New Tacoma to be shown in Detroit

I read somewhere that the 4.0 V6 in the Gen 2 was not initially designed for the Tacoma. Is that true?

 

Yes, it was in the 4runner and believe before that another suv. Don't remember the model off my head.

 

So not a sedan like new 3.5 lol. I guess Toyota figures if GM can stuff a sedan V6 in a truck, then they can too. Sigh...

 

I test drove several Canyons with the V6. Very nice. It was very responsive and got me onto the highway quick.

If GM can do that to a car engine, I can't wait to see what Toyota does.

 

The Ecoboost was in the Taurus before the F150. I guess the Ecoboost much suck balls for truck stuff right?

 

Doesn't the Colorado have to be rev'd to shit before you get your torque though?

 

The I4 drove like that. It's best suited for an Access Cab and manual trans. The V6 was pretty decent, but it was just me an the salesman in it. They don't let you tow during test drives.

 

I think a lot of people are getting wrapped up at where the peak torque appears in the rev band. They see 280ft lb at 4800 and assume it has to be revved out like crazy. Having peak torque at 4800 rpm doesn't mean that you have 0 ft lb up until that point. In modern DI engines, it is probably within 10% of peak at 2000 rpm. That is the beauty of modern engines. You don't have to have crappy low end to have a strong top end and vice versa.

 

My Uncles FJCruiser (with manual) felt real torquey at low rpm. Almost gurgled like a V8. I liked that.

 

You guys think Toyota will get a 7,000 towing capacity? I got a 3500 lbs Casita trailer. Would like to load it up with friends, bikes and gear and be able to get up the mountains that are near me.

 

Also wonder what Toyota does to the auto show trucks that they use in the presentations. Their motors aren't even calibrated to what production will be. I wonder if they sell them or crush them.

 

Well at the auto they didn't mention any towing capacity so we don't know yet.

 

I think Toyota is going to lose a fair amount of market share. They will still lead probably, but their competition is set to heat up even more. The new Frontier, the GM baby Duramax, Honda getting back into the game etc. I just don't see Toyota having 60% market share in 5 years.

 

We'll know for sure after this year and next based on sales numbers.

 

I tow a 4000 lbs trailer loaded with my wife and larger dog behind my current 2013 DCLB tacoma. We often go to the mountains which are 2 hours away. I have a S/C but I towed this load before it too. I can't see the 3rd gen having less capability than the 2nd.

 

Just about the same as the 4.0 in the Tacoma (both peaked their TQ at 4k rpm's) but the LFX has a very flat torque curve. I would imagine the new 3.5 will too.

Nice post quentin.

To those who keep mentioning car/truck engines, they aren't what they used to be, there really isn't a truck/car engine. Back in the day you had a heavy iron block and extremely heavy rotating assembly that were set up for down low torque, the engine would make almost double the HP as the TQ, it would rev to 5k if it was lucky and power would drop off after 3500-4k rpms. Pretty much no engine is like that anymore.

Engines today are designed to respond to a wide range of applications, many make with in around 10% of their HP to TQ ratio. They make some tuning changes, different intake/exhaust and move the power band around but for the most part engines today are very well rounded. They rev and make power high and can make grunt down low with a flat torque curve engines of the past could only dream off. Even diesel engines, the 3.0 in the Dodge is or eventually will be in some cars. The 2.8 Dmax might end up in a Cadillac.

Look at the new 6.2 in the GM trucks/Vette. For the most part an intake change and tune and you have a truck motor, no one bats an eye. It is essentially the same engine in the Vette that is slapping around exotics on a race track not pulling a boat out of the water.

When towing you want torque down low to get the load moving and HP up high to keep up with traffic. Ever watch those towing tests up davis dam on TFLtrucks? They aren't usually at their peak torque but revving at their peak HP. Ditto with the diesels, they aren't idling up at 1800 RPM, they are revving to 3k+. You want HP just as much as you want TQ. Our old 4.3 (we had a few of them) was a down low torque monster, it towed our 4k dry boat around town nicely. But on the highway it had extreme difficulty holding highway speeds with only 200 hp.

The old saying torque gets you there and HP keeps you there really applies. Point is the 3.5 should do very well with a descent gear and a good tranny behind it. I just got out of a Grand Cherokee rental with the 3.6 and 8speed, what a gem that combo was. Felt plenty strong down low for being a 3.6 "car engine" but had plenty up top. I think it really was in part to the tranny, which I think the new GM twins would benefit from and it is coming.

I think I may have gotten off topic a little but this for the most part applies. The 3.5 will be just as capable as the 4.0 while saving gas.

Will be nice to hear more on the mechanical specs and of course test drives.

Tyler

 

Nice post hopefully that stops the crying about having a "car" engine in a truck Rep added for you

 

Another question,
Can reliability on smaller displacement motors be diminished by pulling heavier loads? That is, does a 3.5 liter doing the same work as a 4.0 make it more susceptible to premature wear and/or failure?
I am assuming the engines of today are pretty stout. The Ecoboost runs a lot of power through their 2.7 and 3.5 motors. I am just wondering if larger displacements means less load and wear on parts as opposed to a smaller engine having to work harder with less displacement.

 

Same rotations means the same wear. Only issues with the Ecoboost have been oil starvation related, not wear related.

Edit: I should clarify. When the engine hasn't been tuned to run insane compressions and excessive rpms, none of the parts are going to experience any higher wear than a previous engine of a similar design. The increase in power of the 2GR engines over the 1GR-FE in our Tacoma's has come from a better intake system, slight timing adjustments, and direct fuel injection. The power increase isn't going to be putting any more stress on the engine than the slight increase in HP is. Toyota has built the engine to operate within those specifications. So no, I wouldn't worry that the power increase or heavy loads will destroy whatever 3.5 L engine Toyota is putting into the 3rd generation Tacoma.

When running synthetic oil the Ecoboost has proven to be a high mileage engine (we have two at work over 200K) and it can achieve that reliability because it was engineered to deal with those power levels. What's killing a few Ecoboosts is extended life conventional oil changes. The feed system for the turbo's is small and over mileage dino oil can gunk it up leading to turbo oil starvation.

 

Jon, it's my understanding that these are hand built since its so long until they're produced. I would doubt if they've even set up their production line since they're only built in 2 places and both of those factories are still turning out 2015 models. I bet they'll either be used as test mules or sent to the crusher.