So Toyota is wussing out on the Engine, dang it. 270HP but add gearing

Ha! In all seriousness though, you'd be surprised. I think the engine is ready to be released, they are just doing some tweaking to get it perfect would be my guess. The simulated Atkinson cycle Toyota uses can be very difficult to tune just right.

A good strategy with anything new IMO

Toyota has historically been conservative with their releases though; I don't think the new Tacoma's release will look anything like the Colorado's.

 

That interview was what, in January? Engine is tuned,dialed, and they know the power specs. They are just waiting to ship last batch of 2015's and clear as many as possible off dealer lots before specs are unveiled.

 

^this^

 

If that's true, wouldn't that be a good thing for the 3rd gen? Waiting to release the stats because they are scared that the new numbers are going to drive people away from the '15s and hold out for the '16s.

 

Im guessing neither of you have been part of a bureaucratic organization...

Yes, the engine is "tuned" and can be probably released today, but I doubt they have decided on what tune to use for final release. They have to take in account the Colorado engine and make sure they are competitive in the power segment and MPG market as well. Agreeing on the final tune will take some time. Im sure its very tricky to adjust valve timing for the atkinson cycle operation and finding that "sweet spot" between good power and good MPG's can take some time. Testing will include city/highway driving, offroad maybe, towing and hauling definately, etc... By now Im sure there are a few options and Toyota is just waiting for a final vote. OR they already voted on the final release and now need to test it before release.

Again, this is assuming if they are going with a full time atkinson cycle engine. If they are using the electronically controlled valve timing for an Otto/Atkinson cycle engine, tuning can be more difficult. Again, they need to decide when to switch the two cycles and have to do extensive testing for each tune, again, including road tests, highway, hauling, towing, etc... If they are too conservative, the engine can lag when power is needed and if they are too aggressive, observed MPG's will be way worse than advertised.

A lot has to go into the process. I know this world and society is becoming more and more "give it to me now" but please try to be patient.

Could be this too. Could be they want to take competition by surprise. Could be because power/MPG's suck and they are trying to fix it. Could be a lot of things.

 

I assure you this isn't going to be Atkinson cycle all the time. It has VVTi-W like the NX200t. That allows it to run both Otto and simulated Atkinson.

 

They are literally re-tooling the plant in a couple of weeks. They know how the engine is going to be.

 

Has that been confirmed? I thought there is still the debate between the 2GR and 7GR... Would like to see where Toyota confirms this (really, not being a dick, very curious).

How the plant works and how the engine is tuned are not related.

 

No shit. But they aren't gonna re-tool the plant and go "Hey guys, now that the plant is re-tooled how much torque do ya think she should get?".

 

Why not?

 

Because that is a form of backwards engineering. Not to mention they need the torque numbers earlier for things like press-released, website, promotions etc. They don't just figure that out the day before the truck is released.

 

No it isnt. Tune has nothing to do with the actual parts of the engine Im sure engine design and "retooling" requirements were finalized a long time ago. It takes lots of planning and coordination to make these changes.

As mentioned before, Im sure there are some finalists and its probably just down to what ECU flash they use. Im sure torque release (scheduled in Aug IIRC) is about the same time Toyota finalizes them. If you don't feel that way I don't care, but whatever the reason for the release date, it has nothing to do with the Factory "retooling."

 

Yeah I just don't see them winging it last minute. And yeah, I don't care if you disagree either. This is a forum and we are supposed to argue, right?

 

I disagree with this

Im sure everyone is frustrated and Im sure the engineers are even more frustrated. Again, its a bureaucratic thing, the engine output and MPG's are under a lot of top down scrutiny as this engine will be the major selling point of the truck. This means "much ado about nothing" as I like to put it. If Toyota says they haven't finalized the output numbers, I would put my money on just that. Again, Im sure the engineers have a few tunes dialed in and we are just waiting for a decision which won't be made quickly, prematurely, or lightly. There is a lot of testing, tweaking, etc... to make the big wigs happy with an August deadline (again, IIRC).

Remember, the guy or committee, or whatever, that finalizes the engine output is either going to make his/her/their career or lose it. Not an easy decision.

 

this is worse than Myspace

Be careful, Mods are watching

 

I just can't see them waiting until the last minute to tweak the computer programming. From a production stand point that is bad juju.

 

I agree. Devil's advocate is just a role many like to constantly play. Maybe each engine will roll off the line with a different torque rating? haha

 

I think they're just working on the press release explaining why the ~270 HP 3.5L is in reality more powerful than the 306 HP competition because of the gearing and use of the Atkinson, Otto, Larry, Curly, and Moe cycle.

 

Can't say I'm feeling to bad about my VQ40DE.