Are montero's slow?

[KyleT]

Have had my 98 NL gen 2.5 for a month or so now. Has some top end power ie passing on the highway.

But from a stop or slow roll I punch it and it feels like it bogs down and doesn't jump off the line quick. So is this normal or do I need to dig into this more? I mean I have to almost floor it from a stop light to accelerate with the flow of traffic until the motor gets up to higher RPM's then it kinda picks up a little.

I have not looked up the torque converter stall rpm but it feels lik it slips very little from a stop.

No mods and stock tires.


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[Eric M]

It's slow and accelerates very soft off the line. Stall speed is around 2100rpm.

 

[ifixpc]

Takes getting used to, but you're right it is slower than most other cars.

I manage driving it daily without passing 3K RPM line, mostly in sub 2,500 RPM line actually.
I bought this car for offroad fun, and liked it so much I actually started driving it daily. Then sold my pretty peppy 2.0 Turbo Passat as it started collecting dust.

I'd say that if you like to "step on it" then it's not the right car for you :smiley_drive:

 

[All-Terrain]

It will get even slower when you go from 29's to 31's+.....

 

[KyleT]

Oh it has 31's. I thought those were stock
Not wanting a speed racer but no idea they were this slow.

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[vanatee2000]

they arent particularly slow...guess it depends on what your reference is. it surely isnt up to the speed of my e36 m3 but it is about the same as my astro. if it seems absurdly slow, you might have a problem. 0-60mph on most monteros will be between 10 and 11 seconds

 

[JamesW]

Hows your trans fluid? mine felt brutally slow when I had it a while, it was my first auto so I didn't really know that the fluid needed changed fairly often, so it went all brown and made the Paj all slow and sloppy.

Maybe you should drive mine for a week, diesel with 35s, it has been re geared and had a few tweaks so it isn't much slower than a standard one, but the petrols wipe the floor with the diesel models where performance is concerned

 

[PirateMcGee]

1st gen 4runner with a 22re, stock gears, and 31's pulling a mountain pass. Now that was slow.

Reviews of the time pointed out the lackluster performance.....move ahead to today's standards. I've driven several and yes they are quite slow but actually better than I thought they would be considering the aerodynamics, hp/tq, and significant weight. It's all a matter of perspective and they are not dangerously slow like a vanagon or something.

The Sport with the 4.90's and 3.5 does quite well though

 

[TheMole]

Have you done any recent maintenance? When I first bought mine, it was so slow off the line that I couldn't keep up with regular street traffic. Changing the spark plugs/wires helped to alleviate the issue. It is still slow off the line compared to smaller cars (Civic, Camry), but will haul if you floor it.

 

[Toasty]

I feel like mine moves just fine, not a lightning bolt but it gets out in traffic and passes no problems. 3.5 SOHC 35's 4.90 gears

 

[KyleT]

Timing belt, plug and wires recently done by previous owner. Trans fluid as well, using the diamond star stuff.

I don't think it is close to 10 seconds 0-60. I mean it has like zero low end. If I don't floor it it actually feels like it might accel faster. A friend said to check the timing belt and see if it's off a tooth. But he wasn't sure how slow it should be.

 

[plh]

My '92 (5 speed) is a DOG - one of the reasons I'm swapping gears. The '93 isn't too bad but surely no rocket. The '05 is pretty good for a tank.

 

[vanatee2000]

Sounds to me like timing is off by a tooth as well

 

[ManfromSnowyRiver]

Mitusbishis are just plain slow, but the gearing in your rig is terrible.

 

[nwoods]

My stock 98 Gen 2.5 with the 3.5L SOHC motor feels pretty snappy off the line. At 70 mph on the freeway it's kinda scary, and passing requires a close examination of the Chessboard before I make my move, but around town it does pretty well. Granted, I have a very heavy foot, but I also drive fast cars and the Montero doesn't disappoint me.