Do you miss the V8?

[eskimochaos]

I've got news for Toyota. There are lots of us that can afford to buy a V8 engined 4Runner and can afford to put gas in a V8 engined 4Runner. And no I'm not interested in buying that V8 engined bloatmobile that Lexus sells. No V8 in the 5th Gen means that my 4th Gen will probably be the last 4Runner I buy... and that's sad.

I agree.

You know its been done too. They put the 5.7 in the new 4R just for ****s and giggles. The engineers take it out for joyrides on lunch breaks.

It would be one, if not the quickest midsized SUV. The ultimate sleeper - especially with the SC.

 

[M1911]

I agree on the barn door. I love being able to get under my t4r hatch if I'm tailgating or whatever and it starts raining.

Yup. When I go fishing on the beach the raised tailgate lets me get in out of the rain for a break, and lets me leave my plug bag in the hatch without getting the interior soaked.

 

[T4Fun]

dont know about the prior v8's, but i was able to get 23MPG in my lexus. Believe it! Yeah the drive by wire laziness does suck. The 4R should be able to better that if you drive carefully.

 

[JB.]

OK, I'm going to spell it out for you. When your 4th gen 4Runner was designed, gas was well under $2.00/gallon, body on frame SUVs were king, and throttle response & instant acceleration were more important than fuel economy. When the 5th gen was designed, most of the SUV market had moved to CUVs, fuel economy was very important, and Toyota wasn't sure that they'd be able to move 19mpg rated BoF SUVs. In order to get the 22mpg rating under the new fuel efficiency test standards, Toyota had no option but improving the V6s power & torque to near the V8 levels and programming the ethrottle to essentially be lazy. That is why you V8 4th gen owners hop in a 5th gen and it feels slow. It won't immediately take off at part throttle because that is killer when it comes to fuel economy and Toyota programmed it to be as efficient as practical.

If you put the pedal to the floor in the 5th gen, it freaking moves. If you go part throttle, it is doing its best to conserve fuel and certainly does feel lazy... and that is fine for 95% of my driving. It isn't a racecar, afterall. Toyota didn't use magic to get 22mpg highway rating on the 5th gen versus the 17mpg highway rating on the 4th gen V8. They used common efficiency improving tactics (downsize the number of cylinders, decrease displacement, add dual VVT, change throttle tuning). The fact that it still has performance quite close to the V8 with the hammer down is quite impressive, IMO.

From AOL autos:
Compare Specifications 2009 Toyota 4Runner 2010 Toyota 4Runner
Exterior length 189.2 " 189.9 "
Exterior body width 75.2 " 75.2 "
Exterior height 71.1 " 71.5 "
Engine 4.7L V-8 4.0L V-6
Horsepower 260 @ 5,400 rpm 270 @ 5,600 rpm
torque 306 @ 3,400 rpm 278 @ 4,400 rpm
SAEJ1349 AUG2004 compliant std std
Fuel economy - city 14 mpg 17 mpg
Fuel economy - highway 17 mpg 22 mpg
0-60mph / 0-100kmh (s) 6.9 seconds 7.1 seconds
1/4 mile time 15.2 seconds 15.3 seconds
1/4 mile speed 89 mph 88 mph

OMG, the 5th gen is 0.2 seconds slower to 60 mph and runs the quarter 0.1seconds slower! It must be a total DAAWWWGGGG!

I wouldn't put too much stock in those numbers. Good numbers are hard to come by. Truck Trend got 7.8 and 15.9 for the 5th and I'm skeptical the V8 was that quick (15.2) in the quarter. But your point is well taken. The vehicles are reasonably close which means the engines are even closer. A real world scenario where the 5th might be quicker is passing at high speed in 3rd gear. It certainly would be after the V8 was forced to shift.

As far as the accelerator calibration, do you have a citation for that? I actually feel the 4th gen V8 is a little lazy in the pedal tuning. There was a thread where a guy wondered why his girlfriend's GX was faster than his 4th gen V8. Eventually, he did some actual testing and the GX wasn't faster but felt quicker due to a touchy pedal.

 

[Quentin]

I wouldn't put too much stock in those numbers. Good numbers are hard to come by. Truck Trend got 7.8 and 15.9 for the 5th and I'm skeptical the V8 was that quick (15.2) in the quarter. But your point is well taken. The vehicles are reasonably close which means the engines are even closer. A real world scenario where the 5th might be quicker is passing at high speed in 3rd gear. It certainly would be after the V8 was forced to shift.

As far as the accelerator calibration, do you have a citation for that? I actually feel the 4th gen V8 is a little lazy in the pedal tuning. There was a thread where a guy wondered why his girlfriend's GX was faster than his 4th gen V8. Eventually, he did some actual testing and the GX wasn't faster but felt quicker due to a touchy pedal.

No citation at all. The 5th Gen T4R definitely has a lazy throttle compared to any other vehicle I've owned and particularly compared to my mom's 2010 V6 Rav4. I've not driven a 4th Gen T4R but all the other Toyotas I've driven from that vintage (redesigned between 03ish and 06ish) have very touchy throttles.

 

[JasonCz]

New T4R owner here.....

My 5th gen is parked right next to my parents GX470 at the moment.

I had the chance a couple years ago to drive the GX from Kingman AZ to Memphis TN on old route 66 so I'm fairly familiar with its driving characteristics.

In my opinion, the GX feels like it has a sharper throttle response, and a bit more power, but over a couple years it only averages in the mid 16s with about 50/50 highway/city. The GX was also almost twice as expensive as my T4R, so you get what you pay for I guess.

Personally, I would rather have the much improved fuel economy with the slight ...slight reduction in power.

 

[Koz]

I recently drove the GX with the 4.6 V8 for a week.
HATED that thing. Engine was nice, fuel sucked.

Now a twin turbo V6 for the 4Runner....that's the way to go. Ford has just done it with 2011 F-150. Their twin turbo V6 pulls 11,000 lbs, gets 25 mpg, and boasts 365 hp and 420 lb.-ft of torque.

THAT's the kind of thinking we need from Toyota, which seems inclined to go that way judging by recent reports. No one would ever miss the V8 with that kind of engine.

I'm getting the same mileage I got with my 05 V8 T4R as I'm getting with my new GX in the city and a mile or two better on the highway. We're talking about a vehicle that weighs 800 lbs more. I honestly believe if the 5th gen had the 4.6 V8 it would get the same mileage as the V6, especially with the 6 speed trans (5th gen is 500 lbs less the GX). Even with less mileage I would pick the 4.6 over the 4.0. There is NO comparison between these engines!

Koz