Ford vs Toyota - minor comparison

Last week three adults in my truck headed towards the fishing grounds, 320 mile round trip. Took my Ford diesel auto 2002 4wd crew cab long bed which can easily tow 11,000 pounds and has 95K on the ticker. Round trip fuel mileage was 20.3.

Made the same run yesterday in the 2012 Toyota 4wd CC V6. Round trip fuel mileage was 20.5. Expected it to do better as we just cruised easily and didnt break the speed limit.

Sometimes newer is not better. But the Tacoma does get better mileage around town, especially during the winter months.

 

for one i don’t see how you can even compare a v6 gas to a much much digger diesel! but thats just me.

 

just proves yet again diesels kick ass

 

I would love to have a diesel. But I love my Tacoma just as much.

 

the fact that he gets similar mileage with his added displacement and weight says something for diesel. much more energy content per drop of fuel. the fact that most of america is forced to run gasoline is crazy. look at audi's le mans winning race cars . . . . diesel.


i would also like to say that not having dual vvti in these trucks really upsets me. that could help. screw it i wonder when they are going to make motors without cams period, seems like they could have some sort of hydraulic/electric setup to actuate valves independantly for an infinitely variably timed valvetrain. no belts, no chains, little to no parasitic loss.

if they do they will do it on a gasoline motor though instead of starting with something that is inherently more efficient

done with my rant

 

floor is yours OP.

 

not within the motor, but that's essentially what Nissan's CVT transmission does. subaru has it, and toyota uses Nissan's cvt in some cars.

 

isn't the bmw double vannos set-up like that?

 

talking specific to the valvetrain. not up to date with modern cvt transmissions but to me the basic design is a sham. i dont see any point about them that would increase efficiency but my judgement is pre-mature. i say the same about a planetary/ torque-converter auto but they seem to be doing fine.

talk about transmissions, screw em, i want an automated dual clutch sequential box. but no i guess we have to leave them to ferrari for now

 

their was nothing gimmicky about my 04 z4 that mine was the 2.5 and it was ballsy everywhere.

 

im not sure Hans, i thought i saw something bout that in car and driver years back. . . . come to think of it that may be the source for my current outlook on gasoline motors. in that same issue, i remember reading about direct injection and "oh its the future" and yet that "technology" has been at home on diesels for how long now?

what do these engineers do for a living? lol

 

sorry you must be talking about cvt's. i may be cornfused

 

I know you're talking about valvetrain, but working with the transmission is another way of achieving a similar result, and the reason full size family sedan's (Nissan Altima) can get 50+ mpg.

it's run on a belt/cone system rather than gears, and has 900 shift points, vs our 5 plus vvt. It's a pretty cool way of working with the transmission, I dunno how it would perform on a truck though.

 

cool story bro

 

Point was to show how good diesels really are. The truck weighs in at 8,800 pounds with a full tank of fuel, can haul 11,000 pounds but can still manage to get 20.3 on a short trip up and down mountains.

Parking the Ford around town? Forget it, lol. Still need the Ford to pull the boats but the Tacoma gets more use and the Ford is only driven once a month in the winter just to keep the old gal happy.

Imange the fuel economy if Toyota would offer a nice small diesel in the Tacoma line............just wishful thinking.

 

diesel burns slower than gas. no shit

 

OP , your 20 MPG is OK, but I'm averaging 25 MPG on my 5-lug taco FTW!!!

 

Good point. Got a flyer in the mail the other day from a Ford dealer, had a coupon special for a $90 diesel oil change. That's the discount price? Yeesh.

 

too bad you still spent more on the fuel for the ford...