V6 5spd vs 4cyn 5spd Questions?

Hello, I am looking to buy a Tacoma for a hunting truck and was wanting to know what you guys thought about the trucks. Will be using it as a daily driver sometimes.

I will be hauling a dog box and 2 85# coondogs.

What kinda mileage does the v6 get compared to the 4cyn?

Thanks for the help
Matt

 

I get from 18-20mpg with mixed driving, city/highway


I have a 5spd,v6,ext cab, 4x4

 

I get the same as above and i have the exact same truck, 1996 flavor

 

Anyone know if a forward facing car seat will fit in the back of an extcab tacoma?

 

it will fit if you fold out the platform. just hope that no one is sitting in the passenger seat because they will be sitting in the windshield.

 

i bought my 96 for use at the deer lease. now its my daily driver and i leave the dodge at the house. i average 20 usually. its the V6 xcab 4x4 5 spd. very happy with how these trucks do offroad also. if you can get one with the elocker factory. i wish i had known then what i know now

brett

 

DON'T BUY the 4cylinder Taco if you think you're going to get way better MPG... it's not worth it. I've had the 4cyl 3RZ for years (that you have to shift when the wind goes against you) and have watched my friends drive around effortlessly with their V6 power. And if you are putting larger tires on the 4cyl you surely have to regear or you will really be miserable. Only buy a 4cyl if you are getting a hell of a deal. Your foot will be into that gas pedal much more than if you were driving a 6cyl and that just throw more gas into the fire. You won't hardly save any money at all.

 

I agree, kind of. When I bought my taco, the 3RZ was pretty weak, but I have since seafoamed, deckplated, and replaced the old restrictive stock muffler with a flowmaster (still stock tailpipe) and now she feels a lot better.

It's no race car, but it'll do for most driving and off roading.

I also am running 32s with no regear, but any larger tires and I think a regear would be pretty much a necessity.

Agreed though, get a V6.

 

Thanks for the advice. With the Toyota motors how long do they usually run for with regular maintance?

 

I revved the living shiz out of my 3RZ. Just run synthetic oil and that engine will last forever. It also helped to have LC Engineering headers and a custom made intake but that's all I had. The redline is like 5,700 rpm or something which is ridiculously low so I would bounce it off the rev limiter just holding the throttle pinned in the dunes. The engine never skipped a beat. People would ask me if I had a supercharged V6 in it and it would make me laugh. They seriously had to be shown the little 4cyl by popping the hood before they would believe me. The key to having a fast truck in the sand is to keep it as lightweight as possible and airing down to like 10-12 lbs.

The 3RZ is a SUPER strong engine. I have seem more head gasket failures on those engines due to heat recently. And you know why? I swear the the problem is because of the amount of heat that the stock iron manifold retains. It's like have a red hot log bolted to the side of the engine and I know this is what is causing the gasket failures in older, high-mileage trucks. Plus the stock heat sheilds that cover them contribute as well. I ran mine like a banshee for years and my big thing is that I design the exhaust to evacuate any heat as fast as possible to help with engine cooling. I run in the sand when I'm offroad so heat is a very large obstacle because you are running low speeds with the engine wide open. Anyhow the 3RZ is a super strong running engine. But of course you put some steel bumpers on the front and back... put some steel steps and side protection on it... and put on some 33's and the trucks speed will be cut in half.

Both the 4cyl and the 6cly are super strong engines. You can't keep those Toyotas down. They run a super long time if you change the oil regularly, the trans oil every now and then and change the diff fluid every 50K as well. The problem is that people neglect their transmission oil service and never change the diff oil. Then you are just asking for it. Do those things when you should, or even more often and you won't ever have a problem under normal use. My 3RZ Taco is a 1996, had been owned by a very abusive off-roader before I got it at 100K miles and now it must have over 300K and I have always rev limited it almost everyday that I drove it. I broke one rear diff from abuse, and someone used my truck and broke reverse by doing something stupid.