4-cyl Acceleration

OK, I'll toss in.

I see 3 different issues presented in the first post:
1. His attitude concerning other drivers - Nothing likely to change there.
2. His average top speed.
3. The rate of acceleration he is willing to achieve or the rate of acceleration he can achieve.

As noted above, number 1 isn't going to change. That leaves us with issues 2 & 3.

As for top speed, pick what is safe for conditions (and reasonably within the legal limit) and the hell with everyone else. If that speed is slower than the other traffic, stay in the right lane. Problem solved.

However top speed isn't the same thing as acceleration, which brings us to issue # 3.

There's little sense in extreme acceleration to go 100 yards to the next red traffic light. Driving like you're on a drag strip in heavy traffic is hard on the vehicle and serves no purpose. In heavy traffic my goal is to make steady progress and minimize the need to stop & start.

HOWEVER - I am infuriated by drivers that always think acceleration is evil and refuse to accelerate faster than your average glacier. If it takes you 3/4 of a mile to go from 0 to 60 mph - Stay at the nursing home and sell your car!
You don't have to drive like John Force but pushing that right pedal down a little bit more isn't a cardinal sin. If you're trying to reach your top speed of 50 mph, get the damn thing up to 50, sometime today would be nice !
If you're merging onto a highway you need to be going AT LEAST as fast as the traffic you're merging with by the time you reach the end of the acceleration lane. If you're starting from a stop and will be travelling at a steady speed for a considerable distance - GET to that top speed quickly ! That covers what you are willing to do.

As for the acceleration that the vehicle is capable of achieving, most vehicles are capable of 0 to 60 times in under 20 seconds, even a 4 cylinder Tacoma. A 4 cylinder, unloaded, manual transmission Tacoma on flat ground is more than capable of reaching 50 mph in under 15 seconds. You don't need to redline the tach in every gear nor do you need to leave rubber on the road but you're not going to hurt anything by pushing that right pedal down a little bit more.

OK, I'm done ranting.
Thank You

 

Hey again,

I figured I'd do a mass reply to finish off this thread. Please shun me if this is against Tacomaworld etiquette.

I went ahead and got a dashcam (I actually had one for a while, just never installed it), and caught some pretty good whackos along the way. I also used some of the footage to mathematically calculate the "traffic inadequacies" - we'll get to that later.

Amen to that, maybe another Tacoma in the future will fix that problem. The new 3.5L puts out 278, I think I'm okay with that. Will certainly be an upgrade from my current 142.

I've considered regearing and all, but I don't really think I'm going to, simply because I know the Toyota engineers spent hundreds of hours calculating the best gears for a wide range of speeds and rpm. I'll just deal with it. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I probably should have specified in the original post, or at least made it more obvious, that my problem isn't cruising speed. The flow of traffic once you get to speed is the same as mine - the problem is getting up to it. Let's talk numbers.

I timed one of my freeway accelerations, and it took about 25 seconds to get to 60. This is turning left 90 degrees, and going up about a 20 degree upward incline for 1/4 mile. I rev up to about 4000 for the first three gears, and can still get on the highway without a problem at 65, even fully loaded with 500lbs in the bed. Besides, it's kind of fun to get the rpm up every once in a while. I know it sounds outrageous to take 25 seconds to do that, but it's faster than a lot of people down here in Florida. What particularly angers me is the people in sports cars (3-400hp) who merge on the highway at 45. Following my footage, it seems like people put the gas down harder to get to the next red light than they do to merge into traffic at 65mph.

About city traffic, I can understand why people get mad - they're not used to it. Everybody around here drives like their wife is in labor and they're going to the hospital, even if it's just to the next red light 500 feet away. According to the dashcam footage, it takes me 30 seconds to get to 40mph. The reason I do that is because the next light is red, and I'm not going anywhere by getting up to that speed any sooner. Everybody in the left and middle lane does it in about 10-15.

There's no way for me to put this into words without sounding like I'm completely hindering traffic. I promise it's not as bad as it sounds.

This is a really good response. I like how you included and differentiated between city and highway acceleration. You're right, I hate everyone else on the road . I don't have issues with speed once I get up to it, but it's worth a mention in the thread. I understand what you're saying, and just by eyeballing the dashcam footage, I don't lag so far behind everyone that it causes problems behind me, but I'm certainly never the first one off the line. I only accelerate slowly in the city, because blatantly throwing away momentum by using the brakes seems very wasteful to me, but obviously that's just me given the behavior of the other drivers around here.

The message that I've gotten from everyone is "drive safely but reasonably", so thank you for the responses. If you guys want, I can show you dashcam footage to prove my numbers. Other than that, I think we've gotten what we needed out of this. Thanks guys

 

The biggest question to ask yourself is, "Do I love my truck?"

If your answer is yes, fuck what everyone else thinks.

