Was V4 a poor choice?

It should be great for a the daily diver / mall crawler. If you don't need to go offroad or tow the 4 banger should be fine for getting around and some hauling around. Most people get way more than they need, like myself lol.

Ride it around and enjoy for a few years until you get financially stable and get all the bells and whistles on the next one.

 

First, welcome to TW!
I’d like to echo all the positive comments about your choice! But, I can also add my experience with the 4cyl engine. I owned a 2017 SR utility, and it does require a bit of training your right foot to accelerate the truck. This is due to the transmission choice that Toyota made to gleen more fuel efficiency out of these trucks. It has peculiar shift points, but you will get used to it, and the transmission will actually learn your driving habits. Don’t be afraid to give it more pedal! Also, the ECT button will change the shift points, making it feel more responsive.
You can also know that when a V6 is in your budget, your truck will be worth more than anything else in it’s class! Congrats, again on the mature choice!


Oh, yeah... we need pics!

 

Thank you all so very much. My apologies for my ignorance on calling the i4 engine a v4. I'm not even going to pretend to know what I'm talking about when it comes to vehicles haha, but either way truly you guys are great. My logical side was telling me I did indeed make a great choice for my paticular needs, and this truck will hold up just fine on highways and daily commutes, but I guess my stubbornness was telling me I'm an idiot for not going v6. This is my first vehicle purchase ever in terms of financing, maybe if worst comes to worst, after a year or two of paying it off I can trade it in for a TDR sport, given 1. I wont have negative equity and 2. my salary will be higher haha.

oh and here are pics of my '18 Taco!

 

Sharp truck!

 

I’m old enough to remember the old Toyota trucks that only came equipped with a 4cyl..they’re bulletproof! Ive had zero issues with mine. Take care of your truck and it’ll take care of you.

And despite what some people have said you don’t need a 6 to off-road..I’ll put my 4 against any 6 and hang just fine.

 

turbo...

 

It's slow, but it'll get the job done. I barely can stand the V6, but I came from a 400whp Subaru.

 

I like my 2.7 4cyl , it's got a Supercharger, Header , CAI on it and runs strong !!!

 

I went from driving my dad's v8 buick to buying my 4 cyl corolla and at first the difference sucked. I didn't know much about cars at the time, I thought the car was dying haha. A few things to keep in mind for 4 cyl toyotas;
When cold, the transmission will hesitate to shift. If you give it a little extra gas it will, but this is to prevent damage over time. This is a hindrance if you have to go uphill within a minute or two after starting your engine. As long as traffic is permitting I'll just chug up the hill as fast as my car wants to, which is usually at speed limit. I have 252k miles on it so I try to treat the transmission nice if anything else.
You'll get used to the acceleration. It seems like it has no balls now but you'll learn for example when you're merging onto the highway at what point to give it the gas and how you want it to shift (Assuming you have an automatic) you'll learn the footwork and what the vehicle likes best.
When you accelerate in a tacoma it'll be a bit loud. Not like Ford or Chevy trying its best loud, but loud; this is normal.
they're suuuuuuuuper easy to maintain on your own.
As long as you're not towing or rock crawling I think within a couple of months you'll end up liking it and get used to how it handles. 4 cylinders are weird at first but if you know what you're doing you can easily make the most out of them.

 

I can attest that you did in fact make the right decision. I also just graduated college and working with a base salary and also just got a v4 2018 Tacoma (kinda odd reading this post as it literally seems like I wrote it). I came from a v8 Mercedes coupe and let me tell you, when I got on the freeway for the first time with my v4 I almost made a U-turn back to the dealership haha. But after 4 months of owning it I’m so used to it now and wouldn’t trade it for anything else because it makes perfect sense for me financially and I love it

 

I am in a similar situation, and I was pretty content with my 2.7, but still rather envious of the larger engine.

After reading this, I am definitely more encouraged in my decision, and as many of you have said, there is always room to move up later down the road.

 

I’ve had my 4cyl for about two years now and love it. Not sure what features the TSS has but if it has the Electronically Controlled Transmission (ECT Mode) you should try it with that on. I never used it for the longest time but must say I like the feel a lot better when it’s on. Engine size I couldn’t care less about, I’m just having the same regret feeling you had now that I wish I’d gotten the 4x4.

 

Before I bought my recent taco, I had a 2011 DCSB PreRunner 4cyl. I had a 107k miles on it before i got rear ended and totaled. I would of kept that truck till the end of time. I did tow with it every now and then (small boat and cars) and it honestly handled everything like a champ. I do 70 miles round trip for work 6 days a week and pretty much get the same gas mileage give or take 3 miles difference. I did have AT tires on my old one too.

 

OP, do you have an automatic or a manual transmission?

 

I did a bit of research into these three available mods, budget wise I can go either header or CAI at the moment. Any particular route you'd recommend starting with?

Congrats to you as well! Hasn't been a week yet, but honestly starting to fall in love myself as well! Hilarious how similar our stories are but so glad to know I'm not alone. I was literally almost arguing with my finacee and sales person saying I'm inclined for a 6, but they were insistent since it's just a daily driver there isn't much benefit to the higher price tag. Also... no one told me about the ECT Power button... discovered that on my own through some research and sheesh, my fears of pulling into highway traffic and being the turtle that slows everyone down COMPLETELY went away. Lately whenever I'm merging on the highway or need to pass a vehicle I flip that on and can't lie, feels real good!

It is an automatic. Seriously wish manual would've been available though...

 

No it doesn't

 

Think of an engine as a big air pump , the more air you can get in and back out more efficiently the more hp /tq you'll make

As for my set up all (3) of my mods work well together . As for yours a Header would help a lot

 

I would not waste money on a cold air intake. They have been dyno proven to do nothing on our trucks. US Marine and I have a supercharger, which can possibly see benefit to a CAI, I am not running one as it was not recommended by the manufacturer of the supercharger. The header in the other hand, has been dyno tested and shows both an increase in torque and HP, but also a significant shift to a lower rpm in where peak torque is made.

And yes, the automatic is going to suck up some power from the 2.7. I can attest this from personal experience. But don’t be afraid to rev it up, that’s where they make power. Also, I don’t know what the factory gear ratios are in the 3rd gens, but Depending on what it is, maybe consider regearing the diffs in the future, that’ll help with available torque.

 

Do all US Marines have superchargers?