Which TRD Pro is Better? 2020 Toyota Sequoia vs Toyota 4Runner

I'm Jacob. I'm Yuri. And we're going for a drive. 2020 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro. 2020 Toyota Sequoia TRD Pro. So we've done the 4Runner TRD Pro, this is going to be the third time. Yeah, and every year they kind of refresh something and add something new, and they like to change the colors every year, which is also really special. So this year it's army green. Yeah, so the Sequoia has never existed in TRD Pro form, and it's also an army green, and I love it. So which special color was better? This army green, the khaki blue from last year, or that bright blue from the year before? I really like the bright blue, but my favorite is definitely this army green. It just suits the car so well. Yeah, there's not many green cars, so I think army green wins for funky colors. So we've never reviewed the Sequoia before, so let's explain that this is a seven-seater, and it's a big three-row SUV. The 4Runner, not quite. The 4Runner can come in three rows, but not in the TRD form. And these are big, old-school, body-on-frame SUVs. So let's get to the horsepower and torque. The Sequoia has 381 horsepower, 401 pound-feet of torque from a 5.7-liter V8. And this 4Runner has 270 horsepower and 278 pound-feet of torque from a 4-liter V6. And so there's a pretty big difference in power and sound, so let's send it. Oh yeah, that sounds good. And now for the six-cylinder. Still pretty quick, but just not as fast as the Sequoia. And it actually did sound pretty good. And now let's cut to the exhaust sounds. Let us know in the comments which one is better and by how much. I definitely prefer the sound of the Sequoia just because it has a V8, but I was actually shocked at how much I really like that V6 sound from the 4Runner. Yeah, to be honest, I didn't notice too much of a difference in sound. And these aren't the kind of cars that I give a crap about the sound anyway, so whatever. And these do have TRD Pro exhaust. You can see the TRD badging on the exhaust tips. So let's get into the TRD Pro stuff on both of these. So starting with those exhaust tips, the one on the Sequoia does say TRD on the exhaust tip, but it's right against the plastic bumper, so you can't really see it. Yeah, and on the 4Runner, you can definitely see it. Do you like the side exhaust or the rear exhaust more? I always like rear exhaust more, but in this occasion, I will go with the 4Runner just because it looks a little bit cooler. And both of these do have TRD skid plates with red paint, which is pretty cool. Yeah, and the bumper on the 4Runner is cut away a little bit more, so you actually see a little bit more of the skid plate on that one. And then how about the TRD badges? Do you like the placement on the side? I like it more on the C-pillar. On the Sequoia, it looks kind of weird. It's kind of in the middle of the door. Yeah, it's like in no man's land just to like work around the body curves of the front fender. And we both have pretty cool side steps, but the ones on the Sequoia look a little bit cooler, and they even have a little TRD badge in them. Yeah, where's my TRD badge on the 4Runner? But if we move to the back, they both say TRD Pro on the trunk, but the Pro is smaller on the 4Runner and not on the Sequoia. I noticed that. A little odd. Not sure why they did that. I think it's because the Sequoia trunk is so much bigger, so they have more real estate to work with. And since we're talking about badge sizes and what they say and the differences, the 4Runner just says TRD, but the Sequoia says TRD Pro on the headrests. I don't know why, but whatever. Yeah, it's all these like subtle little differences that you wouldn't notice if you didn't have both these cars side by side. And we both have TRD roof baskets, which the normal ones don't get. Yeah, I love how they look on both of them, but I prefer the one on the 4Runner. It just looks a little bit better. It's got that double row. Yeah, because we don't know how to store stuff, so I feel like that's an extra safety blanket there. Yeah, and because of that, they're actually the same overall height. Yeah, because the Sequoia has got a higher roof line, they only put one bar, so they're actually the same height. But there is super pain to park in my parking garage. It's like right at the limit. And that's one of the things I don't like about these big, big SUVs. Yeah, I don't have that problem. I just park outside. Yeah, and that's why the Sequoia is dirty today. We tried to wash it when we parked outside, but the car wash was broken. Yeah, sorry about that. We tried, we tried. So now to the front end, which one looks better from the front? I think the 4Runner just has a little bit more presence, a little bit more uniqueness. It's got its own flavor. To be honest, before this week, I didn't even know what a Sequoia looked like. Really? Do