Help deciding SR5 premium vs TRD off-road premium

EVERYTHING cost more, I’m sure overhead cost for Toyota has gone up the same

 

No shit sherlock.

 

Wasn’t trying to be a wise ass.

 

I believe it is labeled EDSS. It is an electric sway bar disconnect system. I think it’s kinda like a splined sway bar coupled to the female splined opposite side sway bar electrically pulled in+out for disengaging/engaging.

 

I went KDSS cause this is the road to my ski hill. 2024 TRD ORP with KDSS/MTM, priced at $47,506.

 

I bought my ORP back in Sept before Toyota announced 2024 models will be unchanged and got a great deal on it. Some dealers here in Detroit are already discounting the 2024 models once they hit the lot. I did not want a 3rd row seat - (hard to find an sr5 w/o one) so I decided I could live with the ORP with a few options I did not really want - running boards/MTM cameras, but now I think I really like both options. Funny that there are several 2WD SR5 models that have not sold in the past 3 months just sitting with $3500 off msrp (people want 4X4 capability - that's why its called a 4 Runner) I can live without dual climate/auto lamps/pwr gate/remote start, but my wife loves these features in her car.

 

Thanks,
Yeah, my old dried out brain just remembered the new “E” part.

 

Me either just stating the obvious as well.

 

My MkIV GTI was fun.

Glad I got rid of it though - next owner ended up with a CEL that no dealer could diagnose. Since it was CA, they couldn’t renew registration.

 

Quarry Meadows usually requires you to be at a club event of some sort.

First time I’ve actually been worried offroad due to how off camber I was, and I picked up some trail damage to plastics.

Tigerton is fun.

 

The road to Bogus Basin is a fun drive. Even more fun descending it on a road bike

 

Coming up on my first year staring at my Solar Octane and it never gets old…..<grin>

 

Recently bought an Off-road with KDSS. Drove an SR5 back to back during the shopping phase. There is a significant improvement to on-road handling with KDSS. And it is a passive system; brilliant!

 

Oh come on, you can’t take a stock 4Runner on Holcomb Creek Trail either. I mean, I guess you COULD, but you’ll have a shitty time and a fucked up 4R.

 

well, you typically drive the 4r into the mountains , to do… you know, mountain things. So having kdss to make those mountain drives more enjoyable is money well spent.

I have driven a 2022 sr5 and my 2023 ORP + Kdss on the same twisty mountain roads. The sr5 felt dangerous.. kdss makes the 4r handle fairly close to my subbie forester. Night and day difference

 

Im sorry but coming from a state where there are no mountains, what exactly are "mountain twisties"? lol. Is that the technical term?

 

Roads that follow the topographical contours of the land. Continuously turns side to side and up / down.



Speed limit is usually 45mph-ish.. when approaching a turn something like an sr5 would lean and dive.. kdss firms things up and the 4r takes those curves with much greater ease and at much higher speed.

like I said, I feel my 4r + kdss handles fairly close to my Forester. The Sr5 I drove body-leaned like crazy compared to the Forester.

 

Mountain twisties are the best! Switchbacks as you climb the mountain to get to the other side.

Not so much fun in a 4runner but when I used to ride my CBR, mountain twisties were the shizzle

 

As I mentioned, I drove an SR5 and KDSS Off Road back to back. The SR5 felt "tippy" in normal city driving; this is coming from a Honda Ridgeline, which is the "sports car" of trucks. To me it seemed like a deal breaker. I was relieved that the Off Road was not "tippy".

 

I got into a long term rental sr5, coming from a Subaru forester. The very first turn in the rental parking lot, I was like Holyshit the body lean!

 

If you don't really plan to do much off roading you should save the money and get an SR5 IMO.

 

Except the brakes aren’t what I would call great.

Frankly, it’s not even the suspension, it’s the brakes that are the real thing holding the vehicle back.

My last vehicle weighed the same as the 4Runner but had Brembos.

I always ran it on the softest suspension setting at the highest ride height and drove it like I stole it.

It was all about brakes and tires. Fantastic brakes make a world of difference.

 

I miss my EX-250 I had back in the day.

Basically always ran it wide open through the hills in CA.

Perfect bike for it, because the 600cc and liter bikes didn’t have enough room to get going much faster and they weighed so much more.

People used to say two fiddys weren’t fast enough, but when they’ll break 100mph with a passenger, that’s plenty.

