4 vs 6 cylinders for a Taco

[musicmaan]

I drive a '98 TTac with the 4banger, and I gotta tell ya, I love it. I run a shell with a rack, tire, and lights on top, and so it acts like a bit of a wind shovel on the highway, and is a dog on the hills, but pull the shell off and there's enuff power to get around. I have never figured out the mileage, but with all the ******** hangin off my truck I don't think it would be all that great anyways. If you plan on keeping your truck fairly clean, I would highly recomend the 4 cyl. I have driven the 6 cyl TTac, and yes it has more low end power, but if you aren't hauling or towing anything, I wouldn't get it. I just purchased a '2000 6 cyl 4Runner for the wifey, and I'm not yet convinced the six is a better engine. Good luck with the purchas... either way, it's a Toyota.... can't go wrong with that!!!

MM

 

[Brian894x4]

Oil prices crash down? I wish for it to happen, but I doubt oil prices will ever drop down to say the days of $2/gal, $1/gal, etc.

Well, a couple things could crash oil prices or at least bring them down. One would a world wide recession which limits demand. Two would be discoveries of additional oil reserves that are easy to reach, or use of current local discoveries that we haven't drilled for yet. Three would be peace in the middle east, or at least more stability and a new regime in Venzualia, or at least stabililty. Four would be a crash in China and India's economy that reduces their demand.

Lesser thought off possibliities that could bring prices down is dramatic increase in refinery capacity and also a single national blend of fuel for all 50 states, that could be legally used in all 50 states and every single gas station in the country.

Of course, a betting person would be wise to assume high prices are here to stay and will likely go higher in the future, but I've played the prediction game many times and have been proven wrong, so I've learned to look at all possibilities.

Sorry for the hi-jack. Getting back to the topic, for me, it would depend on the vehicle's use. My FZJ80 is a horrible gas guzzler, but it's a recreational vehicle only, so I can choose not to drive it. If I were buying a commuter, I'd be far more concerned about gas prices and gas mileage.

 

[asteffes]

duckear,

The 4 cylinder might work out just fine if you don't add a lot of weight to your truck. The extra heft of a bumper, winch, larger tires, second battery, camper shell, in-bed camping quarters, etc., will really hurt your fuel economy when used as a daily driver.

 

[preacherman]

Oil prices crash down? I wish for it to happen, but I doubt oil prices will ever drop down to say the days of $2/gal, $1/gal, etc.

I live out here in the oil field in the middle of one of the largest oil production areas in North America (west texas). Several of my friends are high up in the oil industry one even is a big wig analyst for an oil company. They say (and I am inclined to believe them) that barring any major event (like we figure out by next week how to make gas out of water) oil will most likely never go back down below the $3 range (give or take 15-20 cents). While $100 a barrel in not here to stay $75+ is.

 

[duckear]

thanks for all the comments.

Right now, i am looking at some used Tacos....mostly 6's but the $$ saved will buy a lot of gas to make up for the difference in mpg.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I wouldn't trade my 22R-E for anything. It's slow, but so what? It is soooo easy to work under the hood when the engine is not shoehorned in there. Not to mention that headers cost half as much (there's only one!) over a V6, doing a head gasket or having the head ported is cheaper (there's only one!), there's room for stuff like a compressor under the hood.

Power is perfectly sufficient (and the 3RZ-FE is head and shoulders above the 22R-E on that) in my 5,200 lbs truck at 5,280' AMSL and I still get 20~22MPG in all highway driving. Yeah, the passes on the Interstate are slow. Big whoop, traffic is so bad anymore that you can't do the speed limit anyway. Sit back, relax, chat on the ham, listen to some tunes, take in the world as you're passed by all the wound-up, stressed out, gotta be-gotta go people rush to where ever they are going.

But you may not agree since it's a whole life philosophy I got going. My slow, aging truck is an integral part of that as both a way to force me to slow down and catharsis due to the hobby of turning wrenches. A lot of people like driving vehicles with tons of power, but me I'm happy just bouncing along at 60MPH and enjoying the trip.

 

[Martinjmpr]

I live out here in the oil field in the middle of one of the largest oil production areas in North America (west texas). Several of my friends are high up in the oil industry one even is a big wig analyst for an oil company. They say (and I am inclined to believe them) that barring any major event (like we figure out by next week how to make gas out of water) oil will most likely never go back down below the $3 range (give or take 15-20 cents). While $100 a barrel in not here to stay $75+ is.

I'm sure it seems that way now but I also remember when gas hit $1/gallon back in the late 70s and we were assured it would never go down below that level. Yet, almost 20 years later I purchased gas for under $1/gallon on numerous occasions between about 1997 and 2002. Just saying that making predictions like that is a fools game - you never really know what trends are going to come down the pike to change consumption rates.

 

[Bergger]

I currently have an 03 with the V6. I drove a 95 2.7 Tacoma for 8 years prior to buying my current truck. As already mentioned both are outstanding motors. I loved that 4 cyl but I simply out grew the regular cab 4cyl so I moved up to the V6 dbl cab. Living in Colorado and going up to the mountains alot the 4 cyl did okay but you definitely felt the lack of power as compared to the V6. Especially if the truck was loaded or towing. If you plan on towing at altitude or carrying a lot of weight I'd go for the V6. The marginal mpg benefit of the 4 cyl does not out weight the power benefit of the V6 IMO.

 

[Cackalak Han]

I drove a 96 Tacoma 4-cyl 5-sp for a couple of years a while back. Great motor and transmission (BTW, if you do get a 4-cyl, you MUST get the 5-sp. I cannot even imagine how slow an auto would be with the 4 banger). However, if I was carrying a load at all, it could definitely be felt. Since then, I've only gotten V6's (went to a supercharged 98 4Runner. Wow, what a difference! ), then an 02 4Runner and now a V6 Tacoma. Even the 3.4L V6's aren't the most powerful engines, and compared to my friend's 4.0L V6, it's definitely the underdog. However, it gets the job done. I have sufficient power to pass going up a mountain pass, merging onto the highway and hauling whatever I need without feeling like the engine is wringing its last bit of power out. I would never go back to an I4. Also, I get 21MPG on the highway with a shell.

 

[Lok47]

I drive a 1999 2.7 5 speed TRD Extended cab and it has done everything I have asked of it. It's my daily driver and I get 21 mpg in town/highway. My driving usually consists of a mix of in town/70+ mph highway/rush hour traffic.

I haul a motorcycle and gear to Tucson and get 19 mpg cruising at 75 + mph. It's reliable and efficient. If you're coming from a V8 or V6s, it's going to be a tad on the slow side. When I went up to Flagstaff, it wasn't able to climb the mountain like a V6/V8 equipped truck, but a downshift took care of that issue.

If you can deal with that, it's the best compromise of efficiency and capability that is available on the market.

I have no regrets opting out for the 2.7 over the 3.4.