Enough Already! Your Truck's T, HP and RPM Explained

The “sluggishness” of the truck bothered me in my first week of owning.
But after researching, not other trucks, but recent years of various Toyota vehicles, I found out that the why of how Tacoma’s powered train operates is very similar to what they did to the Camry, and rav4.
So I got over it. The truck is plenty powerful, they hold it back for some reason.
It is what it is

 

I find most people I know are extremely afraid of bringing up the RPMs. Every single day I drive my 96 4Runner I bring that tach to 5 grand. It's good for the engine!

After reading through this thread a bit, what a sad state of affairs we are in. A computer update to change drive-ability of a MT truck. I tightened the cable on the throttle body to make my responsiveness instant.

 

Couldn’t agree with this more after doing some research and asking questions. It shifts low and keeps the MPG up. I’m fine with that. Hell I have a hard time doing the speed limit anyway. Damned old age.

 

My dogs love riding in the bed of the Tacoma, especially on Saturdays. One time I autocrossed an MGB GT and came in third place. Last night I began a process of evaluating carburetor jet sizes for a 1984 Honda 250. I’m not bragging either, and I, too, like my Tacoma and think it drives nice.

 

I had a Stage 3 C6 vette and a 15 F250 diesel deleted and custom tuned. Both of these where monsters, but roads here in South Louisiana were hard on the vette and the F250 was really 2 big for what I needed. I traded the 250 on a 19 Pro (even money) and I love it. It is quick, agile, and responsive. I've been a member of the Camaro, Corvette, Jeep, and Powerstroke forum and I have never seen so many disrespectful comments as I have seen on this forum in just a couple of weeks. I appreciate how this thread started and I'd like to see more like this, but I also think all the negative replies are unnecessary. If you are truly having issues with your truck then you should use this forum to get help or to help others, not complain. If your vehicle is that bad and it makes you that miserable, then just get rid of it, stay off this forum and let people who want to share knowledge and learnings with others use it.

 

Kids with unrealistic expectations. There are many of us who know better here.

 

Yep, it's hard to argue with someone who comes to the table with facts and data.

 

No. It's not. Hang around here awhile lol.

 

My last truck was an 85 4x4 (22R)with about 130 hp(after much head work). So my new Tacoma is like a drag racer to me.

 

Thats how i felt when i sold my ranger and drove the tacoma haha!

 

Accurate, the wildly overdriven 5th & 6thMake things extra tough. IIRC my truck tries to run at 1,800 RPM at 70MPH. People complain about the transmission being messed up, but it is actually the tuning of the engine that is the problem. No grunt down low. The torque curve need to be flatter and start lower. Look at the OV tune dyno numbers for stock trucks. At 1,800 the torque output struggles to overcome the wind resistance of the truck.

 

Right on! High rpms should feel natural to me. I just upgraded from an ‘89 with a 22re for my commute over echo summit. I’m used to having to keep it wound up. Ha ha

 

You guys are 100% right about people being afraid to rev nowadays. Even on some of sports car forums I’m on, people complain about sluggish acceleration but never rev past 3k to get on cam.
Best performance upgrade I suggest is sound deadening material and disconnect the tach.
But seriously someone once told me if you think the car is slow, pull out of the driveway and run it up to 4K, and run through the gears without ever letting the RPM’s drop below 3K for 10 minutes. Then if you still think it’s slow make mods, if not you know you just need to rev more.

 

Rev high or not the 3rd Gen is still slower than a 2nd Gen. Cars tend to get a little faster with newer generations and the Tacoma got slower... I think that's where people are generally frustrated or put off. For me, the difference is negligible but I do wish the 3rd Gen had a little more grunt

 

“I might even ask for dinner recommendations”

touche

 

Based on what empirical data? Don't say TFL truck.. just don't.

I don't have any experience with the 4.0 equipped 2nd gen. I do, however have experience with two 3rd gen trucks - a '16 and now a '19, both M/T.
As far as the "grunt" comment goes, it could very well be that the hardware (2GR-FKS) can't make the same torque down low as the old 4.0 (I"M NOT TALKING ABOUT PEAK TORQUE, OP).
I can tell you with certainty, however, that the factory software written for the 2GR in the 3rd gen is definitely "limiting access" to available power or the delivery of that power down low. Yes, I'm tuned - which will twist some ppls panties on TW.. but having driven three versions of factory software and a bunch of OVT files, I can tell you the latter wakes the truck up significantly down low and into the midrange.
This is not a plug for OVT.

 

Don’t forget that truck engines generally don’t make as much power for longevity reasons.

 

seeyah...

 

I have driven a 2010 Lexus RX350 that weighs over 4300lbs. The power is immediate, linear, and super smooth, even at high revs. It is considerably quicker than my Tacoma. The transmission is always in the right gear and it gets better gas mileage in the city and on the highway. Isn't it awesome how much better newer technology is?