How does the 1st gen handle high speed highway cruising?

I just installed Comp 2 A/S- -an “ultra performance” tire that I was told is “too much” for a truck.
As I was constantly breaking traction on Uniroyal Tiger Paw tires, I decided I needed tires before I actually lost traction at a bad-point (& hit something).
Also, as I have the Comp 2 Sports on both my other/previous cars, I tried it.

I can STILL spin the rears if I try from a dead stop.

That is with a 24 year old normally aspirated 2.4 manual 2wd. So, if anyone says 2.4s are turtles, they either haven’t driven the manual or haven’t driven with RPMs up.
(Or have WAY too big/small of tires on them)

They have rev limiters built in, so you can’t “blow the engine” by revving. One of the first thing I did in testing it out was to check that, then hit it on purpose to see where it was (no tach, so sound only) & at what speed it was for each (lower) gear (2nd is at 60, which is the only one that really matters enough to memorize).

I cruise 60 in 4th & don’t go into it till over 50. 5th is only used 70-85mph.
As I was expecting closer to 20mpg, I’m shocked at the high mpg with how I drive it. Plus, it can take it & performs extremely well, considering all stock suspension, which I will change very shortly.

Edit: My “performance” may also be aided by the fact it is an early model, regular cab with very little added to it in features, not even power steering. The only weighty add-on is a/c. So, it is likely very close to the basic empty weight of 2700 lb. Add 300-500 lb (or more) in “features” such as power this & that, plus extra sheet metal & frame for extra cab & double cab & the power to weight ratio for the 2.4 drops quick. Lower ratio, slower acceleration, etc.
Plus, the 4x4 suspension & drivetrain are a good bit heavier than the 2wd version in itself.

 

You guys need to jump in a Honda and run it on the cams a while.

Toyota's are slugs. Long living slugs.

 

nothing without more cam.

 

Soapbox:

There are different types of “quick” & “fast” out there, just as there are different purposes for different cars.
Sticking to sports cars, picking 4 types that are different to each other, yet share similarities, think 2000-ish models-to keep variables down.
Mazda Miata
Honda S2000
Porsche Boxster
Corvette ZO6

All great handling, with different parameters of “ideal” operation.

Miata- most fun 20-50, period. On a twisty mountain road, a well set-up normally aspirated Miata can hold with any of them—I have, inc. a yellow “chropped-window” style ZO6.
By “slow,” I mean 90 degree turns & corners shaped like <____ (sharp corner, steep incline, lugging in 2nd)
At slower speeds, the S2K likes high RPM & has a narrow power band, so running at high RPM.
The Boxster shifter is a pain-in-the -butt slow, plus the engine also likes higher RPM.

45-90-The S2000 comes into it’s own (esp 45-70/80), as does the boxster (50-110).
Above 90, NONE of those can touch the ZO6.

All are great, just depending on what your intent is.

 

I've owned a 5 speed 2.4L 5 lug. I could roach the tires. It was still a dog, or a turtle or whatever you want to call it.

Being able to roach the tires in a pickup truck isn't really saying much. I mean, look where ALL the weight is...

Also, if you think you'll never blow your motor because it has a rev limiter, I guess you've never seen anyone else blow a motor before (hint, they nearly ALL have rev limiters). If you are constantly using the rev limiter, you're doing it wrong. Not only are you adding excessive wear and tear on the engine by over reving it, you're also way past the power curve.

 

All are faster than a Tacoma.

 

Wasn’t my point ...

“Sportiness” is more than sheer acceleration. Plus, a “normally” powered vehicle, if driven properly, can accelerate “good enough.”

The 2.4, if set up properly/not modded to hurt driving dynamics, it’s lively in the good way. I bought mine 2 months ago, having looked at a range of vehicles & the Taco stood out as either “holding its own” or beating vehicles I was expecting to drive significantly better. This particular 2.4 was “less turtle” than MANY “sportier” cars we test drove. Plus, it was cheaper, longer term more reliable, & had potential to get even better (see S Runner statement below).

I was SHOCKED at what it could do with the tires, & etc, that it had.

A Tacoma is not a sports car, it’s a truck. That’s the same for ALL trucks. They ain’t sports cars & NEVER will be. But, it can be tweeked into a “sports truck”/sporty truck/whatever you want to call it- driving better than you’d think an old, small truck would/should.

I am now looking to replicate, as close as possible, the S-Runner suspension set up, which has a good-handling rep.

As for acceleration ...
Of course beating against a rev limiter regularly is a TERRIBLE idea. It’s not good for the engine, missed the torque & HP curve entirely, plus it lessens what your trying to do.
My intent- don’t fret & under-rev because you don’t know where the red-line IS & are afraid of blowing the motor. IF you pop it, the engine won’t instantly detonate.
Hit it, learn where the red line is (by speed, if no tach), then shift before you get there. You’ll get a feel for the proper sound to tell you when is “good.”
“Good” was higher than I first expected, so it livened up once I realized that.

Ex- 2nd top at 60. So, if your accelerating for speed (traffic merging, etc), you can hold 2nd to 50-ish- instead of shifting into 3rd at 30/35.

The original point of this thread was whether first gens can handle high-speed cruising. A near-stock set-up 2.4 handles it fine. Once one gets “used to” the truck, it can perform better than one would expect.

 

that was my point too. Why beat on it or brag on it's 'top end'. They don't have one.

Which is fine it's a truck. The 3rd Gen forum is full of people griping about the characteristics of a car engine in a truck.

Don't forget those old Landcruisers from the early '90s prob. couldn't do 60 unless downhill. Historically, you didn't buy 4WD to cruise the hwy's.

