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Full 2014 Toyota FJ Cruiser Review
What's New for 2014
This is the last year of production for the Toyota FJ Cruiser. To mark its retirement, Toyota is offering a special Ultimate Edition of the off-road-themed Trail Teams package. Only 2,500 will be built, and all will have a Heritage Blue paint job with a color-matched roof. Functional hardware on the 2014 Toyota FJ Cruiser Trail Teams Ultimate Edition includes an upgraded TRD-tuned suspension, 16-inch bead-lock wheels, all-terrain tires and a thicker front skid plate. In addition, most of the items in the Convenience and Upgrade packages are standard on this model. Otherwise, the FJ Cruiser is unchanged.
Introduction
With its two primary front doors and two, rear-hinged half-doors, the FJ Cruiser has always been more like a tall coupe than a traditional five-passenger SUV. This door design makes the FJ Cruiser interesting and distinctive, but it also makes getting in and out of the backseat cumbersome, especially if you have small children. Furthermore, the FJ's bunker-like windows make seeing out of this vehicle a challenge, whether you're on an off-road trail or just trying to negotiate your way into the Starbucks drive-through. Apart from these practicality issues, the Toyota FJ Cruiser is a pretty neat vehicle to drive. Its strong V6 engine, responsive steering and relatively comfortable ride make it a lot more viable as a daily driver than you might expect.
At the same time, its spiritual home is definitely off the pavement. Even in stock form, the FJ is quite capable of scaling rocky hillsides or frolicking in the sand dunes thanks to its high ground clearance, capable suspension and generous approach and departure angles. It's also available with serious four-wheel-drive hardware, including low-range gearing, a locking rear differential and a pretty sophisticated off-road traction control system known as A-TRAC. The Trail Teams Ultimate Edition package ups the ante with a TRD-developed suspension that includes special Bilstein shock absorbers (with remote reservoirs for the rear dampers) and new front springs that increase ride height.
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