Colorado high altitude driving...no power, help?

Are altitude and elevation the same?

 

When I first moved here I had a Volvo V70R with a big turbo. It was hilarious driving in the mountains, the turbo loved it and power on the passes was always there.

Now I have Tacoma V6 and it always feels like I'm dragging ass up the passes unless I'm high RPM.

Funny they are both 236hp stock, never realized the elevation took so much hp away.

 

Something tells me a SC Tundra would fill this void.

 

Higher octane fuels are there for performance engines with higher combustion ratios or boosted applications (and subsequently higher combustion chamber pressures which creates more heat which can pre-detonate or cause spark knock). The higher the octane the HARDER it is to ignite, the harder it is to ignite the less power it makes. The reason why the taco motor "makes more hp" (like 5hp and 10ftlbs) on 91 vs 87 is because of active knock sensing, the higher octane allows timing to be advanced more than the lower octane fuel and the ECU takes advantage of this by actively monitoring spark knock and advancing timing more to create more power.

Now where altitude comes into play and why high altitude places sell lower octane is because you can get away with it. Less dense air at altitude / higher elevations means less combustion pressures and less propensity for pre-detonation (spark knock).

 

Funny I just left Colorado. I pulled my camper from Tennessee and when I got about 50 miles in to Colorado I thought my truck was about to break down lol. It ran like piss and mpg went to 9.

 

Rev the crap out of it. I lived in Boulder for 20 years, and drove my Volkswagen Bug and Bus all through the mountains, near red line is your friend.

 

You're not hurting it using some RPMs. The power curve for our engines isn't flat and is up sloping. Holding it at ~2,500 RPM is what I do. It's not struggling and I have power to accelerate. I'll wind it out when I do need to upshift. So that's a serious improvement from my old truck with a 22R-E, which needed to be held at 3,500 RPM or more and it would still lose ground. I'd sometime have to take that poor engine up to 5k to avoid being a bug splat on the front of a Peterbilt.

 

I just moved to Leadville,CO (10,152 ft) last week from Huntsville, AL (600 ft) towing a fully loaded 6x12 uhaul. I averaged 13mpg accross the 1500 mile trip. I have noticed a little sluggishness up here but figured it was normal with elevation and always driving uphill somewhere. I have not felt like I lost 30% of my power. I'm running 265/75/16 Cooper ST Maxx's on 16x8 wheels which seem very heavy to me and have the Bilstein TRD Pro suspension with Icon 3 leaf aal.

 

I live in GA, but have made multiple trips to the western states crossing CO on I-70 each time. Been there and back in my 07 Tacoma 3 times. I've done it 6 times in other vehicles. Yes, I lose power at 10,000', but the Tacoma handles it better than several other vehicles I've owned in the past. I've never felt handicapped in the Tacoma, I've always kept up with traffic if not faster than average. In fact it was after the 2nd trip in an 02 F-150 that had the WEAK 4.6L V-8 in it that I decided to trade for the Tacoma. The Ford had 10 more HP, but weighed 1500 lbs more and it really struggled in CO. Much more so than my Tacoma. I'm thinking there may be something wrong with your truck that needs addressing.

 

Have made several trips over the years to Co from Memphis with different vehicles - Tacoma did best of any of them. Tried higher octane over 85 , ie 87, 89, even 91 - no improvement. Best results seemed to be 3500rpm over usual flat roads at 2500. All trips were vacation, didn't worry about mpg. Regular in even Amarillo was 85, on the way home ran filled with 89 for a couple of tanks to dilute the 85.

 

Or stay the hell out of the mountains....

<---- Lives on the south east coast where it is flat.

 

It does look good! As mentioned above, it's okay to wind these engines up. The most HP and torque are pretty close to 4k rpms. Sometimes I forget what it was like back in CO. Here, just outside Glacier NP, I'm at 3000 feet and getting 18 mpg on 33s fully loaded with a topper to sleep under.

 

They get used interchangeably a ton but elevation is the technically correct term in this instance. No one will bat an eye if you use altitude though

 

And boring...

 

Get out there once a year or so. 3rd gear is used heavily on i70.

 

I made the trip out to Moab last year from NJ. Even Supercharged the truck felt sluggish. Up in the Rockies, I barely made any boost. I could make 8.5 lbs here. That was with an 2.825 pulley.

My truck is heavy with bumpers, armor, tools, spare parts, and on 35s. I was also pulling my old M1101 trailer all loaded up
To camp.

This year, I’ve added 2.55” pulley and a few more parts. I now can make 12 PSI. We will see how it does in October I guess.

 

That's my point. Not the same thing. People should bar an eye, and call the person on it.

The dumbing down of America.

 

You won the internet today w/ this comment!

 

Thanks !! Seen your truck coming along good

 

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Believe it or not, this requires a substantial amount of power.


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