4 cylinder Tacoma happy or sad

I would have loved the v-6, But am more than happy with the 4 cylinder I bought!
Had it loaded with almost 1,000 pounds of plaster from remodeling my house, And had no problem what so ever getting to the dump! handled it like a champ!
As said, It wont win races, But I just want to haul some stuff for the house, plus speeding tickets suck.

 

i have a 02 sr5 2.7 5spd manual with 34 inch tsl swampers and have a buddy with a 07 ranger with the 4.0l he will beat me in a drag race but towing something there pretty evenly matched and i can offroad more places then him and he has a six inch lift compared to my 3 inch lift. very happy with my 4-bannger and it gets the same milage as my wifes 02 4runner v6

 

Welcome to TW. Definitely, you should get a Tacoma. They are great. I'm happy with my 4 banger.

 

Mine is an 08 Access Cab auto and I love it, this is my 6th Toyota truck. It handles Pacheco Pass here in Kommiefornia just fine and I have no problems passing on it. Most of my driving is considered city and I get an average 21/22 mpg. Top end is 98/100 mph.

Steve E.......

 

It truly does depend on what you're after. I had a 2.5L nissan frontier w/ 154hp and 171lbs and for whatever reason when I drove the taco 2.7L it felt slower! I had 32" tires w/ exhaust intake and timing advance. If you just want a truck to get it done and could careless about burning rubber then ya... a 4banger will work for you. All I can say is that the MPG is not THAT big of a diff. I average 17 w/ my v6 taco and my 07Frontier was getting like 18-19 average w/ the bigger tires and my heavy right foot. Really does depend on your driving habits, as for me I LOVE the feel of the 6speed V6 under my right foot. Everytime I hit the gas it is completely satisfying.

As for that 97 Ford F150 4x4, I'm willing to bet my truck would kick its butt.

 

When I was a kid working construction, my uncle (the boss) had an early 50's chev 1/2 ton that was our go-to truck. It had a whopping 105 hp straight 6 engine and the starter pedal on the firewall. We would load her 'till she was full...lumber, concrete blocks didn't matter, never thought about weight just volume so things wouldn't fall out on the road.
Our Toyota 4-bangers have a lot more snoose than that old Chevy and are capable of much more...but there are no races to be won with a load.

 

I just keep getting happier with my 2.7L engine. Saturday I did a trip to Defender in CT for their annual sale. Nice ride, about 120 miles round trip doing a steady 60-67 MPH and the scanguage showed 29.3 MPG for the day.



I also had the satisfaction of using my wifes line "I saved a lot of money."

 

WOW! I wish I had more patience to drive about 65. I go with the flow of traffic or about 5 MPH over the limit. On road trips I get about 25-27 MPG.

Quick question: What kind of gas did you use? 87? 89? 91? Thanks!

 

09 2.7 access
have hauled 1200lbs of fire wood up hill, no major lack of power except really steep hills
i love it

 

Just the good old 87 octane. Unlike the V6s the 2.7L engines don't get any benefit from higher octane fuel.

 

good ? new mexico I want to know the same thing?

 

I have been using 87 in the city and 89 when I travel on the freeway.

 

what effect will that have on milage/performance if you're shifting at 2/2.3 compared to 3/4 shift points?

 

The 2.7 works just fine for most things. If you regularly tow or haul loads, you might want to get the v6 but the 4-cyl still has some grunt. My 06 4-cyl access cab has an automatic and I know you are talking about the stick but the 2.7 really is a great motor, pulling hard anywhere above 3.5k RPMs. Plus everyone says the 4cyl responds better to engine mods than the v6, if that makes any difference to you. I drive like a granny and am usually below 2500 RPM even when on the highway (around town it's more like 1500 RPM and it still moves along fine, there is some good torque). Ultimately I don't need any more than 4 cylinders because I don't tow and my loads are usually under 800 pounds, plus I like having the extra room in the engine bay 'cause I do 90% of my own maintenance work.

 

ok so i have an 08 2.7 i have had it a little over a year and a half. and first off i dont know what you guys are talking about my truck is a little beast it keeps up with or will beat other 4cily and v6's with oversized tires!

but on the other hand i do some landscaping on the side so i dont do much hauling, but i had the biggest load yet the other day 3 big bolders prob more than i should have put in the bed, but it was running just fine i really didnt notice any bogging down.

on the highway out of town i think it does amazing has geat power up pretty steep hills, in fact my buddy has an 02 ranger 4 cily 5speed and i was blowing by him up hills. he hates me

 

After installing my lift and bigger tires, I thought there would be a loss in performance w/ my 5 lug. After I installed a Dynomax muffler, the performance is great! I am thinking of purchasing DTLH, of course, when I have more $$$.

 

u gotta sound clip of ur truck with the dynomax? im going to be putting one on my truck soon, interested in knowing what it will sound like!

 

really 2nd gear up to 60... i red line my 4x4 2.7l at 30mph.

 

No I do not. There are some guys that want a sound clip of my setup as well. I have been busy with classes the past couple, trying to get everything done before I head home this weekend. I will try and get a video today. I will post the video in my build thread.

 

Got the video of my Dynomax muffler. I went home for lunch to record the video. It is posted in my build.