you actually still know what it looks like? It's kind of got Toyota Corolla headlights, a Tundra front end. What else is really noticeable on it? Do you even know what the taillights look like? Yeah, they're just kind of like blobs. Little circles, like whatever. But I do remember what the taillights look like on the 4Runner. They're like Altezzas or whatever. Like they're just, they're bad. Bad? No, they're cool. Everything on the 4Runner looks cooler. They're cooler, but they're not like good-looking taillights. Even on the front end, more is cut off on the 4Runner. So we've got a better approach angle. That looks more like a family car that can kind of do off-roading, even though I'm sure it's very, very capable. Yeah, and this has like 0.4 extra inches of ground clearance. So I think the better off-roader will be the 4Runner. The Sequoia headlights look cooler because of the DRLs. And on the Sequoia, we have Rigid Industries fog lights. But we've got normal old bulbs on the 4Runner, which sucks. They're called halogens, and yeah, they suck. And from the side view, which one do you think looks better? I think the 4Runner's got a little bit more style. Like we've got fender flares and stuff like that. The 4Runner has a bit more character, but the Sequoia has a little bit more presence, probably because it's actually just a massive tank. And then both of them have little spoilers at the back. Both of them have rear windows that both go down. But the 4Runner has the window wiper that comes from the top, and the Sequoia has the window wiper that comes from the bottom. And we both have BBS wheels. I prefer the wheels on the 4Runner. They just look a little bit cooler. They have an extra spoke, basically. And what is the Continental recommended tire for the 4Runner and the Sequoia? The Terrain Contact HT and the Viking Contact 7. And the last thing I'd like to talk about for looks, the Fox shocks with the red springs around them. I think they look amazing. Yeah, when the light catches it and you can see the red, it matches the rims. It looks really nice. Wheels, Yuri, wheels. Whatever. Orleans, Jacob, Orleans. What's that, New Orleans? I think I said it better than you. Anyways, which one do you like the looks of more? Let's say it on three, two, one. 4Runner. Sequoia's pretty cool, but it's just not as good. So back to those shocks. Now let's talk about how they perform. My God, these are some of the most comfortable SUVs on the road. Yeah, for the size, they're very comfortable. I don't think I've been more comfortable in any other truck or SUV of this size. How about the Raptor? The Raptor, I think, could use a rebuild or some new Fox shocks because yes, you do need to rebuild Fox shocks after a certain amount of time. So check the maintenance schedule and stay up to date on that. And let's see a little bit of body roll from these Fox shocks. Oh yeah, there's definitely body roll. But nothing that isn't expected for a body-on-frame big old truck. Are these trucks? Can we say truck because it's body-on-frame even though it's an SUV? Oh yeah, we could say that. We can say whatever we want. This is the internet, Yuri. Yeah, internet. And the steering is ridiculously light, like a little bit too light. I think it's just fine. It's very comfortable and kind of luxurious, actually. And aside from the V8 and V6, that's a pretty big difference. Another major difference is the Sequoia has a six-speed transmission, and I find that it responds really, really well. Yeah, we've got a five-speed in the 4Runner, but the best part is on the highway, it drops the RPM to like 2,000 RPM in fifth. So it's not even that bad. The gas mileage is pretty bad in both of these, so we're not even going to bother talking about that. But the transmission response is so good in the Sequoia that I love it. If you floor it in drive, watch this, gone. All right, now floor it. That's so slow. Yeah, it takes an extra second longer, but it's a big truck. Who cares really about that much responsiveness? You might not care about the responsiveness, but I'm sure a lot of people do. So let us know in the comments if that's something that would bother you. Yeah, let us know how your body-on-frame SUV race league is going. Are you in first place or not? Did the responsiveness help? So all the stats aside, how do these feel on the road? I love how the Sequoia feels because it just feels like a tank. Yeah, it's army green. It's a tank. I love it. Feels like a normal car. The Jeep Wrangler Rubicon moved around so much and it was so hard to keep straight. Yeah, these are so comfortable to drive. I prefer the driving position in the Sequoia. It's just a little bit taller and there's like better angle for my legs. And say we were to drive these two off-road, which we don't have a chance to right now, what features could we use? Okay, so the Sequoia actually doesn't really have many