Can I make my taco faster?

When I asked the "kid" that was selling me his '12 Standard cab with manual why he was selling it, he said, "Because it's slow as f***".

That was right before truck prices went crazy.

I mean, it's slow for sure, but those of us that came of age in the late 70's got our starts in Pintos and Chevettes, so there is "Slow as F***" and then there is a 1975 Pinto which will actually slow down at full throttle if:

1. The grade is anything more than "mild".
2. If there's any grade at all and you have 2 or more people in the car.

OK here's another data point,

The 4 cylinder in my Tacoma is rated at 159 horsepower.

The 4 cylinder TURBO in my 1979 Mustang was rated at 105 horsepower.

The V8 in my 1983 Trans Am was rated at 145 horsepower.

Anyway....I like my taco just like it is for the same reason I preferred Mary Ann over Ginger. You either get it or you don't.

 

Oh yeah, Mary Ann over Ginger any day of the week!

 

And the 240Z had 154 horsepower! The MGB had 91 horsepower and my dad had a Rambler 550 automatic which when loaded with four humans would when climbing a hill, come to a stop and then roll backwards it was so freaking slow. I do not care if a Telsum can go 0-60 in 3.0 seconds, it is still an ugly electric egg. I would think a nice, not overly modded 4 cylinder Taco would be a nice truck.

And for horsepower comparisons, my new MX5 (Miata) ND2 has 181 horsepower, weights barely 2300 pounds and can go 0-60 in 5.7 seconds, that 240Z, it was about 8.1 seconds and my 1979 Mazda RX-7 was just under 10.0 seconds and it was fast enough to get all sorts of tickets, for driving, uh, how shall we say it, uh, too fast! And since then, the only speeding ticket I have achieved was earned in a Toyota 4 cylinder, lifted, 89 HiLux, wasn't that 118 horsepower?