 

After reading this thread again I have to say that, as some have mentioned, the 2.7 does have some "decent" acceleration if revved up. It'll never win a drag race against anything but it will get up to the flow of 75 mph traffic when revved. I have always wanted to "not stress out" my taco and have gone out of my way to keep the revs at 2500 or below but lately I've found that when I rev it up past 3000 rpm when needed which isn't very often it actually idles better. I think keeping the 2.7 at too low of an rpm is actually bad for it since they were designed to be run at 3-4000 rpm all day long. I am now of the opinion that it's actually good for them as long as you're not doing it every day just for fun but only when needed. Even at that, if done every day when needed on a certain on-ramp I can't see how it's going to kill the engine any sooner than running it at 2000 rpm for it's entire life.

 

For me getting up to 45-55 mph my truck does okay, but getting up to highway speeds like 75 mph that’s when it feels a bit slow. In order for me to stay at 75 mph my truck has to go into overdrive.

 

It probably has to go out of overdrive and into 3rd.

 

Why not buy some beefy bumpers an so They’ll think twice before riding your tail or cutting you off. If they get froggy at least you’ll be better protected.

 

Hahah what would you like to know?

Turbo: Garrett GT2871R (T25 w/5bolt exit)
Wastegate: Kinugawa adjustable internal @8psi currently
BOV: HKS SSQV vented to atmosphere
Manifold: ShanghaiWaystar topmount
Intercooled: Yes. Some eBay front mount kit lol
Downpipe: ShanghaiWaystar
Exhaust: Stock catted, with Magnaflow muffler
Fueling: Stock injectors, pump, and FPR on 93 octane
Tuning: Stock ECU, switching over to AEM F/I-C for safe closed-loop tuning
Clutch: LCE Dual Comp (Stock couldn't hold the extra power)

Do I have a CEL on? Yep- for the SAIS since I haven't tried the @slyfox75 bypass or the @hewitt-tech bypass yet. The pump and all components are present, but the CEL does not put the truck into limp mode. Eventually I'd like to delete the whole system. I just reset it every few days right now since I'm more focused on other things like upgrading injectors and the pump so I can run E85.

How fast is it? Well I can hold a dead even pace with a Ram now, and the V6 Tacomas are a joke. When it's wet out, I have to be careful to not jump on it in 2nd gear, otherwise it'll break loose. The GT2871R spools extremely quickly, and I can make 4psi of boost by 2500rpm. Right now on stock tuning, I don't like to build boost in closed loop, as the AFR will be at 14.7 (stoich, but too lean for boost). Once open loop hits, I have plenty of fuel to reach 11.0-11.5 AFR (ideal under boost).

 

The poor acceleration at onramps, and extra effort to maintain speed on long, but fairly slight, hill inclines bugs the hell out of me. I'm on the verge of buying the K&N air intake assembly, hoping that will do the trick.

 

Ha, well if a K&N (or similar) filter/intake can give me just a little more power it'd be worth the $300... no way can I afford $5K+ for turbo. But I'm still learning, so researching all options.

 

Have you read this?
http://nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html

 

With all the trash talk and bad behavior around you need to have a thick skin. Some will be upset no matter what your speed or rate of acceleration and seem to be looking out for someone to vent at. As has been said, be reasonable about your driving habits but vote your concience with the skinny pedal, your not alone in thinking it's wasteful to abuse the gas and brakes to no purpose. Just be considerate of those behind when the light ahead is green since they too will want to get through at least that one more light. Nothing rubs me more wrong than allowing someone into the lane ahead only to have them piddle along 10mph under the limit and scrape me off at the next light with a hundred yards of empty lane in front of them. Courtesy goes both ways.

 

Sorta on topic....probably a midway solution to slow acceleration is to change your wheels and or tires. I like to have two sets anyway because I hate running snow tires in the summer and can't do the opposite. The steel stock wheels are about 8.5 lbs each heavier than a used alloy one.
Next, change tires to lighter weight P225/75 r16 P tires for when you are around town, etc. These will get you down to about 26 lbs. I am just going over these calculations and buying decisions now. My LT245/75 BFG T/A KO's on steel wheels are 75lbs. If I was to use OR 16 alloys and P225/75 r16's (better gearing for hwy acceleration speeds as well), it would be about 48.5lbs.
Depending on who you ask, 1 lb of rotational and or unsprung weight is equal to 2-5lbs of sprung weight. On the low end of the spectrum, that's 26.5 x4 x2=212lbs, at the least, or 5.5% of your trucks weight.
In addition, if you ride a m/c or especially a bicycle, you know what a difference light wheels make on acceleration.
This might be the best bang for your buck, and will also help with fuel mileage, which is half the reason we bought 4cyl, the other being the dependability, I would think.
Do note that the irony here is that the alloy wheels need recessed lug nuts, which on CL here in Vancouver cost more than the set of wheels they are intended for. Amazon.com I suppose.