 

i thought mine was a 'sports-truck' when i first test drove it after 2yrs of long-distance highway driving (400-500 miles) a '95 preTaco 4cyl 4wd with no cruise and no A/C, and from driving company fleet s10s from the 90s similar distances

 

Trucks are for hauling rocks and dirtbikes in the bed, and going off-road.

If you want to race your buddy on the street, get, you know... a sports car. For the money some people are throwing at their trucks to try and get them to accelerate and corner like a car, they could have just gone out and gotten an early 2000's CRX or S2000.

The minute you take a truck and start modding it for going fast on the road, you go from having a good truck to having a shitty truck AND a shitty car in one package. It's the worst of both worlds.

 

or a rolled truck taking turn too fast
I often get annoyed when I am slowing down to suggested speed at off-ramp half circles to 30mph or so and some yack in a low profile car want to take this turn at 40 or 50mph and give me evil eye

 

Sorta apeaking of which, I was on the highway last week with my wife cruising at about 75mph in my truck, when some a-hole in a mini van enters the freeway from the on ramp and proceeds to cut across 2 lanes without looking, and halfway into the 3rd (my lane)...I laid on my horn but I had to swerve because he didn't react fast enough, luckily no one was next to me but I served pretty good and thought for sure I was going to have to fight to keep control of the truck with no sway bar on and at 75mph.
Surprisingly though it handled it well, every since removing the sway bar I've been afraid of this happening but it wasn't bad at all.

The fuckin mini van sticks his hand out the window and waves like "sorry didn't see you!" WTF dude

 

Trucks are surprisingly hard to flip. I mean, my brother rolled my CRX, so of course rolling a truck is easier than that (he hit an embankment, though). I'm not sure my truck (sans sway bar) would handle a swerve quite so well, but I do drive it extremely defensively. I also give it a little swerve here and there, mostly to freak my wife out, so I have an idea how it would handle, lol.

What I hate about those situations is you know the dude didn't get any farther than "oops, my bad", and likely didn't reflect on perhaps why it's a bad idea to cut across 3 lanes of freeway traffic.

My favorite is when they look at you like "why the fuck you honkin? chill dude!"

 

yeah it really freaked us both out and I don't think the dude in the mini van had any idea how close he came to causing a major accident. I was a bit shaken but mostly from the thought of losing control of my truck at that speed, my wife was absolutely furious at the guy lol. She doesn't lose her cool easily

Funny enough we were on our way to camp for the weekend for my bday, and she got me a dashcam but I hadn't opened it yet. Good thing we didn't end up needing it there but I installed it that night at the camp site

 

The closer to stock wheels and tires you have the better it will cruise. 70-80 all day is no problem.

 

To follow this discussion ...
Remember Gen 1 Tacos have:
1. 2 completely different basic suspension systems- 2wd & 4wd (Prerunner is a 2wd, built with the 4wd suspension, while the S Runner is a 2wd that is tuned to handle.)

2. There are 3 main engines, 2.4, 2.7, & the V6, each with their own characteristics.

3. There are 3 different cab configurations & multiple bed lengths.
The most basic early Taco is about 2700 lb empty, while some versions push 4,000 lb (stock), with off road stuff added, they can get even heavier.
Load weight isn’t necessarily improved by heavier versions. Early 2.4s (2wd) CAN carry & tow more than later V6s, BUT a lot depends in specific configuration. There are dozens of stock ones, plus hundreds more with aftermarket mods/add-ons.

(A 140-150 hp motor in a 2700 lb truck is the same power/weight as 280-300 in a 5400 lb truck, but they will drive very different than each other. The power/torque curves are completely different.)

All those affect the power/weight ratio, how the suspension handles the road, the tire size (also affects power/feel & how the truck “handles” different speeds & conditions.

2.4 2wd has the best interstate mpg (by a good margin), but not good off road. If a lighter combo, it drives pretty good in most road conditions.

Tacos set up for great off road tend to not like or handle high speed interstate that well. Off road, they are about the best thing there is.

Many are attempts at a combo of the 2, with one side or the other weighted.

V6 has more power, with some having a lot of power, though often found in heavier versions of Tacos. So, bigger engine does not necessarily mean “faster,” but there are very fast V6s (inc. supercharged & turbos).

As you read, keep looking at the combos the posters mention (& their ride description in the member info box). Then, this whole thread makes more sense.

 

Driving the way you drive is the correct way to drive if you want better mileage and the engine to last a long time but as some of us have pointed out. The 2.7 can be beaten once in a while. It was built for it. I've had mine to 100mph in 4th gear before. Once or twice. If I want to give it the "Italian Tuneup" I just roll it on up until 3500-4500 rpm in second and third and sometimes into 4th. I've only redlined it once, maybe twice since I've owned it. I never take it above 5000rpm. The 2.7 actually does have "fairly good" acceleration (for what it is) if you want to get it up over 4000 rpm in the first 4 gears.

 

I don't "wheel" my truck since it's a daily driver but at times when off road I can sure see where having no sway bar would be of benefit. You just explained why have never taken mine off. It only takes once. I had to dodge a deer at 65mph a few years ago and was glad I still had mine on.

 

I was with a gal driving I10 late in a Durango when a cow appeared right in the windshield, she threw it sideways at .....I dunno....fast in a +++moose test and it didn't flip. No way I'd drive over 60 w/o a frt. bar.

 

Agreed. I have been contemplating a more "robust" front bumper for a few years now. However, in a Taco? I suspect if you hit anything bigger than a raccoon at 65+ you're screwed. I really don't know since I have had no experience with running into large mammals with my vehicle.

The speed limit here is 75mph. I was "only" doing 65 when I made my correction.