Which Toyota Off-Roader Jumps the Best? I Caught Air in the 4Runner, Sequoia, Tacoma and Tundra

• What's new: Toyota put updated suspension components in the Tundra and Sequioa TRD Pro models for 2026, and the Tacoma and 4Runner are two of the company's best off-roaders.
• Why it matters: These are desert-running TRD models that let you live your trophy truck dreams, so I wanted to see how they handle off-road jumps.
• Edmunds says: The 4Runner wins and it's not even close.

Tundra TRD Pro: Beefy boi is hard to launch

I started in the Tundra. Toyota's big pickup got a small refresh this year with new tech, better driver assists and tweaked styling, but the big changes came for the TRD Pro. The headline is new Fox QS3 dampers, a second-gen version of the three-stage manually adjustable units that came to the Tacoma and 4Runner TRD Pros in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Oh, and the 2027-only TRD Pro Honeycomb paint.

Toyota had me run the course with the dampers set at stage three (stiffest) up front and stage one (softest) in the rear to account for the lightness of the tail with an empty bed. We did the same with Tacoma. Each zero-gravity event had a maximum recommended speed based on Toyota's weeks of testing, and I had an instructor riding shotgun to make sure I didn't send it too hard. 

How'd it fly? Not great. The Tundra performed better on the 42-mph longer-distance, lower-amplitude launch than the shorter 30-mph kickers, but I'd call it tied for the worst performer on the airborne events. It didn't feel like I could get much pop off the ramps, and I'd always land on the front before touching down at the rear. If I had gone much faster over any of these, I definitely would have stuffed the nose.

The two most important factors in a vehicle's leaping ability are wheelbase and weight. I double-checked my suspicions with the handy Edmunds comparison tool, and yep, the Tundra's wheelbase is over a foot longer than that of any of the other TRD Pros, and my high school physics class taught me that it takes a whole lot of force to launch a 6,000-pound anything into the air. Plus, based on the last one we weighed for testing, the Tundra has the worst weight distribution of these four vehicles, with 56% of its heft up front. 

Sequoia TRD Pro: Better than the Tundra, but not by much

The story was much the same with the Sequoia. Toyota gave the big truck-based three-row the same Fox QS3 shocks it gave the Tundra, and I ran the course with the fronts set to stage three and the rears to stage two, the same settings I'd later use for 4Runner. 

The Sequoia has almost 2 fewer feet between the wheels than its pickup sibling, significantly better weight distribution (50.4% at the front) and only an extra hundred pounds. But it still felt similar to the Tundra. Even with the shorter wheelbase, I wasn't getting much lift on takeoff, and despite superior weight distribution, I found myself landing on the nose and crashing down at the rear. 

The Sequoia looks equally excellent in Honeycomb yellow, but it did not float like a butterfly nor sting like a bee. 

Tacoma TRD Pro: Here's where it got fun

Aside from size, the biggest difference between Tundra/Sequoia and Tacoma/4Runner is the powertrain. Toyota employs its performance hybrid tech for both — V6 hybrid for the big trucks and inline-four hybrid for the littles. 

The V6 has more power and torque — 437 horsepower and 583 lb-ft compared to 326 hp and 465 lb-ft in the four-cylinder — but in these trucks, the four-cylinder didn't feel like a disadvantage. The Tundra and Sequoia are about a thousand pounds heavier than their one-size-down siblings, and the four-cylinder engine makes so much low-end torque that I never missed the extra grunt. The smaller engine also likely helps with weight distribution.

The Tacoma felt so much more agile and playful around the course than the Tundra and Sequoia. Despite having a longer wheelbase and more lopsided weight distribution than the Sequoia (56.3% front), the Tacoma was more eager to get airborne, and although it landed on the nose, it didn't seem to land as hard. 

4Runner TRD Pro: We have a winner

The 4Runner was by far the best jumper. It's got the shortest wheelbase of the four TRDs, only weighs a few hundred pounds more than Tacoma, and has the best weight distribution by far; if ya round up a tenth, it's perfect 50/50.

The short wheelbase meant that after the front of the truck crested the lip of the jump, the rear followed soon after to pop the whole body of the car into the air. Where the others hopped, the 4Runner soared. And upon landing, the 4Runner was the only TRD Pro of the group to consistently land on all four tires at the same time. 

It was remarkably comfortable, too. None of these vehicles were harsh on landing, but the 4Runner felt especially plush, even at the end of the day when the course was starting to get rutted out. I did around 10 laps of the course throughout the afternoon. Five of them were in the 4Runner.

In the spirit of consumer advice, I have plenty of not-so-nice things to say about the current 4Runner TRD Pro based on the multiple comparisons we've run and our time with the rig as part of our One-Year Road Test fleet. But if your local OHV area or trail gives you the chance to get airborne? This is the one that makes you feel the most like a hero.