 

true.. it’s a heavy vehicle and brakes are challenged. However even at conservative speeds, the body lean on the twisty roads felt dangerous

 

Used to ride with someone who ran a 250 - I only knew him as Peanut. Said he had broken most of the bones in his body riding bikes over the years (older gentlemen) and that he could keep up with me on my 600 - didn't need all the power and weight. That wasn't saying much about me since I was new but saw him keep up with 1k Hayabusa's on the roads we rode. Very few straightaway's in the mountains so a "big bike" didn't really benefit you.

I wanted a 750 for the low end torque but gave up riding. On the 600 I used to come out of corners screaming (low gear, high rpm) to keep speed. Peanut told me I used to leave black streaks out of every curve as a result. One of the reasons I used to have the least street legal "racing" tires. I only rode a couple of years so definitely didn't perfect it. Most guys I rode with did track days and knew what they were doing.

Still miss it though

 

I went through this exact thing last year. I am not an off-roader, but want to reserve option to do light overlanding in future. I live in South, have a 30 min commute on highway or backroads twice a week plus 90 hwy miles to the airport when I travel every month. I felt I wanted KDSS for the improved ride - never found one even to test drive here in the South. Most of what I read on KDSS is positive, but really for those with curvy drives.

Ultimately, I test drove the SR5P 4WD that had all my wants (the tech leather, sunroof and heated seats) and I had no issue with the ride, nose dive, or roll. In fact, I love driving it. For reference, I drove a Chevy Z71 and Tahoe all my life and a Tacoma in the year prior to buying 4R. I plan on tires next year and possibly a level kit which I have read comments stating it improves the nose dive. Based on my driving needs (which sound similar to yours), the TRD OR seems overkill and not worth the cash. For me it was definitely worth the savings to get the SR5P 4WD even if I didn't get the Army Green color I wanted. Good luck with your decision. Either way - you'll feel good about having one of the remaining classic SUV models. Oh - and you can do mods all day long to an SR5!

 

Even the most basic 4WD 4Runners are quite off-road capable. I have 2018 Off Road TRD Sport. I wanted the KDSS, because I felt (and still do) it's a good feature. I didn't want or need the sun roof on the off road premium package. I also preferred the 4WD shift lever as opposed to the 4WD dial on the SR5 models. I was very disappointed that the vehicle came with grocery grabber P-metric tires. My dealer was inflexible on adding BFG T/A AT KO2 LT-rated tires at a reasonable cost, so I upgraded on my own within days of purchase.

 

Pretty much impossible to find KDSS in Texas. I went to Colorado to get one with KDSS - but I only did that because the deal was better than what I could find locally. It seems like every 4Runner in Texas has the $3600 'blackout package' on it (can accomplish this on your own for so much less $), plus another $500-$2000 worth of port add-ons, plus dealer add-ons. Mine had one port option (mud mats), zero dealer adds, and I paid $2k under MSRP.

I can see why people opt out of it -- when you tack it on top of the extra money you're spending to go from SR5P -> TRD ORP, it's a big difference. '24 TRD ORP w/ KDSS and no other options is $3,240 more than SR5 Premium 4x4 with no other options. People say that swapping to Bilstein shocks eliminates a lot of the body roll and nose dive, so maybe SR5P with a suspension swap is the way to go -- IF you can find an SR5P in Texas that isn't loaded up with options. There are deals to be had out there though, especially if you're willing to travel. You can find even no/low-optioned 4Runners out there for $2k-$4k off MSRP. You might be able to play hardball with some Texas dealers too - they are starting to stack up on the lots around here, at least in central TX.

Another option -- when I was shopping for mine, I saw that Cavender Toyota in San Antonio had a handful of 2023 Certified Pre-owned KDSS TRD ORPs, all of them with less than 30 miles on them. When I inquired about them, the salesman told me "This is an overflow dealer sold new vehicle to us from other dealer(basically brand new still). We then certify for more warranty." Is that the whole story? Who knows. I didn't pursue because they were priced quite a bit higher at the time. But they still have a white one and a silver one listed on their site, and both are priced at $45,697 now, which is like $5k less than a new '24 w/KDSS.

 

FWIW - I was able to find what I wanted on the used market. It was 1 owner, 2 years old with about 13k miles on it. Given the reliability and longevity of the 4R that mileage was no brainer versus what I would have paid brand new at the time (last winter).