Is 4-cylinder powerful enough as a family car?

plus its a porche so I doubt it will last as long as the tacoma anyway

 

My DCSB Prerunner 2.7 auto was 22 MPG city and 28 MPG hwy in stock form.

I bought it because I needed car seating and truck bed usability. It does everything I expected it to, was only $24k, and until I put new tires on met my mileage expectations.

That highway MPG is 2 adults, 60 lb dog, and enough gear/clothing/supplies for weekends camping or out of town.

 

Is the 4-cylinder powerful enough as a family car?

The short answer is yes as long as you realize you are driving a heavy vehicle with a small engine.

However the TacomaWorld answer is, fuck no unless you throw a URD supercharger, bilistein 5100's, and a set of 33" tires on there it ain't a fuckin 4 banger Taco it's just a vagina!

 

I4=NO. Get the V6. You will be glad you did

 

looks like i'm a giant vagina

 

*brofist

 

I find it hard to believe a stock 94 Toyota pickup gets 28MPG cruising at 80. The current I4 couldn't dream of doing that.

 

Ahem

I have tanks of 27+ at 80mph on two of mine so far. That's well over 400 miles a tank easy. And that's normal driving, and not any of that hypermiling silliness.

You should be careful about such statements if'n you don't know

 

I've driven a 4cyl. I've seen hypermilers with 4cyls. Never seen 28 MPG at 80 MPH. Techincally, you can never know, but I've seen enough to know that's a unicorn engine. I get 28 with my 4.0L maybe, at 60 MPH with LRR tires.

Please do tell me what you get at 60. 40MPG?

 

I don't know, I've never driven a tank at 60 to know.

I lived in Florida for 18 years...speed limits on the turnpike down there are 70 & 75, and that's what I drove...75-80MPH every day.

I commuted an hour each way.

Here in OKC it's only a little slower. I average 70 back and forth to work on the highway now, I live in the burbs and work in them, and my last tank was 24.4 mpg and it's gorram December.

Maybe you just aren't doing it right?

 

I believe it's possible with a regular cab 5spd. I filled up today and I calculated 22.8 on my AC auto and it's been cold down here. The A340E is not a very efficient transmission and the 5spds have higher rear end gearing than the Autos. So a 5spd is probably only turning about 2200 rpm at 80. If it's even that much. Plus the year round warm temps and flat roads in FL and yes I think it's very plausible. The best tank I ever got was a trip to FL last summer 24.9MPG, running 70-75mph w/the A/C blasting.

 

It's more than possible

Here

https://www.fuelly.com/driver/xaks

Caution, my ugly mug is there too

That's every mile I've driven since 2009 I think. Every gallon of gas put through a Taco. I've always calculated my MPG numbers on a full tank basis, for consistency. Anyone can have a good trip to skew numbers.

Mine are real tanks of gas from real use. Hauling crap around, running to the grocery store, taking the yout to work so she didn't have to bike in the Florida heat, you name it.

Around 110,000 miles, by my mental quick math, all told

 

It's a matter of personal preference and driving style. If you want throttle response and like driving fast, then you might as well get the 6. If you push the 4 to respond like a bigger engine then it will suck gas. Same goes for towing and off road. If you mostly use it to commute, then you will be happy with the lower fuel costs.
I like my 4 banger, but still waiting for the mpg to climb above 20. Maybe after the first oil change. The crappy 4 speed auto tranny doesn't help the situation.
I don't plan on towing stuff, but a little extra pep would be nice. At 2 tons, that's a lot for a 4 banger.

 

George, even driving at 65-70 on my truck (identical to yours) I never got under 20, from the day I drove off the lot. What are you getting? Lot of city driving? High freeway speed?

 

You must be talking about a 4x2 because on the 4x4 the 5-spd and auto are geared the same (4.10). On the 4x2 it's 3.307 with the 5-spd and 3.583 with the auto, so the auto is geared a little shorter at the axle. BUT top gear overdrive is .81 on the 5-speed and .71 on the auto (that's fifth in the manual and fourth in the auto of course). So as far as RPM at any given speed in top gear they're probably pretty close.

I believe someone could get pretty good mileage out of a 4x2 Tacoma because my 4x4 usually runs well above its EPA ratings. Even the last tank of mixed city and highway with temperatures well below freezing and at times near zero I got 22.1. That's with a rating of 21 highway. And I have exceeded 25 on a couple of occasions (nice weather and 55 mph on two-lanes).

So, the 2.7 has the potential to be a pretty efficient engine.

 

Plus, you add in the silly amount of torque it puts out and you have a VERY capable little workhorse truck.

I didn't care for the responsiveness of the auto, so I've stuck with the stick on mine, and never once regretted it, even in downtown Miami traffic

 

PreRunner 2.7 auto also has 4.10.

 

Yep. To me the 2.7 is just the right engine for this truck. Yes the V6 has more power but it does not seem to me that it's enough to justify the economy penalty. But that was my objective in moving from a full-size pickup to my Tacoma.

 

Thanks, that's true.

 

Get the V6 dude seriously, you wont regret it. Coming from someone who had a 2.7, you won't regret getting a 6. First time you try to pass a truck or go up a mountain pass in that 4 cylinder you will be wishing you got the 6, at least that is what happened to me with my 11. Not knocking it down, it's a great engine, but in anything bigger than a regular cab it is not much to write home about in my opinion.