Anybody own a 4 Door, 4 cyl 3rd gen SR?

Thank you. Now that we have the weight info, we schedule a test drive with the AC 4 cyl tomorrow. Her previous truck was a 1999 4 cyl, which she put 670K miles on it.

Are the 2.7L in the 3rd gen, same 2.7L in Gen 1 and 2, with the timing chain?

My 4 cyl gen 1 struggles on the grades around here. It can't hold 70-80mph, without a serious O/d off downshift.

 

I bought the 4 cylinder and a few months later traded it in for the 6.

I agree with the gal. Go with the 4 and save the extra $$$$.

 

Wait but isn't that conflicting if you are saying buy the 4 but you traded up? Or are you saying for their needs the 4 will do just fine.

 

I drove the 4. Got it in silver as I needed to get out of my BMW that was falling apart and I wanted a MT Access Cab and that is what was on the lot. I HATE SILVER. A blue one came available in the Access Cab with the TRD Sport package and I traded it in for the blue one. I liked the way the MT drove with the 4 better than the 6. That's all. I will likely trade the blue one in for a 2018 in black if they are still making the 4 cylinder with a MT at that time.

 

It took me 5 months of looking to find my 4 door 4 cylinder. It was also 300 miles from my house so it was a 10 hour round trip to get it. If that is what she wants it will take some time to find one. I test drove mine before I bought it but, I already had a 4 cylinder so I knew what to expect from a performance standpoint.

 

Also, just a comment on this from personal experience. Years ago when I was looking for my first car I wanted to get the cheaper base model to save some money on the purchase. I let some family members talk me into the more expensive model because of more power, higer resale ect.... after I bought the car I realized I did not need to spend the extra money and had a much higher payment than I would have otherwise. I was not happy with my family members for a long while afterwards.
I would offer your opinion than back off and let her make her own decision. Don't want her to realize after the purchase she spent an extra 10k she did not need to and be upset with you every month for the next several years when she makes the monthly payments.

 

The 2.7L was upgraded to dual VVTI for 2016+ trucks. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gen trucks have different versions of the 2.7L.

I would test drive a AC 4wd. This is the heaviest configuration along with having the most parasitic loss in the I4 trucks.

 

Test drive it and put the ac on. Feels like driving with the brake on!

 

Never even noticed the AC, including test driving an automatic 4-cly. If your going to be slower than most modern minivans, might as well save some money, right?

 

The 2.7L is really sluggish. Depends on how you want to use it though. DD or puttering around town with an occasional dump run and this truck is perfect.

 

I love my 4 cylinder Taco. Both the price of entry and the fact that it's a time proven engine.

Power wise, I would say it's absolutely adequate, even for the freeway. I'm coming from a modded WRX with about 300 HP so it's not like I've never driven anything with some serious beans behind it.

I can't see the extra 115 pounds of a double cab really hurting much, but if you're really worried the LCE header is a work of art and simply the best power mod for a 2.7, period. Installs in an afternoon and gives you a nice boost without sounding obnoxious on a stock exhaust. Worth every penny.

 

There are 2 4 door, 4 cyl, 4x2, in SR and SR5 form at the same dealer about 200 miles away.

 

Thank you. If the 2.7L are different amongst all generations, are they equally reliable?

 

My first gen, 4 door is a 4 cyl auto. It isn't fast, but with A/C on all the time, it is perfectly fine to daily drive (I have lots faster toys in the garage on 2 and 4 wheels, so it isn't like I am comparing it a Ford Escort). The issue with the 4 cyl in my double cab I find is the grades on the highway. Very underwpoered there.

However, I don't know what the 3rd gen 4 cyl weigh VS the 1st gen 4 cyl.

 

I can't speak to the first gen, those were the 2RZ and 3RZ engines...

However since the 2nd gen came out, it's been running basically the same engine, the 2TR-FE. The only update to the 3rd gen's iteration of the 2TR-FE was the addition of VVT-i to the exhaust cam. (It already had it on the intake cam in the 2nd gen) These engines have been noted to last a very, VERY long time and it is what the modern day Hiluxes are equipped with.

Power wise, Dual VVTi apparently makes a big difference for the shape of the powerband. Peak "only" goes up from 160 to 164 HP, but drops from 5,200 RPM down to 4,000 RPM, which means a lot more of that power is usable a lot earlier.

A lot of this apparently isn't reflected in official brochures, as some sources still advertise 3rd gens as single VVTi and have not updated the power number.

 

Thank you.

The 2.7L in gen 1 are bulletproof. I have personally seen 400-600K miles on them. My gen 1 has 190K as of this morning, runs as good as new.

 

Based on another member on here's dynos... I think his name was tooter?

With an injen intake and an LCE header he measured +26 HP and +19 Lb/Ft... I would make a case for the lion's share (or maybe all) of that being caused by the manifold and not the intake. Intake gains are generally so low they're within margin of error on dynos.

So that would bring a stock 2016 2.7 Taco from 164 HP / 181 Lb/Ft on up to 190 HP / 200 Lb/Ft (measured at the crank, of course)
It also pushes the torque peak lower if I remember right, by like 500 RPM so your power hits sooner.

Still not gonna win any stoplight races but you feel that extra kick, it makes the truck a little more able to get up and go, you don't have to really dig your heel into it as much in a lot of situations.

 

Tooter also deleted his power steering and his air conditioning.

LCE header isn't CARB approved and not legal in OPs state (unless that changed).

I have a 2013 version of the same truck OPs asking about @lotuscupcar, if she's literally only going to use it for putting around town and doing Home Depot runs it'll be fine. For the occasional road trip to the mountains it'll be fine.

If she's going to tow or haul and hit mountain passes on a regular basis then I wouldn't recommend it at all. I go to Tahoe several times a year and every time I go I wish I'd gotten the V6, sustained grades (particularly with the AC on as one poster mentioned before me) is basically a 5K RPM assault the entire time to maintain speed, and right when I get to the highest point of that particular drive, I'm just about out of juice. That's with 3 humans in the cab and whatever we need for a weekend away.

 

Usually the AC isn't on during a dyno run anyways, and P/S actually makes a negligible difference as well since you're also not turning the wheels during a run.
Free wheeling pullies don't actually have as much friction as you might think, and the weight doesn't factor in much either... It's why the whole "buy my lightweight pullies!!!" stuff is total snake oil.
If I were a betting man, again, the difference would be within a dyno's margin of error, or a very small % of the total gain.

Good point. Didn't think of that. Well, scratch that idea.

 

I can't speak for 3rd gens, but I went from a four-banger to a v6 (both 2nd gen)...I can't even imagine going back. It was so painfully slow. I remember trying to accelerate up the tiniest little incline, just mashing the pedal to the floor, just to try and gain a little speed. So embarrassing.