4vs6

looking for input from 4 cyl taco owners. time to buy a new truck, just wandering how you guys like your 4banger. with gas shooting up, thinking 4 would be better on my wallet. i have a 02 taco w/ 6cyl and a 07 fjc w/ a 6 cyl. are the 4cyl motors like the 6s, like tons of miles and they keep on firing down the road. i have 275k on one truck and 180k on the fjc. can i expect the same with a 4cyl. i'm looking at one now that claims 28mph hiway and 24 city, do you guys see that kind of mph? thanks for your input!

 

Having owned a 2010 4-banger, and now a 2012 V6... they are both great engines.

That said, the 4 is freaking bullet-proof. Not huge on power, but strong and reliable. You may be disappointed in the real-world MPG numbers, but you will still see several more MPGs than you would with the 6.

My four banger hauled a heavy trailer thru the mountains of WVA once, interstate in the summer, and handled it fine.

I do admit, I prefer my new 6cyl... smooooooth power, and still 18/gal. YMMV

 

No way you'll see 24/28 out of a 4cyl 4x4 unless you hypermile the crap out of it. A manual 5-lug 4x2 can put those numbers up though, provided you don't lift or put bigger tires on. The manual 4 cyl 4x4s gets about 15-20% better MPG than the automatic V6 4x4s (auto V6 gets better MPG than stick V6 in most cases). Saw that you got a 4cyl 4x4 regular cab with topper. If it's a manual, with BFG All Terrains, you should average around 21-22mpg. The V6 would be around 18-19 (at least my access cab is).

 

the 24/28 was on a different truck,04/reg cab w/ 2wd. was a dealer quote. i decided to go with a new 4x4 and get what i wanted.

 

an 04 regular cab probably had the 2.4 instead of the 2.7. The smaller 4 cyl really did get good gas mileage. I have a 2011 reg. cab 2wd and the 2.7L has more than enough power to get out of it's own way, but you'll only win races against other 4 bangers. I get around 18-20 mpg around town and 25-26 on the highway. I got 28 mpg once, but that may have been a fluke. Way better gas mileage than the 13-15 mpg full size truck I had before.

 

i just sold my 08 jeep commander that got 16 mph, if i can get 18/20 mph i'll be saving some gas money. this will be the 4th new toyota for me, well the ex wife is driving one of them. the other 3 are in my name. i have no plans on ever selling mine. these things are built like a tank and just keep on giving.

 

Love my 2.7L. Performs great off road, and has enough power for whatever else I ask of it.

 

Mine gets driven sensibly in harsh conditions (logging foreman--lots of dirt miles on load range E tires), and has gotten a little over 19mpg over 40 thousand miles. Guys doing similar stuff with their V6 get about 15, and with a 4.8L Silverado, I got 13. The fuel savings ($4000 for the year) makes half the payments.

No regrets whatsoever.

 

the 2.7's are tanks! i've had mine for, going on 5 years now...three of those, the engine was mis-fireing in one of the cylinders. still got me every where i wanted to go...and i mean every where!!!! even through the local mud bogs (where they were running 454's and 460's) in reverse no problem. sounds harsh...but i won 150 bucks out of it. i've pulled out powerstrokes, duramax, cars, tractors...if you can get a hold of one i'd highly recommend it.

 

I have a 2007 Prerunner Access Cab SR5 with the 2.7L I4 and it has been bulletproof to date. I have about 116K on the truck and really haven't had any work done on the engine (or the rest of the truck for that matter).

I probably average 21.5 MPG which isn't bad for a truck this size. There are a couple guys at work that have the V6 and they regularly see 18.

As for power - no complaints from me for what I do. It will haul all the way up to the 3500lbs that they advertise. We tow a ski boat occasionally and there are no problems pulling it with this truck. If you are going to be pulling really heavy stuff all the time - get the V6. If you are going to DRIVE the truck and throw stuff in the back and occasionally tow heavy stuff, you should be fine with the 4cyl.

 

I average 23-24 mpg with my 2.7 access cab automatic, that's with little or no load and some hypermiling (coasting to red lights from a distance, shut off motor at long red lights, staying at or below 65mph, etc). It's a great motor for my purposes, I haul dirt bikes and camping gear regularly, and loads of wood occasionally. No problems.

 

My 5 lug (when it was stock) could easily get 30+ MPG on the highway. For about 30k miles, I averaged 27 MPG combined (tracked every single mile). Now with larger AT's and colder weather, I've been averaging 22-23 all winter.