 

As @Woofer2609 said above, reducing rotational weight can help with acceleration and fuel economy.
Bang for the buck (before forced induction) your best mod is an LCE header mated to an aftermarket muffler (MagnaFlow). You can go with an AEM Dry filter in the stock airbox. You're not going to dust your motor unless you're driving primarily in dusty areas.
That's about it for right now until @OVTune releases a tune for our motors. If you read the threads, they've done a ton for the other motors and are proving to be worth the money.

If you wanna get into forced induction- your best bet is the URD supercharger kit, which is still a pretty penny.
I'm into my turbo setup for roughly $2500 currently. But piecing together a custom kit took a ton of legwork and time. I also know how to tune using a piggyback ECU, which saves me having to pay a tuner.

Forums are always going to give you conflicting information one way or another. The best is to look up reviews, or talk to people that have actually done the mods you're looking for.
Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink.

 

Great article, I did suspect that the filter might let more debris through, but figured it was the straighter piping that increased air flow, and that the filter itself was better than OEM, and reusable. Now I know my suspicion was spot on, so I'm no longer considering this option, thanks Woofer.

Right on, a new header is now a possibility. I just put in a new air filter from O'riley's, don't remember which one, but it was the most expensive they had... where is the best place to buy OEM?

I dunno man, I think we're on topic since we're trying to problem solve the perceived sluggishness that I share with OP. If not, I apologize.

Alright, this makes sense (the parts I understood anyway )

The other day when the sluggishness was way noticeable on acceleration from a dead stop on level ground, I had stock 17" wheels (from a DBL cab) with P265/70 r17, but I just switched back to the TRD Pro wheels (PTR20-35110-GR) which I believe are alloy and weigh ~25-lbs, with BFG LT255/70 r17 (not all terrain) and I have a new set of BFG LT255/70 r17 all-terrain KO2 that will go on them in the next week or so when the new stock muffler and pipe arrives at the shop.

Right now my muffler is leaking like a sieve and the pipe is crumbling. This truck has just been sitting for about a year. I knew about the muffler leak before I parked it. I'm getting it ready to be my dd again and selling the dbl cab. I really only had those stock r17's on it while it's been parked this whole time. Before I parked it, I was running the TRD wheels.

Nearly all my driving is highway, it's less than a mile from my house to 55mph hwy which I spend about 20 minutes on, then about 3 minutes of 65mph hwy, then about 3-4 min of steep incline driving to work.
The short road to my house, and driveway are gravel. Lots of glacier silt in the air near the river, and frequent dust clouds from ATV's riding along side the 55mph hwy.

http://www.nsxprime.com/nsx-faq/exhaust-theory/
This article has been my main reference for choosing a muffler in conjunction with this forum, but I couldn't decide, and the mechanic recommended stock... and since I NEED a muffler, I just said go for it.

Should I cancel the stock order, and get a magnaflow? Will I actually feel a difference in my reg cab?

I'd be happy just to get a little more power, I'm not a speed demon, I just hate how hard I feel like I'm pushing the taco to get up to speed for onramps, and to maintain speed on long, low grade, hwy inclines.

 

One of the stock tire sizes for my 2012 Reg Cab A/T 4x4 is 265/65/r17 in a BFG All Terrain KO2 the revolutions/mi is 681, weight is 49.9, diameter is 30.6

The tires I'm using are 255/70/r17 in the same brand/style, with a rev/mi of 691, weight is 48.3, diameter is 30.1

Does the extra 10 revolutions/mi on my current setup mean my engine has to work harder to go the same distance/speed? Would a 10 rev/mi difference feel significantly different in acceleration on a 4 banger?

 

In my experience, with my last vehicle, a Mazda 2004 B2300 5 Spd 4 cyl, the stock tire size was 225/70/r15. When I ran 235/75/r15 snow tires I really noticed a difference in how sluggish the truck felt. They added about 1" of dia.. When I replaced the 225's with 215's, (slightly smaller dia. than the 225's). the truck felt great again. It all depends on the gearing. Personally, I think these trucks are geared pretty tall and the greater number of revs per mile will actually feel better. It may have to do more rotations of the crankshaft, but they might be "easier" miles. That's about a 1.5% smaller tire. You may feel a difference.
My main mode of transportation is a bicycle and the difference in tire weight is very noticeable.

Great article about the exhaust, very well explained. Jives with everything I learned in school. When he mentioned how loud unmuffled exhaust is, it reminded me of driving my 1977 Toyota Celica GT fastback home with just the manifold on. I hadn't finished the resto project at shop teacher training school, but it had to come home, without the windshield or anything, so I insured it for the day, put on my safety glasses and earplugs and drove it home. I can't believe I made it home it was SO LOUD! It also ran like kaka without any exhaudt system. I wish I had a garage, I would have kept that car.

 

The pedal commander looks pretty great, and reading up on it led me to info on spark plugs... I'm gonna get new plugs first, then re-evaluate. Thanks dude