Just to compare, it's got an inch more ground clerance and a better break over angle than the H3.

Clearance on 33" Tires
FJ - 10.1"
H3 - 9.1"

Breakover
FJ – 28.9*
H3 – 25*


That’s kind of odd but it does allow for more lift without stressing the CV’s.


That's was the first thing I thought when the 04’ 4runner came out with that engine and skid, ”rockbait” but I guess those were put in to allow air flow to the under side of engine/oilpan. There is an optional frame mounted skid plate for the FJ that covers that one, and for the more hardcore there are some aftermarket ones in the works

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

Sorry but I still don't know why one would want a shifter instead of a button. I may just be simple, but dmn it's quick and easy. When time is of the essence I'll take the button.

One thing I haven't heard anything about is the TCS on the FJ. That's one thing on all hummer's that makes a huge difference.

I'd really like to wheel with one, just to compare.

but I don't think my 3 will let me down!:D :D :D

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

I have yet to find an FJ Cruiser to wheel with. Here in Edwards, I see so many of these things (they're so ugly, I want to puke) and it's all like these guys who own the bikes shops or whatever. I see some Hummers here (actually, there is a really nice H1 wagon what a chick drives), but H3's mostly just pass on the interstate. Apparently everyone thinks they are too fuel hungry.

But anyway, I found Edmunds.com long term test introduction interesting. They are pretending to have an open mind about the vehicle, and already they're saying this:

Current Odometer: 1,912
Best Fuel Economy: 19.1 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 11.8 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 16.9 mpg

I'm surprised to see it does that poorly for basically a two-seater.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=115586

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

I would say the crappy fuel mileage is at least partially because it is quick for an SUV. More power means less MPG in most cases.

Also...out of curiousity...how many H2's did you see off-road in the first 2 or 3 months of its production? Adam and Alec were pretty quick to take theirs' off road...and even they waited 4 months or so IIRC.

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

At least give me room for four passengers and crappy mileage. For example, the BMW X5 has a base 3.0 V6 that is poorer with mileage than the 4.4 V8 with VVT. So more power doesn't always mean less economy. The 4.4 X5 weighs 4927lbs. (curb) and is 16/22 according to EPA. The FJ 4WD automatic: 4295lbs (curb) with EPA est. 17/21. So you get two extra cylinders in the X5, another 700 lbs, .4 more liters and better MPG.

However, Edmunds observed 14.1 with the 4.4 in a power-bashing comparo, versus 15.88 in the Xterra/FJ showdown for the FJ at probably normal speeds.

Still, lb/lb, liter/liter it has less engine, poorer mileage. But maybe it's not fair to compare V6/V8 even if the V8 gets better mileage.

I'd pose to you, how many H3's did you see off-road within three months of the release? The H2 is a different animal in my opinion. I just want to see one of these things in action, and not stuck in a mudpit somewhere while rodeo music blares. http://www.autospies.com/article/ind...4&categoryId=1

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

:D :eek:

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

You can fit 4 Adults in an FJ fine...the door is kind of a pain, but there is room. Also, like you said...Real world mileage for the FJ is better then then BMW.

The only time I have seen an H3 off-road is Moab...April 06. So what is that...10 months after release (no idea what the actual release date was...just guessing June 05)? Does that mean that they weren't off-road before then? No. Does the fact that you haven't seen FJ's off-road mean they haven't been? No.

Besides...last I heard you thought a paved road going over a pass was a "scary trail"...so it might be hard to see other trucks off-road if you don't go off-road yourself...right? :p Just sayin.

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

:( :( :(

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

I should hang you by your toenails and apply some tar and feathers for that last comment! I said it was a scary road. And you go up there and drive it. Your skinny-@ss Xterra can probably fit through just fine. I'll bring a convoy of H2's and H1's to meet you about halfway and see how you like it then. ;) It's not my fault the H2 is a fat-@ss.

