off-roading, then check out these demo videos we did with him:

If you want more Toyota Product Q&A, then check out Tundra interviews with engineer Mike Sweers:

If you want some funny Tacoma demo videos I wrote, then watch these battles:

If you want more Hangout action, customize a Corolla with G+ friends here: http://www.toyota.com/collaborator/

And if you want more off-roading with friends, then you guys should organize local meet-ups amongst yourselves

Stay tuned for more 4Runner content! Let me know if I can provide any more info.

Keep It Wild,

-Ben

 

[toyotafan]

Has Toyota done anything to improve the time it takes to warm up the Toyota 4Runner in the winter? I was riding with a friend in the Toyota 4Runner and it took 15 minutes for the vehicle to get warm. This seems like a major issue that needs to be addressed.

Holy creek fishing batman!

I'm test driving the 2014 4runner this week and you're not kidding! This thing takes a good 15 minutes to heat up the interior of the cab when it's cold outside. That was a total shock and surprise to me that it took that long to warm up. Good observation.

 

[SharkRider]

toyotafan, I don't have to worry much about warming up the Tacoma here in California. However, you think that Toyota would do something to get the 2014 4Runner to warm up. Did they by chance forget to test the heat in the cold? This seems like a silly oversight. Hopefully this issue will be taken care of shortly. One can only hope.

 

[toyotafan]

It's probably related to having an oversized radiator and cooling system.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

 

[aeropagus]

Very cool deal. Just watched the replay on youtube and kudos to you for being asked to be on the panel!

 

[toyotasrule]

how did i miss this? you rocked it! the video wasn't all that great in terms of quality, but the audio held out pretty well.

 

[TheWildOne]

Hey Truck Club,

Check out the highlights and demo videos we cut from the hangout, just in case you don't have 45 minutes to spare:

Thanks again for participating and Keep It Wild!

 

[James]

I enjoyed the videos. When is the next Hangout going to be?