Will 2nd Gens gain more value?

Open question here... are there any good engine options for a Tacoma for highway travel above 70mph? Either Gen 2 or Gen 3?

 

Automotive engines generally use 10-15% of rated power at cruise unlike piston single engine airplanes cruise at 55%-65% of rated hp. Once you get to cruising speed the Tacoma will run just fine with the 2TR-FE. I've had no trouble on I-90 and I-84 with the normally aspirated 4-cylinder, and plan to install the LC Engineering Street Exhaust Header Kit as the estimated 10% hp increase would reduce downshifting on mountain passes (see the reviews at their web site). The best option for increased speed and/or fuel efficiency is reduced weight IMHO.

 

yeah, you can swap in
-Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon diesel
-Jeep diesel
-maybe bigger diesels like DuraMax, Cummins, etc.
-ROW Market Toyota diesels
-LS V8

not sure what else would be a good one to swap

 

I got the '69 VW Squareback cruising the highway at 80 mph (1600cc aircooled opposed-4, 4 speed overdrive), looked at the speedometer to see that, and immediately thought, "Wow! Something's wrong." It had to do with heading back to camp at 2 a.m. after a great Saturday night dancing to a country band in town. Don't even think about driving a 304, 345 or 392 V-8 with a gear-driven valve train at "70 mph or above" unless you've lost your sense of hearing. The IH light-duty truck V-8s were based on Farmall tractor engines, doubled parts from the 4 cylinder 4-196 for example. Those were TRUCKS, farm trucks. Yeah, take a LS series powered easier riding Chevy or GMC for that. 540+ horsepower...

 

Or take a slower highway, enjoy the scenery, increased reaction time, and fuel savings. Depends on what your cost of fuel is as well. A lighter truck will accelerate faster, but top speed will remain the same. Love the idea of the LCE header, as it also lowers the rpm that usable torque numbers kick in.

 

I'm curious if the VW has a tachometer, if yes what are the RPMs at 65 mph? I had a '98 Subaru Outback, also flat 4, water cooled of course. In 5th (top) gear of the manual transmission at 65 mph it was at 3200 rpm. Always wondered why Subaru geared them so short. The 4 speed automatic was about 2650 rpm at 65 mph with another Outback I had.

I like that the Tacoma is geared tall for a 4 cylinder manual transmission 4WD truck. At 65 mph mine is around 2375 rpm.

 

No tach, just the precaution (likely from JMP Publications' books How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive for those models, Square and Fastback, Karmann Ghia. I had a copy of How to Keep Your Toyota Pickup Alive for my '84 Longbed Deluxe) to observe the shift points at 15, 25, and 35 mph. Did you ever stop and notice that speed limit signs are set to those points? So we're all running either at a higher rpm in the lower gear, or lower rpm at the next gear, either burning more fuel or closer to lugging the engine. That recently got the attention of a Porsche and Audi owner I know. Highway Departments like those settings: more fuel tax funds. Barcelona Red does fine at highway speeds (I-90 and I-84), but I generally go slower to pay attention to what's going on beyond the windows.
Air-cooled engines taught me the importance of oil as coolant, which also applies in liquid-cooled engines. The Malibu and Taco tachs are helpful confirmation of speedometer shifts by sound...

 

My first manual transmission was a 1979, before what many others knew what Saabs were. No tach and a 4 speed manual, 4th was very likely 1:1 as it sounded like no overdrive.

Yes, shift by sound or feel is the way to go. My street is a 2nd gear street! (25 mph). I try to stay at 65 mph on the highway - when approaching a grade closer to 70 mph so I can keep RPMs above 2,000. This time of year, for various reasons fuel economy increases. Last week's calculation after the fill-up was 22.28 mpg.

I know 3rd Gen 3.5 V6 automatics can almost match that with an automatic, but a newer truck just isn't in the near term future for me.

 

@Stelcom66 The old VW manuals had an OD 4th gear, and with the first set of radials (Michelin XZX 6.00-15, taller than on new Rabbits) and the J.C. Whitney exhaust header and glass pack muffler kit replacing the old exhaust system and heater boxes (less weight), the '69 Squareback with the early Bosch electro-mechanical fuel injection system would run 36 to just over 40 mpg in 1981, until the new Toyota pickup replaced it in 1984. Having the engine weight over the drive wheels makes all the difference! I convinced my kids that tires are the most important item in how a vehicle drives in any conditions. We use all-season tires for northern climes (more rain, snow, ice and where I/we lived in SE and SC Alaska annual precip was 160-200 inches), not southern climates. We still build up speed to lose in a climb... including 4-cylinder Aeronca and American Champion airplanes.
All the best to you, Steve.

 

Link to that header by chance, good sir?

 

@Charlie Bravo Thanks Charlie. Interesting 4th gear in the old VWs was overdrive. Nor did I realize the fuel economy of a Squareback VW could be that good. I've heard even the VW Beetles were good in snow with the engine over the driven wheels.

I only put my Tacoma in 4WD once since I bought it a little over a year ago. We had a pretty easy winter.

 

Chris:
https://www.lceperformance.com/LCE-Street-Header-Kit-2005-2023-2TR-2-7-Liter-Taco-p/1041055.htm

AMD (YouTube Channel: The Car Care Nut) has a number of videos on the Tacoma manual's advice to exercise the 4wd selector at least once a month, as we used to do with manual hubs to circulate lubricant within the axle ends, and it's fine to follow the manual on straight, dry pavement. Likely breaks through whatever corrosion forms inside the ADD switching mechanism, as it's all electrical.

The only problem with the old VW (The Folks Wagon, and 'poor man's jeep') was snow piling up under the belly pan, lifting it off the ground. I wound up with a number of old VW maintenance books, and a couple with an old convertible bug that they drive to school still thank me for giving me one of those books (and some parts). That early Bosch fuel injection system was also used on SAAB.
"If I'd known you were going to sell that car for $700, I'd have bought it from you just for the fuel injection parts." (For his SAAB)

 

Only if you left it stock

 

Yes! My 1st Toyota truck was a 87 Turbo 5spd SR5 4WD Xcab.

 

Werent the turbos in the intake manifold?