I thought it was agreed that only double amputees were to try to sit in the back of an FJ. Oh wait, I forgot that Shaggy also considers adults to be cyber-chat-love-bots. So, yes, you could probably fit about 20 of those in there.:p

The H3's littered the last event I went to with my dealership which was in October, or 5 months following release of the H3. (I don't understand what I said that has led to this. I just want to find an FJ that will go wheeling.) At the last Toyota dealership event, I saw a camry with nice 22's and some FJ's climbing over the curb. Oh wait, they don't have events...:D

And that mileage thing, EPA says it's even. Edmunds probably floored the poor X5 and babied the fragile FJ. Even if the FJ is quick, if it handles like a marshmallow in the slalom, what's the fun of having speed? So you can have the VSC Nanny apply the brakes and start flashing the idiot lights? I'm just surprised it doesn't do better on fuel, 'tis all. :cool:

BTW, I have thrown a Land Cruiser into some hard turns, and the thing goes nuts. Everything flashes, beeps, and the brakes go on. I mean, it's probably trying to save my life, but it's annoying. And it's not meant to be abused.

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

BTW, a well set up Land Crus. would eat you both for lunch.......

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

Hahaha! In your dreams! :eek:

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

That's the FJ SR5 Limited, comes with chrome package and roof mounted grocery rack.;)

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

Put me in a stock FJ with just the option package (i.e. Rear Locker) and I could eat you and your H2 for lunch. Hell...I could probably do that with my crap-Terra. :p

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

no, not in my dreams.............:(

do you seriously not understand how bad ass a Land Cruiser is.......:confused:

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

I only drove one for two years... I never saw the "awesomeness" in it. Unless you mean modifying it. They're expensive things to begin with, have side steps that would come off on a curb, the trailer hitch drags on everything, and the 4WD was no where near as good as my H2. It's a grocery getter!

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

You just wait Shaggy. You have it coming my friend. You and your cyber-chat-love-bots. You'll rue the day!

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

here you go,

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

rear,

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

more,

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

this one is tuff,

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

I ran Spring Creek with one and it made Spring Creek it's bitch....it was not even funny......I'm sure it took some money to get it where it was at but there was nothing stopping it......

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

turbo charged diesel engines
beefy ass solid axles
locked front and rear
front and rear coil springs

remove the side steps, a little lift, and boom.........

not to say that it's not the same as the H2......very capable when played with, but the Land Cruiser 80 series I had the chance to wheel with had my jaw dropping at every obstacle....:eek:

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

This isn't meant as inflammatory, and certainly Moon seems like a nice guy and has superior photoshop skills, but:

what is the obession of

A) comparing wildly modified 4wd's to stock H2s
and
B) calling wildly modified 4wd's "jeeps" or "four runners"

its not a jeep anymore by the time it makes the internets glory-pages. and that's not a landcruiser.

Does the presence of a Supra or 10 somewhere in california that can run a 1/4 mile faster than an Enzo mean that Toyotas are faster than Ferarris?

What that landcruiser does has nothing to do with what a landcruiser can do, it has something to do with the skill, budget, time, and knowledge of the modifier.

And remember that, like an H2, a landcruiser is a really nice truck. comfy and reasonably quiet and smooth riding and you can put people and stuff in it and all of those.

and by the time you make the above changes, you'll have mangled some or much or most of those virtues...

so you haven't necessarily gained or improved, you've changed.


I admire the H2 for being such a good offroad machine AND nice/comfy/smooth/quiet. plus its cool.

Lets see a stock landcruiser outclass an H2. If it can, it can, and that wouldn't shake me up much. I've got 50 years left to be old and crusty and drive something germane, sedate, and acceptable among the tea & crumpets crowd.

For now, i'm just going to continue to marvel at the H2s ability to do what only it can do - generate an emotional reaction from basically everybody. :D

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

i know this is the FJ/H3 thread, but it's ventured a bit off topic and if nobody minds i'll continue a bit O/T

does any non-hummer vehicle have guys like these guys that drive the Moab and rubicon and whatever trails in a stock truck that's still comfy/quiet/nice?

The Wrangler Rubi doesn't start that way, so its excluded (but the style is undeniably appealing, of course). Still, 99% of jeep offroad vids are modified, a good percentage of stock H2s seem to make film, no?