features. However, it does have a low-range gearbox. So by default, you're in two-wheel drive mode, which is rear-wheel drive mode. And just for the record, the Sequoia can do burnouts. And the 4Runner can also do burnouts. So in the 4Runner, if I want to use my low-range gearbox, I've got an actual shifter I got to use. How about you? I just have a little knob right beside my climate control. Oh, so that's like a lot less intimidating than trying to move this thing around. Yeah, which also kind of makes it less cool. And in the 4Runner, I've got my 8-track and all my slow rock climbing modes and stuff up at the top. How about the Sequoia? I can hold my sunglasses in there. That's about it. I don't have any of those modes. And the 4Runner doesn't have a front camera like a lot of the competition has right now for off-roading. It's kind of lacking in the features, but that's also kind of a good thing, which we'll talk about later. But do you know what got the front camera for off-roading for 2020? The Tacoma. Oh, so then this is bound to get in like three years. Yeah, probably. And if we press traction off in the Sequoia, it goes into auto LSD. So it does not have a limited slip differential like a mechanical one, but it's electronic. And then I can turn the traction off in the 4Runner normally. And the Sequoia can also lock its center diff. It can't lock the rear diff. And the 4Runner can lock the rear diff. And one major mechanical difference, because you probably care about this, the towing capacity. The Sequoia can tow 7,100 pounds. How about the 4Runner? Only 5,000 pounds. And what's that in jet skis? That's about two to three jet skis versus like four, maybe six. Good thing I don't have any jet skis. Yeah, well, I got one. So the 4Runner can tow that too. I think a Prowler can tow one jet ski. Yes, I think it can as well. Oh, I mentioned it again. Everyone's going to unsub. So now is the part where we usually switch drivers, but we both spent a lot of time in the other vehicles and Jacob's got the flu. So I don't feel like getting sick. We're going to stay in these cars and talk about more of the interior differences and everything else. I'm just getting over it. So I feel a little bit better now, but oh man, I got these masks to protect me from Yuri and protect me from everybody. Okay, so as I sanitize my hands, do you want to start with the interior? So let's start with these seats. The biggest difference is that the Sequoia has real leather and the 4Runner has Softex, which is simulated leather. To be honest, I kind of want to find out what's better for the environment using real leather or fake leather, because fake leather is made out of plastics and stuff. So like, I just don't know. We'll probably find out one day, but regardless of that, the seats are so comfortable in both of these. Yeah, I haven't really noticed the difference. So we do have lumbar support in both of them. The driving position in both, I can put my elbow on the armrest and touch the steering wheel very comfortably in both. I am currently doing that in this one as well, and we do not have memory seats in either of these. And we both have heated seats, but no heated steering wheels, and the heated seats are on dial. So if you crank it full, when you get in the next time, it's going to be hot again. But let's get to the middle row, or in my case, the back row. There's a decent amount of room in the 4Runner, but there's way more room in the Sequoia, like way more. The Sequoia also has a lot of good adjustment too. And then if we move to the very back row of the Sequoia, there's a ton of room for me, and you've got buttons for moving the seats electronically to like lean back more and everything. And I even fit back there. So this is one of the most comfortable SUVs I've sat in in every row. Would a minivan be more comfortable than the Sequoia or no? No, I honestly don't think so. This is the most comfortable three row I've ever sat in. But if we just look at the trunk with all rows of seats up, the 4Runner has enough room in the back for me to fit my hockey bag and hockey sticks without having to fold down the seats. And in the Sequoia, there's just enough room for a carry-on, but if you fold the seats down electronically, there's a lot more room than the 4Runner. And what if we wanted to fit some boxes in these SUVs? We've already box tested the 4Runner so many times, that fit 19 boxes, so here's the Sequoia. Box test! 