Toyota 4Runner-palooza: The First Car Ever Unveiled at a Music Festival

Nothing gets the blood flowing quite as quickly as good tunes and good cars, so why shouldn’t music festivals be one more place to unveil new cars? Toyota’s thoughts exactly, which is why this year’s Stagecoach Music Festival in Palm Springs, California was such a unique event.

Introducing the Next-Gen Toyota 4Runner

Toyota unveiled the 2014 4Runner last Saturday at the 2013 Stagecoach Music Festival. As the primary sponsor of the event, I suppose it makes sense that they would milk their sponsorship privileges to the fullest extent possible. Still, I don’t see why the 4Runner had to be introduced from within a circus-like stagecoach… Seems a little too “cute” if you ask me.

Unsurprisingly, this is the first time ever that a car has been unveiled at a music festival. I wonder if Toyota was actually interested in showing the car to festival participants, or if they simply knew their unique unveiling would attract press. Either way, I suppose I have to admit that it was a smart move, since just about every major auto news source has written about the 4Runner Music Festival.

2014 Toyota 4Runner Specs

Enough about circus cages and hippie music festivals – let’s talk cars.

First, it’s important to remember that the 4Runner is a car that Toyota is currently very satisfied with. The fifth-generation SUV has been doing well for awhile now, and like its Tacoma and FJ Cruiser cousins, it’s not going to get a major overhaul anytime soon. It’s designed to be appealing to a very niche crowd of pseudo-vintage SUV buyers who really like an aggressive, no-nonsense design.

So, that being said, it makes sense that the exterior updates you’ll see in 2014 are largely designed to amplify the very same no-nonsense boxy-ness that make the current 4Runner stand out. The front clip is much more pronounced and more rigid with lots of angular lines. The wheel-wells are squared off with very pronounced lips. Headlights are smoked out, and taillights been revamped with a sharper design and LED lighting. Both front and rear bumpers have been redesigned with a silver accent, and each trim package gets newly redesigned allow wheels.

The interior also got a few minor upgrades, such as a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear-shifter. The Entune infotainment system is also included across all trim packages, which are SR5 (basic), Limited (luxury) and Trail (off-road). The SUV also now features a brand new Optitron panel, a beefy 7-inch nav-screen, a totally reworked multi-information display, and a new blue and white dashboard color-scheme.

Mechanically, the new 4Runner will stay exactly the same. The beastly SUV will still be powered by a 4.0L V6 with 270 horsepower paired with a five-speed automatic transmission. Both two-wheel and four-wheel drive will be available.

All in all, the new 2014 Toyota 4Runner will probably continue doing just as well as it has been. The SUV is certainly unique among its peers, and it’s nice to see that Toyota still has love for non-fuel-efficient vehicles. Plus, as cheesy as it is, you have to give them props for unveiling a car at a music festival – certainly a unique approach.

Sources: Autoblog, Car and Driver, Car Scoops