Why do toyota's powertrains suck?

I feel like this forum gets a new "powertrain complaint thread" every day.

Can the moderators close every new "powertrain complaint thread" from now on? There are plenty of threads already.

 

Twin turbo 3rd gens in less than 6 months. I don’t buy the longevity argument, it’s profit margins using the same motors from the Toyota parts bin. Which is why we’ll be able to twin turbo the 3.5 when the ls500 comes out next month.

 

Yeah but THIS is the thread that’s gonna change things, man.

 

I owned one bought new in 1987.
Toyota 4 cyl turbo 22RTE 5spd MT SR5 with 7 way sport seats.
God I loved that truck.

 

I have no idea what Toyota is doing with their truck lineups these days. I'm sure Toyota could stuff the sweet 4.6l V8 into a Tacoma and wouldn't suffer much MPG loss across the brand, but it's like Satanic to do so. The 2.7 is a dinosaur, the 4.6 would probably get the same MPG as the 2.7. I'm staying with the 4.7.

 

Most car salesmen don't even know about turning on ect ,mine didn't he didn't even know the steering wheel was leather, even when it's written on the window sticker.
I've never driven the 4wd but my 4x2 sport v6 with trd intake is fast I take it to redline multiple times daily and it loves it. It doesn't quite jump off the line like my 14 v6 did, there is a 1/2 second delay till it wakes up but I think toyota will come up with a new flash to eliminate this soon.

 

Clearly, you are not drunk enough....

 

Toyota’s powertrains suck?

My 2010 Ram valves went then Drive shaft came out of rear diff under 60k km

Third gen drives as a quarter ton truck should.
It hauls gravel one day then just myself the next just fine.

Toyota’s drive train, at least mine is operating as should

 

Thank god they didn't turbo charge it. I could only imagine trying to work on it 20yrs down the road when I would actually buy a 3rd gen to turn into a wheeler.

Toyota trucks have always been underpowered and gutless, that's the reason why the rest of the drivetrain lasts 300k+ miles, and why people put doublers in them to go rock crawling. Not to mention you compared a v6 gas motor to a diesel and wonder why you need to wind out the v6 to make power...

 

I asked myself this very question and from an Eng and design background I would say the 2 main reasons are budgets, and Toyotas general design philosophy-keep it conservative and reliable.
Do not think outside the box and push the envelope-no need as people line up to buy them because of history anyways.

Save the genius engineering and design for the folks fighting for market share.

 

Well, if you already did your homework then go ahead and buy the Chevy (with the bought and paid for with government bail-out money, "Best in Initial Quality" awards.)
Or wait forever for the sure to be over-priced Ranger.

 

First off, Toyota power-trains do not suck... period.
Although the 3.4 lacked top end hp, it had great bottom end torque and would tow more than it should have... at moderate speeds.
The same goes for the 4.0L . It may not have the hp of the new 3.5 but it makes good low end torque and has ample power for a midsize work truck.
When Toyota builds trucks, they overbuild every component and then under rate the truck. That's why they last so long and hold their value.
You should go buy a Ford, Dodge or a GM. Me... I will keep my Tacoma. I like it... a lot.

 

People always bring that up, but Volvo has been putting turbos in cars for years. My '07 XC70 with the turbo 2.5L 5 cyl just hit 200k, and the turbo is fine with literally ZERO maintenance ever. Before I bought the car I did research on the Volvo forums, and the turbos were hardly ever mentioned as being an issue. The only suggestion is the good practice of changing the oil regularly (6-7k) with good quality synthetic.

Also, all the turbodiesels out there don't seem to have many turbo issues unless the boost has been cranked up to the moon. I think that's where most turbo issues come from, the boost has been screwed with.

This Volvo has made me a fan of smaller displacement turbo engines, btw. The Volvo setup is a low pressure turbo, designed more for low end torque. This thing makes peak torque of 236ft lbs right around 2k rpm, and once it comes on, it pretty much just stays there. This car pulls mountain grades at 70mph w/out shifting out of top gear.

 

I have a 2.7 I4 coupled with a 5 speed manual transmission.

Young man, my powertrain is just fine. thank you!

 

Mine too. Weeeiird.

 

Turbos in cars for years? That’s nice, at least they got that right. I’m swapping turbos on Volvo heavies almost every other day.

 

I drove a Frontier DCSB earlier this year. I thought it felt pretty ballsy. I was surprised when it wouldn't do a burnout from a dead stop. Other than that, I really liked driving it.

Drove a Taco DCLB a few months later. Didn't really know about the tranny as I hadn't discovered this forum yet. Drove it as I drove the Nissan or would drive my own car and though, wow is this thing slow. I tend to drive with a light foot, as that's all that's normally necessary in my car, and it gets better mpg. I drive a lot; every little bit helps. I mentioned it to the salesman afterwards and he pointed out the ECT button, and also that the tranny liked low rpms for gas mileage, but the motor liked higher rpm for power. He said it's much better when driven with a heavy foot. (I haven't ruled it out, I just need to take a longer test drive to get the full experience)

Some people here have no problem with that, maybe they have experience with high rpm vehicles (VTEC, yo) and are used to that. I saw in this thread someone mention they take it to redline everytime and it feels fast. That's great, but devil's advocate, not everyone wants to drive like that. And if you do, there goes the fuel mileage.

I think the people that are used to vehicles with lower rpm power and good low end are the ones having problems with it. If I drove my other car (LS1 4th gen) to redline everytime a), I'd constantly be replacing rear tires, and b) would have lost my license years ago. That car has great low end, it can accelerate briskly without ever getting over 3krpm.

 

I don't know anything about that. And as far as I know, Volvo cars and Volvo heavy equipment are actually two different companies, at least since Ford bought Volvo in '99.

 

It doesn’t concern me who owns who, I’m the guy at the end of the line fixing things that say Volvo on them. Old Volvo engines that are FI are awesome. Same with Mercedes. But these days, no matter who builds it, your turbo is a consumable.

 

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