Towing with the Turbo 4 Cylinder

The 4th gen Tacoma turbo 4 cylinder tows better than every stock Tacoma i’ve owned and i owned all generations of Tacoma. Way more bottom end torque than the 3rd gen 3.5L V6. Trans temp was acceptable the whole time.

 

We already know this....give us more shots of the dragster!!!

 

They have a dragstrip on Kauai ?

Yea, we need pics of your rocket ship and trailer.

 

I agree. My '08 never towed like this thing. I have only towed a pop up camper & a loaded utility trailer, but it's been a smooth experience.

 

What trans temps were you seeing?

 

I'm considering a new truck sometime next year and the 4th gen Tacoma is one of several I'm considering. But I have 2 concerns.

#1, payload. My 2nd gen has only 1200 lbs and from what I'm seeing most 3rd gen DC 4X4's are 900-1000 lbs. I want to put a cap on the truck and pull a TT that will be under 4000 lbs. I haven't seen a 4th gen up close yet, so I don't know what the real-world payloads are looking like. My trucks 1200 lbs is about as low as I'd want to go. Unless Toyota has found a way to improve on the 3rd gens payload Tacoma is not a consideration for me. The real-world numbers on Ford's Rangers are 1500+.

#2, fuel tank size. Once again my 2nd gen has a 21 gallon tank which is already too small when pulling a trailer. If I understand correctly the 4th gens are 17.5? If I'm getting 25 mpg when not towing a 17-18 gallon fuel tank is acceptable. But in my experience 10-12 mpg is about as good as you're going to get when towing with most any truck. That is unacceptable with a 17-18 gallon fuel tank. If the 4th gen can manage 15-16 mpg when towing a small trailer then I might go that way.

Right now I'm leaning towards a F150 crewcab with the 2.7 turbo engine. I don't really need a full size truck and would like to go with a smaller truck. But I can get a 36-gallon fuel tank, have 1800-1900 lbs of payload and get about the same fuel mileage as Tacoma. I like the Ranger too. It has the payload but is still handicapped with a small fuel tank.

 

Speaking of turbo 4s towing I can't recall seeing a turbo Ranger pulling a trailer on the road.

 

You might want to go with the 3.5 if you plan on towing. I don't tow anything, and have a F-150 2.7 with 3.73 rear unloaded the truck pulls great I'd imagine a trailer with in the trucks rating would tow just fine. The 3.5 would just pull that much easier. Or just go Super Duty if you are all ready going fullsize. The long bed Tacoma is almost the same size as an F-150 it's still smaller if the larger truck is to big for daily use.

 

Larger than Tacoma I considered had 5.5 ft beds only slightly less useless as the 5 ft beds. Fine, put your ladder or something in sideways and then lose other space vs the 6'2" long bed Tacoma. IIRC the payload is up to 1700 pounds with gen 4 but you need to drill into the specific model to know.

Something else in our pre-sales homework is your F150 will have poor rating for the all important overlap crash test same time a gen 4 Tacoma achieves top safety pick. We lost a family member in an accident not his fault but he was in one of Ford's craptacular safety rated pickups. The 1 MPG higher city EPA rating weighed in to my decisions too. Look at Ford's record for recalls and reliability against Toyota and also how Toyota does a good job of taking the pain for a recall.

In actual use I love the Sport or OR and above with "upgrade" or above comfort and quiet. Near or at a full payload trips to a property we're redeveloping finds my 2024 TRD OR just downshifts from 8th to 7th holding speed limit when it goes by prior gen v6 Tacomas or 4Runners screaming in pain. I can choose to blow on the fire or back off for a 2-4 MPG difference.

Weigh your overall use scenario. My fully loaded situation is occasional but an actual work pickup vs pavement pansy frequent. Trail building and ski area crew is frequent. A back seat is not important as it used to be. That makes the gen 4 long bed amazing. In the enterprise where we have a loaded and trailer scenario often we use full-size vehicles ideal for that.

 

How does the Ranger compare in those same crash tests? F-150 being an aluminum can it is flimsy. Ranger can be had with the 2.7, but I would prefer the longer wheel base of the Tacoma for towing.

I think It would be safer for everyone if people weren't pulling travel trailers up and down the interstate.

 

I recently towed my 1500 pound trailer for ten hours and got 19-20 MPG. This thing tows so much better than my previous second and third gen Tacos it is a world of difference. The gear hunting is gone.

 

The Ranger's not yet been in the all important IIHS tests. It is nice but also dropped out of our consideration for the short bed, and some HVAC and adjustments needing screen tapping. The Tacoma lets you do all vital and important stuff with gloves on.

Aluminum bodywork is a separate matter for crashworthiness. Toyota made an explicit effort to achieve top ratings and bring top safety electronics even though the federal standards do not apply. I hoped a new era Ford would be better.

Please keep in mind my comment on towing. The new Tacoma is extremely capable but I only need that max capacity on occasion. In our work fleet we have specific vehicles towing thousands of pounds often. The Rivian works well, so do the full-sized GM and Fords. I didn't want any of them for my work oriented but different use.

 

Blown alcohol 484 Keith Black Hemi. 14-71 High Helix Littlefield blower. Enderle big and ugly injector hat, Veney heads, Mallory Super Mag, Mike’s Transmission 2 speed Monsterglide. Car ran a best of 6.70 @ 204 MPH. We tried to step it up at our last outing but had some problems.

 

Yup, here’s a vid from this race
https://youtu.be/wkZQ0B5HX6I?si=ZAZVjcNeAWspRlDB

 

Just going off of the factory analog dash gauge. It never went above what it normal is at.

 

So, slightly faster than your Tacoma.

 

Excuse me guys, I'll be in my bunk for about 30 seconds