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. So 22 in the Sequoia. I think that's the new straight pipes record. Yeah, it did about as well as I expected. So congratulations, Toyota. It's pronounced T-Yoda. It's definitely not. And you're going to get buried in the comments for that one. So now let's get to some of the other tests like the cup holder test. The 4Runner fits a small coffee, no problem in the one in the back and the one in the front. And the Sequoia also fits a small cup. It's kind of buried in there, but you can still get it. So that is a pass. However, this also has a party trick. So if you remove this little piece in the middle, you can actually take the cup holders out and just have this gigantic storage area. Show it to me. Okay, you mean like this? The cup holder is like this? Yeah, I can take it with me. I like how you can remove that one little long piece and then you've got room for cell phones and stuff, which you also have room for in the 4Runner. But the 4Runner also has this little area, which I think is for lighters or lip chap. Oh, lip chap, good one. Yo, people like lip chap. I know 4Runner drivers love lip chap. And let's get to the most important test, the visor test. Well, lucky for me, the sun is actually in my eyes. Yeah, mine too. Three, two, one. Yes! Oh! Yes! I have this little sliding extension, but the sun is still in my eyes right now. Well, that's why that fails. Well, at least they're moving into the right direction, unless that's an old product, in which case I'm not sure. Hang on, I'm really curious. Let's look from your camera. Does this pass? Oh, the passenger side passes too. So now let's go to the infotainment, the most fun part, because we have Apple CarPlay in both of them. And how about Android Auto? Technically, we're supposed to have Android Auto in the Sequoia, I believe, but we don't have it, or at least mine isn't working. However, my Android Auto does work in the 4Runner, so thank you for adding that. And both of these do have rewinding satellite radio stations, which works very well. Once you put it to the replay mode, I've been having a great time with the rewinding. And we got massive knobs. Just kidding, I have tiny volume and tuning knobs in the Sequoia. Yeah, and in the 4Runner, I've got bigger knobs, but these knobs are the best for ripping through channels and ripping through the volume, especially through the channels. And then we have hard buttons on the side. So overall, it's a pretty good infotainment. Well, it is kind of, but not really, because if I hit the phone button, it always takes me to my CarPlay phone. It never takes me to my CarPlay projection, and it adds an extra button all the time, which someone needs to figure out one of these days. And then we have big hard buttons for the climate, which are awesome. Yeah, the best part is you can use them with gloves. Look, changing the temperature, no problem. So now onto the gauges. I think the Sequoia has got a nicer bezel on the outside. It's got those chrome strips that kind of come in and make it more 3D. But the 4Runner has a cool gradient on my speedometer, which makes it look a lot nicer than the Sequoia. Yeah, the gauges wouldn't make me decide which car I had to buy, but I do like both gauges. They're pretty simple. And the steering wheels are the same in both of these, the same as every other 4Runner we've reviewed. And both of these do have lane departure assist, which will only beep at you when you get out of the lanes. And they both have Radar Cruise, which is pretty cool. I've got some carbon fiber pattern in the 4Runner. How about the Sequoia? No, it's just all hard plastic. It looks kind of cheap, to be honest. And speaking of cheap, we've got bad reverse cameras in both, but nothing we really need to worry about. But the 4Runner doesn't have parking sensors. The Sequoia does, which I love. I love parking sensors so much. Yeah, that's something you get when you pony up the extra cash for this one, because it's actually quite a bit more. So we should get to the price? Let's do it. So let's start with the 4Runner, $62,120. Canadian. And the Sequoia is $78,950. So that's a pretty big price gap for one extra row and two more cylinders, but I guess it kind of makes sense. It does kind of make sense. You do get the real leather. You get the V8. Like, that's kind of the big difference right there. If they offered the V8 as an option on the 4Runner, oh man, I'd be so sold on that. But you don't get that cool main brand vehicle like the 4Runner. Like, 4Runner is epic. I think Sequoia carries more weight around the world rather than in North America. Oh, well maybe that's why I think that way about it. Kind of like a Land Cruiser. Like, people don't really care about them in North America, but they love them around the world. So which one would you take? As much as I love V8s, because I do, I would actually take the 4Runner. I love everything more about the 4Runner other than the engine. Personally, I don't need the extra size of the Sequoia. I don't need the V8 over the V6. And for those reasons, and because I like the looks of the 4Runner more, I would go 4Runner. So let us know in the comments which one you'd take between both of these. And which of the special yearly colors is the best yearly color. And click on this playlist for more SUVs.