4-cylinder mileage?

I'm hoping to buy a used 4runner soon, probably something between 1997-1999 and am trying to decide which engine to look for. I know the 4-cylinder is underpowered, but I'm willing to put up with it if there is a significant savings on gas. Can anyone tell me what the gas mileage is like on the 4-cylinder compared to the 6?

hard to compare apples to oranges

I have not owned or driven the newer 4 cylinder Toyota truck motors-I did have a 22RE 4 cyl. in my 95 4Runner, sold last year.

Driving carefully around town I could average as high as 22 miles per gallon in city driving. (Denver traffic) If I drove in my usual manner I would routinely average 19.5 mpg. However I need to add the 22RE preferred the Premium gasoline and would get around 1 mpg better with it.

My 99 4Runner with the 3.4-V6 still feels like a rocket, after one year of ownership. Again, if I drive carefully around town I can attain 20 mpg. If I drive in my usual manner it will routinely get me 18mpg.

Highway mileage (likely 70-75mph) is consistent at 23mpg for both 4Runners.

You can save some money with the 4 cylinder and a lot of in town controlled driving. If that describes your needs a 4 cylinder may be what you would enjoy. I will tell you that to climb mountain passes a v-6 is quite fun to have, fuel be damned....

And like any of the Yota engines- enhancements can be made to the breathing (intake) and exhaust to give you just a little bit more power and perhaps even slightly better economy.

I don't believe you can go wrong with either choice offered in a 4Runner. The 4 cyl is underpowered to get you off the line-but returns dividends at the pump. It was a large selling point of my 95 to be able to document 19.5mpg all the time to the new buyer of an 11 year old truck!

Just as a comparo-I was at Stevison Toyota dealership the other day they have a '98 base model 4Runner with 4 cylinder and 123K miles for $8895 or thereabouts. Good looking rig, price seemed a little high for that high of miles and the 4 cylinder, but I have not looked at prices lately. Clean and solid rig.

Hmmm....

Depends on what you get. 4x4 or 4x2??? Stick or Auto?

I have a 99, 4 cyl., 2 wd, 5 speed. I get between 18 - 21 MPG. I live in Hawaii so we don't get long stretches of freeway driving so maybe that's why the MPG is low. Also, I changed the wheels from the stock 225/70 - 15's to 265/65 -17's so maybe the spedo is off and technically I'm getting better MPG.

Hope this helps?

These are the "preliminary" EPA est. fuel economy numbers according to some printouts I have from the top4runners site (I can't seem to find the info on that site anymore or I'd just link you to it):

2000 2.7L (last year for the 2.7)
5M 2WD 18/23
4A 2WD 20/24
5M 4WD 17/21
(4A 4WD not available)

1999 2.7L
5M 2WD 18/23
4A 2WD 20/24
5M 4WD 17/21
4A 4WD 18/21

1998 2.7L
5M 2WD 19/24
4A 2WD 20/24
5M 4WD 17/21
4A 4WD 19/22

Thanks for all the information so far. In answer to the question, I'll probably end up getting a 2WD, but might consider 4.

GatorGreg- do you happen to have the same mileage information for the 6-cylinder for comparison?

that Gator Greg!

you always got the good stats and stuff Gator Greg-glad you are watching over us newbs!!

I have a 4cyl 2WD and it is great. I get 20-24 just like the specs state. I usually get 22 on the highway and about 20-21 around town. I tend to drive fast. I have gotten 24mpg driving 65mph. I took a trip up to Lake Tahoe with 4 friends and our stuff and it was really gutless with the weight and on those mountains, 0-60 in 15 seconds. But normally the acceleration is good. I can go up a 7% grade on the freeway at 80mph. You just have to put your foot down and it will go. I used it to pull an 8ft box trailer with all my stuff when I moved and it did just fine.

You can check www.fueleconomy.gov for more stats.

Gas

Hi,

I purchased in april a 2000 SR5 4wd 3.4 auto and was surprized at the gas milage.

