Are first gen V6 Tacomas underpowered?

Maybe its the thick sea level air but both my tacoma and 4 runners 3.4 has/had plenty of pep till 90 if you ask me

 

I've only driven a 4 runner with the 3.4 but I thought it drove fine. You want to know what gutless is go drive a 4.0 ranger.

 

Only reason I'm even asking about the highway and sustained 70+ speeds is that in Arizona, everyone likes to drive around 80 on the highway on average.

 

I don't have to... I owned a 3.0 Ranger, and my god that thing couldn't even get out of it's own way. No idea why that thing was ever produced.

 

Another thing to note... 95-00 5vzs feel like rocket ships because they were cable throttle bodies if you floored it the engine got full throttle

(For 4 runners)

In 01 they got electronic throttle bodies with a cable but that cable only opens it ~%25 when floored and the computer gradually gives you the rest

 

old Ford Rangers and 3rd gen Tacomas are basically ALL i see in my area of the country, outside of full size chevy ford dodge
there are quite a few of the Chevy Colorado trucks but those things are starting to look rotty already here after many years

 

i did not know that about the throttle
thank goodness i got a lean & mean 97 model when i did

 

The stock 3.4 will do 80 np but I don't want to drive it that fast for any significant distance.

 

The mpgs do a nose dive to the lower double didgits at that speed

 

the MPGs (in my experience) do start dipping down in those upper 70s and 80s

for me it was upper doubleDs ... like 19/18ish
stock tires fully inflated 35psi

 

Well for me last tank i went to the beach and calculated my mpg to 19.4 on the way back, thats cause i was cruising at 70 on the highway with my buddies back home because we hadnt slept for a couple days at that point

My scanguage was reading 23mpg with it on cruise control, there was some sand driving on that tank so i believe the scanguage was accurate

 

I figured as much. When I would drive my TJ with the 4.0 at 75 MPH for extended distances, that was major driver fatigue.

Totally different than when we drive our Honda Odyssey at those speeds. It's calm, mellow, and well mannered.

Different vehicles for different purposes of course. Just wanting to make sure before I start test driving these first gens that they aren't complete dogs.

Had a Cherokee XJ once upon a time with a 4 cylinder, and I'm not kidding when I say it was literally next to impossible to pass someone on the highway, even when it was completely flat.

 

These trucks eat up highway miles with ease theres a few things to do that make it better though

1. Sound detaning my tacoma had none my 4 runner has all of it from factory bc limited

Its wonderful to not have hearing loss from the radio just to drown out road noise

2. Suspention/steering componants make a yuge difference on the controlability / driveability factor

too stiff of a suspention made it uncomfortable

Too floaty of a suspention will make it unpredictable

Theres no slop in the steering (rack and pinion) when everythings as tight as it should be unlike your jeeps steering box

 

road noise is mostly 'minimal' for me depending on type of pavement i driving on

there is a stretch on i80 outside of Des Moines Iowa i have driven countless of times that i swear the decibel level increases substantially through that county, i think its Adair county but maybe wrong idk, its by Stuart IA

 

My TJs were absolute dogs on the highway. I had both the 5 speed and 6 speed. It was usually 55mph uphill, 85 downhill. Rinse, wash, repeat. Did you have stock gearing?

 

Instead of spending the coin on a supercharger that you aren’t sure of all the issues involved, why not get a 2nd gen with the 4.0?

 

tl;dr

I guess it just depends on what you consider "under powered".

If power is your primary concern, just skip the entire japanese market to begin with and get yourself a domestic V8 and change your name to Kyle.

These trucks, even the 4cyls, are "perfectly adequate" for what they are intended to be used for.

 

Kyles drive civics get it together.

 

Sorry, maybe Cletus...

 

They have a turbo kit for it now, with some slightly larger injectors and low boost it would probably perform better then the supercharger for less.
The electronic throttle thing was like 03+, my 01 still has a good old cable doing all the work.

My GX has the electronic throttle and that thing has instant power, but the 4.7l v8 probably helps with that.