A new generation of the Toyota Sequoia arrived for 2023, seeing it carry on as a truck-based three-row crossover with serious off-road chops in TRD form. It’s based around the latest Tundra truck platform, and it follows in the footsteps of the Toyota truck, leaving the 5.7-liter V8 engine in the past. The Sequoia moves on to use a 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6 hybrid engine and a 10-speed automatic transmission. It generates 437 hp and 583 lb-ft of torque – which is more than the outgoing V8 – but that’s far from the only improvement.

The 2023 Sequoia has a stiffer chassis, better suspension, a more sophisticated interior, and a much-improved towing capacity. In TRD Pro form, the new Sequoia promises to be the kind of off-road beast you could drive up the side of a volcano. So that’s what we did.

Whether you like the “technical camo” print on the plastic fender covers is a matter of taste. To us, it neither fades in nor stands out enough to care, but mixed with the $425 optional Solar Octane paint on our tester, it’s one hell of a look that turns heads everywhere it goes.

Like all other Sequoia trims, the interior is logically laid out, but there’s less elbow room than expected based on the sheer size of the Sequoia. Still, seating space is generous – until you get to the rear seats: The legroom may be improved over the outgoing model, but the seats are mounted over the battery and headroom is limited. Toyota hasn’t dealt with the third row’s packaging too well, and folding them down does increase cargo space – but not as much as we would like; plus, they don’t fold flat.

As expected, there’s a TRD-specific interior with upgrades from base trims and its own materials and badges. It’s all very nice until you look at the “technical camo” pattern on the seats. Like it or not, Toyota knows its main demographic.

Pulling away and up to 60 mph, there’s a marked improvement over the previous generation’s wind and road noise. Still, it’s not quiet, and wind noise and tire noise from the all-terrain tires means you’ll realize how loud you’ve had to turn up the stereo when you come to a halt.

A user-friendly 14-inch touchscreen with a one-year Drive Connect subscription and navigation takes care of display duties. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard. The Google-based system with voice assistant is easy enough to use, although it hears the word “Toyota” more than anyone will say it in the cabin.

A Wi-Fi hotspot is there with 4G connectivity when activated through AT&T, and Sirius XM comes with a three-month trial subscription. A 14-speaker JBL sound system is standard on the TRD Pro, but it’s boomy and annoying to listen to for long periods at volume – admittedly, we’re picky about our sound systems.

While more efficient than the previous V8, the new drivetrain in four-wheel-drive mode is rated at 19/22/20 mpg for city/highway/combined cycles – the TRD Pro has 4WD as standard. It’s a thirsty beast, but it’s also not unbearable. Cooling is majorly improved, and the Sequoia TRD Pro is capable of towing up to 9,020 pounds – it’s not the most capable trim in this regard, but it’s still more than enough. The off-road-focused TRD Pro trim also benefits from the Trailer Backup Guide system with Straight Path Assist as standard.

In TRD Pro guise, the Sequoia is stiffened for off-roading, and it pays the price on the road. That’s fine for those buying the TRD Pro knowing they will spend plenty of time on the dirt, but posers should beware. If you understand that’s part and parcel of a great off-roader, you’ll know that the TRD Pro is better than some and not as good as others when it comes to choppy pavement for ride quality.

There’s also little lean on bendy roads, and the Sequoia TRD Pro becomes quite fun to manhandle on a twisty road or dirt track. It has the getup-and-go to hang with typical traffic, and overall, there’s not much to complain about when driving the Sequoia TRD Pro around day to day – until you need a gas station, anyway.

The Sequoia TRD Pro comes with the aforementioned four-wheel-drive system, TRD Pro off-road suspension with 2.5-inch Fox coil-overs and rear remote-reservoir shocks, a front stabilizer bar, all-terrain tires, and an aluminum skid plate. It is also equipped with an electrically controlled locking rear diff and transfer case for those low gears. Toyota’s Multi Terrain Select helps the electronics know how slippery it is under the tires, and Crawl Control is also in the mix.

The first thing we did was wind our way through a new trail that turned out to be a lot tighter than expected and not ideal for something of the Sequoia’s size. However, the squared-off corners helped us to place the car where it needed to be, and the paint survived the 25-mile ordeal without a scratch. The suspension did its job really well for comfort, including for our rear passenger, and it ate up all kinds of rough terrain at low speeds as well as at higher speeds when things opened up.

We had been eyeing a volcano in California for some time, considering there’s a suspicious amount of access to it, and it was hard to resist giving the Sequoia TRD Pro a workout. Plus, the Solar Octane paint was made for a dark background. In the volcanic sand, the locking rear diff came into its own, and we were able to push the Sequoia around on the flat and then navigate up to the higher points that became mostly broken shale and stone under the tires.

Leaving the volcanic playground to explore around it, we found some hills to climb and drop down, and the SUV never faltered. Things got tight again, and we realized we weren’t tired with the steering weight being nicely balanced to the light side and feeding back surprisingly well for something so heavy.

At the end of the day, we had confidence in the Sequoia TRD Pro to the point we wished we had it longer for when the rains arrived and the local trails became difficult.

Objectively, the new Sequoia TRD Pro is a better on and off-road SUV than before, but it comes at a price. It starts at $77, 565, and when you begin ticking the boxes for some of the options we had on our tester, like the $499 integrated dashcam and $1,395 TRD roof rack, it’s easy to spend over $80,000 to get exactly what you want. For the money, you get an off-roader as rugged and capable as the TRD department has ever made, but you’ll want that roof rack if your off-road excursions go on for a couple of days. The uneconomical use of space for the third row is a good argument for Toyota having a third-row delete option as, well: Who goes for some serious off-roading with people in the third row of an SUV?

It’s a high price to swallow, but for those with the means and who are faithful to the TRD off-road brand, the Sequoia TRD Pro offers excellent off-road performance and decent daily-driving utility. However, for everyone else, it’s a big price to swallow for something that really needs that roof rack for getting away for a few days, and those that don’t really need a third row.