3rd vs 4th gen thinking outloud.

[theizzardking]

See, that's just the thing....if you have a decently powered SUV, it doesn't have to be black and white. With decent power, you can drive a heavy SUV in a manner that isn't typical of an underpowered SUV. Almost as if it were "sporty" but obviously not in a "sports car" way.

my old truck did 0-60 in 6.8 seconds and was pretty much faster then anything made by toyota in the suv department and i still would not consider it sporty the CG on most any suv makes it "not sporty", but like i keep saying it's all personal preference, you can either get a truck that goes slow and rides like a truck or you can get a truck that goes fast and rides like a car, haven't you noticed that the off road capability and durability has been going down hill as manufactures are going for more on road/powerful suv's? we all know the old jeeps,bronco's,4runners ect ride like crap on the road but are far more robust for off road travels it's a balance, imo going to far in the middle you end up with a suv that's not very good off road and is still an suv so it's not very good on road either. But from this debate i think he would really only be happy in a 4th gen.

that said, i still maintain the 3rd gen is not "underpowered" the 22re was the 3.4L was not, it wasn't exactly powerful but not underpowered, the term adequate used above i feel is a great assessment, i have driven everything from 36hp type 1 motors up to 400hp LS1 motors in America and most places in Europe, and trust me saying this motor is under powered is wrong, no it's not fast , no it's not quick, but honestly you can say anything less then 400 hp is underpowered if that's what your used to driving, point is for a median baseline the 3.4L is fine and is plenty powerful enough for 95% of your daily driving the other 5% is when you need to floor it get around some jerk,and calling the 3.4L underpowered because of a 5%'er scenario isn't right but if you're pretty concerned about a 5% occurrence get something more powerful
and that's thing you can always go more powerful, so honestly i say anything more then the 3.4L is not needed (for daily driving), it's fun and great to have on occasion but not absolutely needed, i hate these sort of conversations becuase it's all relative to the driver when in fact it should be relative to the road speeds and normal driving conditions but then again it's fun to think aloud and see where things stand in other people's minds so don't take my post to be hostile or overly cemented, like the thread title says, just thinking aloud :cowboy:

:fishing:

 

[Vantage85]

My old Si was dyno'd at 239whp @ 8400 RPM 179lbft.

It was no rocketship, but it could scoot. As I said it ran a 13.5 at a local racetrack on street tires.

Mod List.
Hondata Flashpro with custom tune
AEM SRI
SSR Replica Header
3" GoPwr exhaust
RDX 410 injectors
06+ TSX cams
06+ TSX TB
Throttle body spacer
Heat resistant gaskets throughout
Hybrid Racing Shifter Bushings
Competition CLutch stage 2 and light flywheel
225/45/17 Hankook Ventus V12 Evo tires.

Weight is around 2800lbs. (These 2006+'s are heavy bas****s).

and My old Tacoma for fun

2002 TRD V6 Sr5 Access Cab
Donahoe (Icon) Front Coils
Deaver 8 left rear pack
10" bilstein 5125's
Downey Shackles
1" BL
TG Sliders
CBI front/rear bumpers
285/75/16 Nitto Terra Graps
16x7 American Racing wheels
Diff Breather.
Canopy for winter,
Demello bedbar+highlift mount+reverse lifts for summer
HID converted Hella 500 lifts.

Before Bumpers but with Bedbar

 

[Jed]

Well, just like most things, judging a vehicle's level of power as adequate or not is subjective. My car is considerably faster than my 4Runner, so it's obviously a noticeable difference hopping from the car to the 4Runner....but the 4Runner has enough power to keep me happy. That just wasn't the case when I still had my 3rd gen. If my 3rd gen had the same engine as my 4th gen, I'd probably still be driving the 3rd gen quite honestly....

 

[Jed]

Vantage85,

13.50's isn't a bad time at all for that kind of power/weight ratio. And 2800 lbs seems light to me, but then again I'm used to driving much heavier cars. The only car I've ever owned that was under 3,000 lbs was a Mazda MX6 LS. My current car is a G37 coupe, which is a fat pig at about 3,800 lbs. But it still runs pretty good....I can run mid-to-high 13's all day long bone stock with that fat porker.:cowboy:

 

[brian2sun]

I don't run any 1/4 miles in my 4runner (haha I can't believe that even got brought up), but being geared low, when I hit the gas and it downshifts to pass someone on the freeway or to go up a long hill (especially going from 3rd or 4th into 2nd) my truck moves like a bat outta hell! It's actually a little bit sketchy to the point where I won't let anyone drive my truck except maybe another lifted 3rd gen owner because it can get squirrely-fast.

Here's my $.02... Try some 4.56s with 31s or 4.88s with 33s and power really isn't a concern anymore with the 3.4. These ratios will put you noticeably over stock power. I keep up with all the 4th gens going up the mountain (~15 mile, 6000 ft climb). People tend to think the SC is the only way to get more umph outta the 3.4, but dollar for dollar, I would take gears over the SC - especially when going 90 mph+ isn't the concern. Rpms are not as bad on the freeway as everybody thinks too (auto especially).

 

[Vantage85]

I will not be regearing my 3rd gen.

Which is why I was narrowing my search for a 5speed with 4:30's.

The only reason I 1/4 mile dropped was becuase people were saying Civic's are rocket ships, which they can be, but mine wasnt.