2003 4th gen 4Runner road and off road test
Jon's (TooEZgoin) 2003 Limited 4Runner tested off road up at Greenwater, WA., forest road 70

I drove it on the windy steep 10 mile asphalt road that leads up to the upper trails.
Taking it around corners was a joy compared to my 2nd gen which acts like the Queen Mary going around corners.
The V8 is very responsive of course compared to my 3.0 V6 that I am use to.

We stopped off at the "playground" on forest road 72 and tried some hills with it.
I thought the running boards would hit since this rig sits a little lower, but much to our surprise neither one hit.
Jon & I even took it up a steeper  hill that I have not taken mine on yet, and I was very impressed with how it climbed the hill like it was not even there.

Coming down the same hill was a blast with the "Hill Assist" feature turned on.
What that does is you can take your foot off the brakes all the way, and the vehicle does the braking for you automatically and slows you down.

We also hit a trail that got to test out the paint with a little forest pin stripping in the dust that had accumulated on the sides of the rig. It was just light scratches on the dust, and did not affect the paint at all, even though it looked like it when you look at it from the sides.
Some places were kind of tight, so I had to help spot.
We did not want to dent up this black beauty now.

All in all, I was very impressed with this new rig.
It's bigger inside than the older gens, and don't let the new looks fool you into thinking this is only for cruising the malls or picking up the rugrats at the soccer game.

This rig is very capable off road as we proved up there, and I'm sure with some better off road tires and the running boards removed, this rig will get you anywhere the stock 3rd gens are getting too.
We ran out of time to try some other steeper hills with, but by the way it performed, I have every bit of confidence it can handle what's thrown at it.