Has anyone here actually driven a 4th gen SR?

Cheaper to manufacture, vs having a completely different engine with 100% different components (i.e. 2.7L).

Now why buy one? That's a good question.

 

I'm confused. The SR MT and higher trim MTs are all rated for the same HP - 270. The higher trim MTs have the same engine oil cooler as the autos, correct? If so, doesn't that mean the SR MT, rated for the same HP, has the same engine oil cooler? So how does the engine oil cooler (as opposed to the presence or lack of a tranny cooler) explain the detuned 228 vs 278 difference between the SR and higher trim automatic trans models? Or maybe only the SR auto lacks an engine oil cooler while the SR MT has one?

 

They're two different things: it it's like the 2nd and 3rd gens, the oil cooler is like part of the towing package, to keep oil temps down under load. So not directly related to the engine's horsepower.

 

I bet the detuned engine last longer. It should do pretty well dragging a 2 or 3 thousand pounds of things like lawnmowers and tools.

 

Unfortunately in Canada the SR models with the detuned engine aren’t even available in the lineup configurator.

 

What engine do you get then with the SR?

 

The SR is not available. The lowest price Tacoma is an SR5 with the regular 2.4 turbo and a 6foot box.

 

I get that, but I don't understand why there no difference between MTs in HP or towing yet the SR AT is significantly less? Obviously there isn't a concern with respect to MT trans temp under load like there is with an auto, but wouldn't the MT SR be derated as well if it's missing the engine oil cooler? Sorry if I'm being dense. I'm not sure which 4th AT trims, if any, have a trans cooler.

 

I don't think any do.

 

i have a 4th gen manual trans SR and a 3rd gen auto SR.
the 4th gen for sure has more torque once boost kicks in.
low rpms before boost hits is pretty abysmal though.

 

Doesn't the turbo kick in at 1700?

 

I don't know how much torque limiting / boost by gear is built in but doesn't feel like much in the first 2 gears.

 

Couldn't you add an oil cooler after purchase? Either the factory or aftermarket?

 

You wouldn't even think to add one if the higher trims didn't have one.

These are water cooled engines, and no one is going to be working the base SR hard enough to need one. I don't know the full rationale for adding one for the towing package on the previous gens, but I have a feeling they are overkill for most people (like the external transmission cooler they dropped in later years).

Basically, if you need one, the base engine SR is the wrong truck for you anyway. And honestly, if you're looking for a hardworking, dedicated tow vehicle, no Tacoma is the right truck for that.

 

The SR is literally the only trim that fleet/contractor buyers would be interested in, yet it has a lower tow rating than my Subaru. Toyota is just shooting themselves in the foot. All the hardware is already there. They had no reason to design a special detuned, low tow rating vehicle.

 

The SR is way more powerful than it ever has been, the 2.7 wasn't exactly a powerhouse and Toyota sold plenty of them to fleets.

About that... Fleets aren't buying SR's to do hotshot towing. They're using them for stuff like in-town parts delivery and services. I see lots of SR's being run by Orkin.

 

Well... they sell more vehicles than any other manufacturer in the world, so they're not limping too badly.

 

Most of those fleet vehicles used to be 5-lug trucks too, which should tell us everything we need to know about that market.

 

The difference is that the 2.7L models had a reason for existing. They were less expensive to build, and got slightly better gas mileage than the V-6. The 4G SR took extra effort, with no apparent cost savings, to build a less capable truck. It's dumb. If I was looking for a work truck to tow mowing equipment and lumber around, I'd get a Frontier S.

 

Maybe my wife's observations and sensitivities would help.

I thought all the models made some amount of sense against each other for their price points and features. My wife was very quick to not like the less than OR or Sport seats and coil springs. I thought SR and SR-5 were still improvements on prior generations.