Feedback from fellow 4 Cylinder taco drivers.

I just bought the same truck in magnetic grey metallic. I've had it for 3 days now and love it. I find that it's just fine keeping up with the flow of traffic and so I have no complaints or regrets. I sold my Nissan Pro-4x which had a V-6. It was a nice truck but it got horrible gas mileage. In sort my truck suits my needs and I don't visit the gas station as often. Good luck with your truck it looks great. We gave a 2016 RAV4 in that color.

 

I have no additions in regards to towing. But I will say airbags wouldn't be a bad decision if you are going tow a lot. I've begun to consider them very soon.

As far as weight of the boat my estimation is 2500 pounds, with an empty gas tank. And around 2700 with a full tank. Empty tank my truck seems to not care about the boat. Full tank of gas it drives like I've got a rhino in the bed.

And there are a bunch of folks on here that have pop up trailers and small campers. They seem to get around just fine. But, like I said, you won't get there very fast and hills are a pain. However, they will do it just the same.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-tacoma-towing-bible.4031/

This link is a gen1-gen2 towing bible. You can use the gen2 information for your towing capacity. Which is 3500 pounds. good information in this post though.

 

23 MPG!! Why think about anything else..

 

How'd you manage 20 mpgs on the 02? I have an 04 running the same size tires and my truck struggles to get 16 some days..... still trying to diagnose the issues

 

I love my 2.7L. Has enough power to get the job done and should last forever. I can keep up with traffic just fine. I've been averaging around 20-21 in my mostly city driving lately. Loading it down with stuff while moving a friend it pulled just the same as empty so I don't think there will be issues with reasonable loads.

 

Love my 2 gen 4 cyl, but I understand the 3 gen weighs like 500lbs more. Still a great choice though as it will tow your rig just fine, and if you want something fast then you want a car, not a truck.

The main upside IMO is you have a motor that will last longer and cost less to maintain than any other production gas motor on the planet.

 

I had a 2013 base 4cyl 2wd for 22000 miles. Heaviest thing i carried in the bed was 20, 60lbs bags of sand. Drove the 20 miles home like it didnt care. Traded it in for the 2016 4x4 4cyl. Loaded it down with a ton of landscaping bricks last week. Drive right home no complaints. Now I just have to lift things a little higher to get them into the bed. The 2013 never used a drop of oil and never once had to add any fluids to it. Every oil change was sent off for analysis and they all came back spotless. Its only got what, 158hp and 178lb/ft of torque but I've hit 80mph on plenty of on ramps with little effort. I only traded it in because a few times hunting I had to turn around because I knew that I would have a bad day driving that 2wd through soft mud with the factory 15in tires. Ive had the '16 Sr 4x4 for a few weeks now and it feels like it has the exact same power, only that crazy auto trans they use now hunts for gears more than my '95 1.3l mazda protege used to. If I want to go fast, I back my 2012 Subaru STi out and give it hell.

 

The guy goes from a 89 ranger to a 16 taco and says it's underpowered, and the other guy goes from an sti to a 16 taco and says plenty of power... go figure.

 

I went looking specifically for a 4 cyl 4x4 access cab.

And I don't regret it one bit. Bulletproof reliability and less wear and tear on drivetrain parts.

OP you express concern about off roading ability. That's the least of your concerns, even the four cylinder has more than enough power to climb the steepest hills. It's all about gearing and you have 4LO and 4.10 gears on your side. I bought mine specifically FOR off roading and I would buy it again.

 

I can't wait to get mine

 

Maybe should re-read the statement. The 4cyl has plenty of power to do everything I've needed it to do from hauling stuff home from the hardware store to offroad driving while hunting. My point is that unless you are planning on hauling cars or something heavier than the 4cyl has plenty of power and has no issues keeping up with traffic. Nobody buys a Tacoma (not even with the V6) to have a fast vehicle. Even the V6 is fast by most people's standards hence my comment about my STi. The '16 Tacoma is my wife's daily driver and there is no way in hell I'd let her drive anything with any more power................

 

The funny part to me is not that you think the 4cyl 4x4 is "adequately" powered, but more so that the OP thinks it's underpowered coming from an 89 ranger. You'd think the 89 ranger guy would say it's a rocket ship and you'd say it's dogshit. It's a little Ironic..don't ya think?

