Hybrid fuel economy number spilled..

This has been said so many times in the 4th gen forum..... The hybrid in the Highlander that gets 35mpg is not even the same engine and hybrid system that's in the Tacoma. It's a 2.5l non turbo hybrid. The Highlander max gets the 2.4l turbo hybrid which gets 26/27/27. But it also is a front wheel drive setup.

 

Yeah. I'm surprised you can get it in the sport at all.

 

Wouldnt it be nice if you could just order the truck you want and be able to select the features you do and do not want directly through toyota?

Kinda sucks you have to get packages with items when you may like 1 thing but not the other that comes with it...but I get it.

 

You might think that, right? I’ve had a lot of seat time with EA888’s & N20’s which are outstanding, so I use the term “wheezing” with affection. My wife has the hurricane four (Wrangler) which is an engineering achievement for Fiat-Jeep. It handily outruns my Taco, sounds like a 4cyl tractor.

There aren’t enough balance shafts in the world for four cylinders to replicate the inherent balance & NVH characteristics of a well-designed V6. Toyota knows this, a lot of Highlander drivers will tell you, and my 6yo can identify which is a six and which is not. The extra torque from forced induction doesn’t change that math, but going faster is always fun. Trading out cylinders for boost is a very old school trick, btw. Nothing modern there.

First-time Taco owners absolutely won’t care. The Civics and CUV’s they’ll trade probably already have them. For current owners, the hybrid’s massive torque will go a long way to making us forget.

 

My 2019 Ram 1500 ecodiesel averaged 28 MPG for the life time fuel economy average calculated by hand using the fully app on my phone. So yes a brick can average 27 MPG combined.

I traded in that Ram for my Tacoma because I don't drive as much and with a diesel that has to use DEF you can't let them sit or the DEF degrades and causes check engine lights, will start a 150 mile count down to see the dealer and once the 150 miles is reached the engine goes into limp mode reducing your speed to 5 MPH and when you shut the engine off it will not restart and has to be towed to a dealer, most dealers do not have competent diesel mechanics so they just start changing parts until the issue goes away and you are left with several thousand dollars worth of bills because of their lack of knowledge.

The Federal government via the EPA have ruined diesels.

 

Some of us with asthma disagree
Now about those Canadian wildfires...

 

I get why most manufacturers are going the turbo route. As a Porsche technician, I have been working on turbo engines since 1976 when the 930 turbo came to market. While that technology is outdated now, turbocharging still produces heat, and lots of it. Under hood heat accelerates the deterioration of anything made of rubber, including cooling hoses, vacuum hoses and boots, and plastic. So turbocharging is great for making smaller displacement engines achieve power and efficiency, it does come at a cost. It will be interesting to look under the hood of a 2024 Tacoma, 7 years from now.

 

Sounds like you are saying don’t buy one.

 

Why wait? You can look under the hood of any EcoBoost Ford.

 

Easier than that. My wife drives a turbo Volvo. Every time I go into the garage within 3 hours of her parking there the ambient temperature feels like 120 degrees.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to turbocharged engines. I just think buyers need to be fully informed on what technology they are purchasing in order to know what to expect for future repairs.

 

Another point of view would be: if you’re buying a vehicle and can afford one that suits your needs and uses less of certain finite resources, why not do it?

 

Ok, so this is not an issue. You are saying that the cooling in those vehicle you mentioned is not sufficient and we need to see how Toyota solves the problem, right? Or that it is impossible to dissipate the amount of heat produced? Just want to understand.

Edited: Readiing it again, maybe it is becoming a problem only after a stop, like arriving home?

Cheers.

 

Same platform, but their are additional variables involved that people have already mentioned. To add, aerodynamics and the size and threading of the tire also play a major factor in MPG. It's not a 1:1 comparison regardless of it sharing the same platform.

 

It would. With computers and robots doing most of the assembly, you think you could punch in the exact configuration you want. Tech is so good now each vehicle in the line can be a different color. So why can’t we hand pick options?

We should get rid of salespeople while we at at it too.

If you haven’t watched already James May had a good show on the Mini Cooper factory.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p033zfvw

 

They dont do it because it's not predictable. How do you tell your suppliers what you want from them if you don't actually know what your building tell you get the order in? It also means you have to have every option/component ready at all times, which takes up more space etc. It's not impossible but it's difficult, and all your suppliers have to be doing the same thing. It's much easier to set up process from a supplier stand point when Toyota says we will build 1000 Tacoma a day. 80% this option, 20% this option. This is how we did it as a tier 1 supplier. You can figure out then exactly how much time/people/space you will need to build a specific part and plan accordingly. Usually a year in advance.

It's also easier to level out your workload "heijunka". One of the principles of the Toyota way.

 

Ford does it for the most part…they are much better at a la carte than Toyota. Even let you pick gear ratios and whether you want a locker or not. More engine options, Better interior choices too. At least for their fullsizes, Can actually get vinyl seats and rubber floors…for doing truck stuff.

Not a huge fan of how Toyota specs their vehicles. Shouldn’t have to buy a mid to high level trim to get a manual. That should be offered in the base, among other things. For the money these things command, should be able to get exactly what you want. But oh well, (hate this phrase, but….) “it is what it is.”

It is totally understandable, it is called trimming the fat. One way to do it, is open ordering at the beginning every year, then do manufacturing runs. Of course that would be nearly impossible to trying to get the car buying public to actually plan for the future. We tend to be impulsive.

 

You wanna know who everyone hated the most in the tier 1 supplier I worked for?....Ford. there scheduling sucked and was always a pain for that very reason you stated. Parts had to be sequenced to them in some cases. The footprint need to assemble some of there parts was huge vs Toyota.

 

Better for the consumer though. After 30 years of Toyota ownership, almost bought a Ranger instead, even had a deposit down on one built to my specs, Ford even encouraged it. However because of the pandemic, Toyota got me a Tacoma in 5 weeks where Ford said 6-8 months. Put a deposit on both, which ever showed up first got my money. Though Toyota required a $2000 non-refundable and Ford was $500, so only ate $500…maybe a little more since the Ranger came in a couple grand cheaper. Of course the Ranger has worse resale value when I go to trade in.

 

Not the greatest comparison since diesel engines produce power so differently than gas.