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

I admire them both.....and I really like the H2 and it's capabilities.........

but you are not convincing me that I cant compare a stock vehicle to a built up vehicle. If your going to get into wheeling your going to want to modify your vehicle at some point. So doesnt the ease of modifying that vehicle and the price of modifying it come into play somewhere? The H2 is good in stock form, YES! One of the BEST!

But show me an H2 with solid front and rear axles, e-locker front and rear, center diff locker, and some of the other doo dads they have. The Land Cruiser is very comparable to the H2..........trust me........

and a built up Jeep is in it's own league.....I dont compare them to an H2 because they both are very different with the angles they must approach and obstacle at, wheelbase, size, yada yada yada......A jeep is a Jeep and the only thing I'd compare it to may be a D-90 or a well built sami....

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

With a good driver I would say the following vehicles could make it through the rubicon based on what I have heard and seen (videos/Pics):

H1
H2
H3
Tacoma TRD
FJ Crusier (with DL and/or Atrac Options)
LandCrusier 80 Series (like the one Moon posted...but stock)
Xterra (05+ Offroad Addition)
Wrangler Rubicon
S10 Zr2 (with me behind the wheel)
Blazer Zr2 (with real tires...and me behind the wheel)
D90
Range Rover

ok...this list is getting too long...you get the point. I honestly believe that any Stock Truck in the >30" tire class, and a locker could do the Rubicon with a good driver.

As far as On-Road/Off-Road Creature Comforts...more or less just compare prices and you can tell which ones are more comfortable on road. Call $35k the comfy cut off. >$35k is probably posh. <$35k is not.

Just my unbiased (believe it or not) .02 :cool:

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

See, I agree with 31 bandits. Once you start doing all this stuff to a vehicle, it's become something else. Would you actually want to drive that LC around all the time?? It has to walk all over the place, not to mention the handling. In my mind, it's stock or nothing. Putting all this money into modifications is silly. I was just driving around, looking at stock LC's. There is hardly any room for articulation (same for the FJ), and there's so much overhang front and back. I had a '99 LC, and it was just not made for heavy duty off-road venturing. Unless you modified it. But then it's a modified off-road vehicle, not a LC. So all comparisons should be stock/stock. Maybe we should make that a rule.

Back to the FJ, I just want to see one following me or an H3, both COMPLETELY STOCK, and see which comes out on top. No mods. Just what the factory gave you.

IF, for some reason, you WANT to compare stock to ungodly modified, then both vehicles SHOULD BE MODIFIED. This comparing stock to modified is stupid. Because, obviously, the modified one will be better.

Besides, I could probably take an Aztec with 4WD, and make it into an awesome modified off-road beast. It would have sharp looks (don't cut yourself on the pointy edges), all the soccer mommy comforts (and air vents EXACTLY like an H2!), and it would look sooooo cool! :D

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

Stock FJ (other than ARB bumper) on Hells Gate and Potato Salad.

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

Not you again. I thought you disappeared? You're the insane FJ fanatic.

Someone would know more about what those pictures mean than me. I've never been there.

I would say, an H3 would do it better!

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

Awesome stock powerlessness!:D

I am in awe of the LC.

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

it means that stock, that FJ just completed what your H2 will complete, stock...........

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

COUGH BULLSH!T COUGH!

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

and your going to tell me that "most" of the H2's that we see in your "videos" dont have bigger tires then stock, aftermarket bumpers, racks, yada yada yada?? Those look pretty darn stock to me, **** they have BFG All Terrains........:o And who cares what the driver skill level is or who owns the damn vehicle, they completed it..............

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

dude come on................you are so ****ing clueless if you think the FJ cruiser isn't a capable off-road vehicle. Toyota knows their ****.....Now the H2 and H3 and H1 are all also very capable and I'm sure the H2 would destroy the FJ offroad. But an H3 would be very easily matched.....

Re: Why the FJ Cruiser is no Threat to the H3
 

Hmmmm... no Escalator. I'm soooo surprised.:rolleyes::D
And I only see the FJ on PS. Must see video for verification.