Normal driving conditions I average around 18-19mpg. But on the highway my last trip I got 24.4mpg. Granted I read other forums about 4runner milage and took their advice and set the cruise on 65mpg

I love my 4 cyl!!
I just got back from a L.A. to Yosemite trip and it got great mileage (have done the math yet just got back) but it was alot higher than I expected.

I got my 99 base model w/ 67k on it for 9,500 and thats in Los Angeles. :biggrin2:

I test drove a 4-banger and it just seemed like it would have trouble jumping out into traffic. Highway driving seemed okay though. But, like others have said if you don't mind having some old lady honking behind you to speed up lol you will be rewarded at the pump. I just like to know that I have enough power to make passes, merge into traffic. There is a lot of construction here and they have eliminated some of the entrance ramps. You have to yield to speeding traffic and jump in! ECT PWR + Foot to floor

I owned 2.7 4wd Toyotas for over 10 years, a 95.5 and 97 Tacoma then an 00 Runner. I always managed around 20-24 MPG and was always pleased with the power. I never had any trouble getting into traffic, and here in MA that is saying something. The 2.7 is a great motor, as far as longevity both the 2.7 and 3.4 seem able to reach really high mileage. The 2.7 is definitely easier to work on, and it requires less maintenance overall, timing chain vs. timing belt for example. Manual to manual w/ similar gearing the 3.4 will seem more powerful than the 2.7, but that is usually not the way they are, the 2.7 comes with lower gearing, which helps it build RPM's and gets into the power band. If you take a 5 speed 2.7 with 4.56 gearing and a auto 3.4 w/ the common 3.90 gearing acceleration times will be very close, but you will have to push the 4 harder. I now have an 02 Runner w/ the 3.4 and auto and it is nice, but it pretty much struggles all the same places as the 00 Runner did and gets 16-18 MPG pretty much all the time. I went to VT and expected better mileage, but all the hills and constantly downshifting and unlocking the T/C pretty much put me at about 19, the 2.7 got about 22 on the same trip.

After owning a 5.9L V8 SUV (Jeep), a supercharged 3.4L V6 (98 4Runner), and now a N/A 3.4L V6, I cannot imagine driving a 4-banger in these rigs. I find that the V6 has just enough power to make passing on the freeway possible, and compared to the other two SUV's, it's a dog. Now, I would not want to supercharge it, sell it or anything, but when I'm riding in my friend's 4th Gen, I wish for that extra power.

Still love her, though.

My gas mileage averages at 21.5 mpg. That's about 70% highway and 30% city. I usually cruise at 70-78mph. I tend to do a lot of passing and still I'm getting pretty good mileage. Not great mileage, but enough to pick the V6 over the I4.


pat161 -- I was under the impression that all 3.4L V6's came with 4.10 or 4.30 gearing?

p nut said:

I was under the impression that all 3.4L V6's came with 4.10 or 4.30 gearing?

Click to expand...

According to the info I printed off from top4runners site (at least for '99 and '00), you would only get the 4.1 gearing if you had the 16" wheels which were an option on SR5's but standard on the limiteds (4.3 gearing if you also had the locking rear diffy). Otherwise the V6 4x4 would get a 3.909 rear gear while the V6 4x2 got a 3.727.

Interstingly the 4 banger equipped with the optional 16" wheels would get a 4.556 rear gear. And if you ordered the 5spd stick your crawl ratio would be over 46 (4.556 rear end x 1st gear 3.954 times 2.566 transfer case). With such low gearing I can see how a 5spd stick 4banger would have no trouble keeping up with an auto tranny V6 from the stoplight (auto tranny 1st gear of 2.804 v. 5spd 4cyl 1st gear of 3.954). The 1st gear ratio in the 5spd V6 is almost the same as in the 4banger at 3.830. Combined with the 4.1 ratio in the rear end it enables me to have a lot of fun at the stoplight - not many folks expect a 3rd gen to peel out