Supercharge 3rd Gen or Trade for 4th Gen?

Ok

I stand corrected; it does look like good progress is being made on recycling EV batteries.

but solar isn’t perfect either. China is the main beneficiary of any move to solar. And the solar panels are only really efficient part of the day when the sun is at its highest and less so obviously in winter than summer. And solar panel farms as I like to call them take up valuable farmland that could grow crops to feed people. And they’re eyesores too. We need more nuclear power plants. Technically it’s the cleanest energy source we have currently.

 

I think it’s funny how a lot of EV owners are religious in their zeal for defense of EVs. I mean if you want one go for it but you’re fooling yourself if you think you’re saving the planet by buying one.

I was really excited about the Rivian R1T and then I saw the price. Yikes.

 

I really hate these discussions because, who cares really? Our world supplier for shit we buy is china and their energy production is 60% coal and its not the clean coal buring that we regulate in the states its like mid century pollutants and we just sweep that under the rug. Also your tesla is made with mostly chinese parts so yeah you charge up with renewables but you're fooling yourself into thinking you are doing the environment any favors. Choose a bicycle if you want to be environmentally friendly

 

Great point. These discussions are first world arguments. No one in the developing world cares about EVs. I mean one day there might be mass adoption of EVs. But currently there are way too many obstacles preventing mass adoption. And the government needs to stay out of it and allow the free market to drive the change.

 

There's only a small percentage of people in the US who care about EV. Mostly because they don't care about what they drive.

Last week I saw a protest where a immigrant advocacy group was going on about climate change. The kid speaking new what he was saying was BS. I can't belive anybody who walked from Venezuela to Houston is kept awake at night worrying about climate change. They have other things to worry about, and can do something about it to improve their life.

 

I'm not about to read the OPs War & Peace manifesto, but I vote trade for a nice new 4th Gen.

 

I drive a big diesel, so no religious zeal here. I just get annoyed by the complete disregard for facts from both sides of the EV spectrum. My R1T (since sold) cost less than a new 4th gen Pro or Trailhunter but yeah, a lot of EVs are priced quite high.

 

Personally I think it's just managing expectations of what a Tacoma is. I live in CO and regularly drive all the same passes, often with hundreds of pounds of camping gear, my fiance, the dog. Sometimes I'm towing a light trailer with a kayak or two (maybe 300-400 Lbs total). I've got full aluminum skids, sliders, diamondback cover. I'm on your option #3 and will probably stay there. For me, didn't think a supercharger was worth the $$. You get what, like 90 HP for $10K-$12K? Just wind it out in 3rd or 4th gear, the truck seems to do fine there. A 4th gen with a turbo would probably be better, but again, not enough incremental value for all the extra $$.

If you want to easily pass people over Vail pass doing 75 MPH then need to add an option #4, get a full size with a V8, that's about the only way to be able to get you there. I don't think any mid-size truck is going to shine at high altitude loaded up with stuff.

In fairness and to put it in perspective, before the Tacoma I had a 2006 Subaru Impreza with a 4 banger and 5 speed and used to do all the same stuff. Overloaded the shit out of that thing with a big cooler and camping gear, sometimes with my kayak trailer, just dropped it into 3rd gear and chugged along. Did that for 186K miles before I sold it. So from my perspective, the Tacoma was a big improvement with the V6 and more power.

 

I just sold a 4th gen 4Runner V8 to buy my Tacoma. It's a tiny V8 with slightly less power than our newer V6es. It's almost as rev happy as a V6, although the transmission has none of the stupidness of the 3rd Gen Tacoma. It's quick off the line and nice to drive around town, but in the mountains power is power and it doesn't have a lot. Since it's NA you still lose around 30% of the rated power at 10,000 feet.

In the mountains it would still be at 3000 RPM on hills, and occasionally hit 4,500 RPM on some of the steeper sections. That's mostly empty with zero mods.

I could definitely feel a difference with even a moderate load. I rented a small off road camp trailer, probably 2000-3000 pounds, and it would be a gear lower than what I mentioned above. On some of the steeper mountain passes it only barely has power to accelerate past 65mph.

One time I rented a 5000 pound piece of equipment (tow capacity on the V8 is 7,000 pounds), and that basically maxed it out. On the hill on highway 36 going over the ridge into Boulder, I was flooring it and maintaining a solid 65mph, with the engine at 5,000 RPM. Maybe I should have gone easy on it, but I had to pass someone driving excessively slow in the right lane. And it's a Toyota, I'm not convinced its possible to damage or overheat it under normal conditions.

Overall it was better than the Tacoma in every way, except for lack of a bed. The powertrain was better (mainly just a normal transmission), it was quieter and more comfortable, etc. But it's not a huge difference.

If I could afford it I'd go with a 4th gen Tacoma. But at 2x the price of my 3rd Gen, here I am.

