Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro vs. Lexus GX 550 Overtrail: The Off-Road Battle

• Though these two share the same TNGA-F platform, they have very different powertrains.
• There's usually a price gap between Toyotas and their Lexus counterparts, but not this time.
• We put them through a series of off-road tests to find a winner.

Drag race

We kicked off the festivities with a quarter-mile drag race on a dry lakebed. Though the GX has an extra two cylinders and one more turbo, the power figures that each rig produces are closer than you might think thanks to the 4Runner's electric motor. There is only a 23-horsepower difference (349 hp for the GX, 326 hp for the 4Runner) and 14 lb-ft of torque (479 lb-ft for the GX, 465 lb-ft for the 4Runner), and on the spec sheet, the two also weigh a similar amount. The two are also wearing the same tires (Toyo Open Country A/T IIIs), so it would really come down to how the output from these powertrains.

Here were the times:

The GX was significantly quicker to both 60 mph and in the quarter mile. And I didn't even need to wait to check the times, because from behind the wheel, there was a big difference in how these vehicles got off the line. Wheelspin was well controlled in both, but the GX got into its power much more quickly. The 4Runner TRD Pro's electric motor tried to fill in the gaps down low, but its gas engine doesn't really get going until it gets higher up into its rev range, so it was noticeably more sluggish off the line.

Trail drive

Both of these vehicles have been out to Hungry Valley OHV park on separate occasions and have been through our three-pack of tests there. The GX defeated the Land Cruiser, and the 4Runner TRD Pro took on the Honda Passport TrailSport. Therefore, we already went into this challenge knowing that the Toyota has an advantage on the ziggurat of integrity, where it went a full step higher thanks to greater flexibility and a disconnecting front stabilizer bar, while both were about equal on the hill climb. So to provide a new challenge, we put together a trail drive that combined a dirt road, some sand, whoops, and a high-speed washboard section to test them out more thoroughly.

The two vehicles have very different suspensions, with the TRD Pro opting for Fox shocks and the GX offering a more conventional setup, but with KDSS (Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System) up front. This system uses a hydraulic control to adjust the front stabilizer bar, so it can be tighter on the road for greater stability and loosen up off-road to allow for more articulation. At slower speeds, the GX was more comfortable and its steering felt much more precise. But on the whoops when it would bottom out, the impacts were very harsh in the Lexus.

That's where the 4Runner really came alive. This is the desert-running version of the Toyota, and when the speeds crept north of 40 mph, it was much more comfortable than the Lexus. The Fox shocks have internal valves that add pressure as the shock compresses, so when it bottoms out, it doesn't feel nearly as violent, and rebound is also well controlled. Weirdly, the 4Runner was quite uncomfortable at lower speeds, and it never really settled in. (The same is true of driving it on the road.)

Choosing between them comes down to a matter of use case. If you plan on traipsing through the desert at speed, the 4Runner is the clear option. But if it's going down a trial or a fire road, or anything at lower speeds, the GX is the more comfortable and more enjoyable SUV to be in.

Fuel economy and value

Usually, a straight-up comparison between a Toyota and a Lexus isn't possible because of a large gap in price. But the as-tested prices for these SUVs only differed by about $1,000, with the Lexus costing $72,124 and the 4Runner TRD Pro $71,003. That's a ton of money for a 4Runner, and on top of being on par with the GX, it's also priced right on top of the Land Cruiser. 

As you might expect, the GX's interior is noticeably nicer with better materials and a cleaner design than the rugged Toyota. We do, though, prefer the 4Runner's physical climate controls to the ones in the GX, which are buried in the screen. But if you're going to pay luxury money for an SUV, we think it's fair to expect a more luxury-grade cabin.

This test also gave us an opportunity to test one more part of value: fuel economy. We filled up both vehicles at a gas station near our offices in Santa Monica before heading out into the desert. And after 200 miles of mixed highway/off-road driving, we filled them up again to see how efficient they were. On paper, the 4Runner should have had a big advantage with an EPA-estimated 23 mpg combined versus the GX's 17 mpg combined. But after we ran the numbers, we were surprised to find that both had the exact same observed fuel economy of 17.8 mph. It seems that going hybrid might not have the fuel economy gains you'd expect.

Which one comes out on top? 

Ultimately, the GX 550 is the clear winner since it is the preferred vehicle for a wider range of circumstances. It has a better powertrain and it's better off-road until you get to a point where you need to go fast or crawl over rocks, where the 4Runner's superior clearances give it the ability to reach places the Lexus simply can't. But if your lifestyle includes a good amount of desert running and stretching the capability of your SUV regularly, then the TRD Pro makes a much better case for itself.