 

Only thing that makes me 2nd guess getting a 4 banger is towing. Even pulling a 4'x8' garden trailer is work for my truck. Does it get it done, yup. Does it take forever to get up some hills, yup. It gets it moving fine, but 65 mph up a slight grade is hard work for it. And we are talking about a fairly light trailer.

Other than that, I love my truck. You have to wind the gears a little to really get it going, but I don't have a problem with that. I stupidly bought a 2wd Prerunner DCSB Auto. But it was really cheap. I have since converted it to 4x4. Haven't noticed any difference is mileage or drivability. I plan to convert it to 5spd at some point.

 

A little too ironic.

But anyways, if you don't get it, you're fired.

Maybe he has an 89 ranger with a 351?

 

The interesting part is not the engine hp, but the weight of the truck. It probably was faster than the new taco.

The Ranger's entry-level engine was a 2.3-liter, fuel-injected, inline-four that produced 100 horsepower at 4,600 rpm and 133 foot-pounds of torque at 2,600 rpm. The Ranger's optional, upgraded engine was a 2.9-liter V-6. It was only offered on SuperCab models, though. The fuel-injected V-6 produced 140 horsepower at 4,600 rpm and 170 foot-pounds of torque at 2,600 rpm

The longer bed bumped the regular cab's weight up slightly to 3,168 pounds. The SuperCab Ranger weighed in at 3,464 pounds

 

OP, yeah as you know this engine goes nowhere fast - or rather it generally only goes downhill fast and does just fine on the flats - throw any hill at it and you are downshifting without a doubt , at least here at altitude , almost every time and usually down 2 gears.

The good news is this motor seems to like the 3-5 k rpm range just fine , and while doing some aggressive high speed trail driving down in the desert the past week, the motor was a ton of fun.

4 low specifically , is a beast , and has tons of torque and power. It's a totally different truck in low -


makes you wonder why they don't put 4.56 or even 4.88 in the diffs from the factory with a tall overdrive - the truck , outside of low , seems geared a bit too high. I get stuck in 3rd or even 2nd a lot on big hills at 4-5k just spinning where the next taller gear doesn't have the power to move the truck. Times like that make we wish for the 6 and those times happen a lot here at altitude - that's highway/road driving - on the trails so far this motor has shined.

 

Long story short , this truck, at 6000 feet where I am, loves 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear ( hence why the motor feels great on trails) but faster speeds require 4th and 5th which seriously lack the power to move this truck well - something some lower 4th and 5th gears with a sixth overdrive would fix nicely. I can rarely travel in fifth gear in this truck on the highway - cruise is next to useless as a brisk wind requires a downshift to 4th

Edit: I'm averaging around 19mpg but I'm a 3-4 k shifter and feel like the truck is happiest around 2300-2500 where I try to keep it in general

 

I think for 2016, the 2.7 is a better choice. Engine is proven and has a rep for being bulletproof. 3.5...well...let's see how those do after about 5 years or so.

That's why I bought my 4.0L in 2014. I don't like field testing new tech. I'll take proven and reliable over new and shiny any day of the week.

Your 4-cyl goes 75 mph (eventually) down the interstate. It's a proven, bulletproof, warhorse motor. I think you made a good choice.

 

Mine is the 2nd gen but the 2.7 with 5spd. Im in the same boat as everyone here, I love my 4cyl. Yeah like everyone, now and then it may be nice to have a little extra power but I'd rather have the better fuel economy.

Also in 4-lo I've gone everywhere that I needed to (Down trails and loose gravel/dirt roads at 10 degrees). For the money you saved from buying the V6, invest in better tires and a air locker.

My buddy had the old 22re, he had a 9inch lift, 38in tires and all the add ons associated with that. He did a lot of off roading and he said he went eveywhere that his other buddys with v6/v8s went, sometimes even further due to less weight. The only reason he said that he would need the v6 is for clearing your tires if your mudding.

The biggest thing to consider with a stock 2.7 truck is that you have open diffs not an LSD. So if your in an area that requires 4-lo, just plan your line accordingly.