 

I’m a broken record on this subject, but my problem with the Tacoma power, or lack thereof, pretty much comes from how great the Frontier I drove before the Tacoma, was. It just plain felt a lot better. It’s quite unfortunate because I like the Toyota truck itself much better, but I’m always yearning for that driving experience to come back.

 

Such a nice truck. I’d keep it.

 

3 and push the skinny pedal a little closer to the floor!

 

I say Keep the one you have. Wait for the bugs to get worked out of the new gen.
Every time I see a 4th gen I tell myself, Ok, everyone says its way better, but is it 10K better?

 

Or more like $20k more in the case of the Pro.

 

I say stay with what you’ve got and let the engine sit in the high revs, so option 3. At the end of the day we’re driving V6 pickup trucks; there’s bound to be something to be desired from a performance standpoint, but I don’t think that necessarily a bad thing. I don’t think you’d be happy dropping $10k on a supercharger to help with the 10% of unhappiness, especially since it’s not a guaranteed fix for all of your problems and you could end up dropping a lot of money for marginal improvements. I drove quite a few Hondas when I was younger and grew to love high-revving engines, so I have no issues with letting my Taco do the same.

As sharp and cool as the new hybrid Tacomas look, I’m still not a fan of buying a first year model, but might consider it in 2-3 years once they get things tightened up and ironed out.

Since it’s your daily driver, I’d try to avoid adding more weight like sliders and heavy steel bumpers. If you plan on armoring the truck, I’d consider forced induction because you’d probably need it a lot more to help with additional weight, or if your engine was on its way out and you were going to be rebuilding it anyways.

Save the money or take your family on a nice vacation somewhere, you’ll be glad you did.

 

Great points. I think I've changed my mind on this question and would do the same. We've all become so obsessed with horse power and torque and being in such a hurry. I know I sound like the released convict on The Shawshank Redemption, but having a slow (low torque) MT V6 has helped me not get speeding tickets or drive so aggressively. It's a lot better than the 1992 Isuzu Rodeo MT I had; that thing was slow as Christmas turkey. But I still remember it fondly. I don't want a car that will accelerate from 0-60 in 2 seconds; I'd throw up every time. The older I get the more I try to slow down and enjoy the journey. As my father (who passed away two years ago) used to say, every day is a gift and no man or woman is guaranteed tomorrow.

 

$10k is nothing for a truck you'll keep for at least another 5-10 years. Just get the Maggie and retune with OTT. If anymore power is desired, add an 87mm pulley (retune) and you pretty much have a "400hp" truck. The 3.5 is not as torquey so you won't beat the torque delivery you'll get from an iForceMax but you will be satisfied and won't be out $50-$60k either.

Boosted Tacos are fun and cool as hell.

I predict as older Toyotas become more affordable, there will be lot's of supercharged trucks. There certainly is more forced induction support now than 10 years ago for the same vehicles.

I have 33's (E range), 2.5" lift and about 600-700lbs of extra weight and will never go back to N/A. That extra $10-15 at the pump is worth it. There's a few local guys around me with boosted 3rd gens, tuned with OTT and they absolutely love it. My local tuner actually has one with the smaller pulley and it is a beast.

 

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I think if I buy a new one, I’ll just wait a few years until some of the bugs are worked out. Or maybe hold on to the Voodoo blue forever, who knows.

For now will probably stay NA, but the more I read those Maggy threads the more tempting it becomes. I just imagine it adding a whole new dynamic to driving the truck. It’s like 50/50 I have one before the end of the year. When I think about some of the built trucks out there, some folks have put upwards of $10-$15K into lifts, armor, etc. and don’t see the benefit every time they drive. A SC would be useful pretty much anytime I’m driving it. As previously indicated though, reliability is my concern. Don’t want to have to deal with vacuum leaks, bearings failing, cold start limp mode issues, belts failing, nose cone rebuilds etc. Already lived through some of that in my powerstroke and was one of the reasons I got rid of it (although repairs were so much more expensive).

Thanks again everyone! Grateful for this community and the wealth of knowledge here! Hope to see you out there!

 

Yeah, I actually had a rental frontier once and remember its power delivery being way better than the tacomas. But still think the taco is the nicer truck.

 

In theory, more moving parts equal more potential problems but Toyotas with the Magnuson units are exceptionally reliable vs other platforms (Jeep Wrangler etc). If you budget for a rebuild every 80-100k miles, you may never see any problems. Can't speak for 3rd gens but I have seen 2nd gen Tacomas going 200-300k miles without issues, without a rebuild.

One thing I never see anyone mention is, having a supercharger unit can increase the complexity of maintenance or repairs if the unit is physically in the way of whatever needs to be serviced leading to more costs for parts, labor, time and having a qualified tech if you aren't doing the service yourself.

Good luck to you whatever route you choose.