Frustrated abour my 2010 SR5

[love_4runner]

Two things have made me very frustrated about this 2010 truck so far:
1. Poor body paint - so easy to get rock chips or door dings
2. Poor engine/transmission performance – When climbing mountain highways in Colorado at 65-70 mph, I feel that 3000 rpm is difficult to maintain such speed range. I pressed the gas pedal but no response to the rpm until I hit it really deep the rpm suddenly jumped to 4000 and of course this sudden acceleration doesn’t feel pleasant.
Does anyone experience the similar problem? Any solutions?

 

[Matt's4Runner]

Upcoming supercharger?

 

[Stifler]

Upcoming supercharger?

wait for it....... wait for it..............

 

[Canazes9]

Perhaps you could move the gear selector over so it doesn't upshift from 4th to overdrive?

Thank the EPA for the quality of your paint and the thickness of your sheet metal.

David

 

[Whiplash Willy]

Two things have made me very frustrated about this 2010 truck so far:
1. Poor body paint - so easy to get rock chips or door dings
2. Poor engine/transmission performance – When climbing mountain highways in Colorado at 65-70 mph, I feel that 3000 rpm is difficult to maintain such speed range. I pressed the gas pedal but no response to the rpm until I hit it really deep the rpm suddenly jumped to 4000 and of course this sudden acceleration doesn’t feel pleasant.
Does anyone experience the similar problem? Any solutions?

All new car paint sucks these days, since paint can no longer include those toxic chemicals that make it durable. Paint on a new high end or exotic vehicle may better, but it all sucks across the board on basic consumer vehicles.

There is a solution, you can get your car Opti-Coated, which is like adding a 2nd 2 mil thick more durable clear coat.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/143594-opti-coated-runner.html
I agree, that when driving up a hill, I don't feel like I have a 4.0 V6 with 285hp! Again, the problem isn't just with the new 4runners. All ECUs and Trans shift points are programed with FE in mind, which usually translates to a worse/weaker driving experience.

 

[Canazes9]

All new car paint sucks these days, since paint can no longer include those toxic chemicals that make it durable. Paint on a new high end or exotic vehicle may better, but it all sucks across the board on basic consumer vehicles.

There is a solution, you can get your car Opti-Coated, which is like adding a 2nd 2 mil thick more durable clear coat.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/143594-opti-coated-runner.html
I agree, that when driving up a hill, I don't feel like I have a 4.0 V6 with 285hp! Again, the problem isn't just with the new 4runners. All ECUs and Trans shift points are programed with FE in mind, which usually translates to a worse/weaker driving experience.

Now that I think about it, can't you disable the Eco map? Seems like I was playing with some buttons on my wifes SR5 and disabled it - that would probably help...

David

 

[4Run4YourLife]

S-mode...

 

[Whiplash Willy]

Now that I think about it, can't you disable the Eco map? Seems like I was playing with some buttons on my wifes SR5 and disabled it - that would probably help...

David

You can disable that stupid Eco Light, that comes on whenever you aren't flooring it.

Unfortunately you can't disable the "Eco" shift points or ECU programming, you would need to get a tune for that, which you don't really see any info about for 4runners.

Too bad the 5th gen doesn't have the "ECT Power" button like the 3rd gens had, that does change the shift points.

Even of you put it in "S", it doesn't seem to change your performance or shift points, it just allows you to set the highest gear it will shift into, however it is possible that "S" does improve performance a little, but not enough for me to notice.

 

[love_4runner]

Thanks guys. I think S Mode will turn off the Eco Mode. Will it help? I will give it a try.

 

[Canazes9]

You can disable that stupid Eco Light, that comes on whenever you aren't flooring it.

Unfortunately you can't disable the "Eco" shift points or ECU programming, you would need to get a tune for that, which you don't really see any info about for 4runners.

Too bad the 5th gen doesn't have the "ECT Power" button like the 3rd gens had, that does change the shift points.

Even of you put it in "S", it doesn't seem to change your performance or shift points, it just allows you to set the highest gear it will shift into, however it is possible that "S" does improve performance a little, but not enough for me to notice.

Didn't realize it was just turning the light off....

Thanks,

David

 

[4Run4YourLife]

Even of you put it in "S", it doesn't seem to change your performance or shift points, it just allows you to set the highest gear it will shift into, however it is possible that "S" does improve performance a little, but not enough for me to notice.

Confused by this...Am I the only one that uses S-mode like a manual transmission?

"S" ABSOLUTELY allows you to change the shift points. I can run 3 gear to red line if I was so inclined. It makes all the difference in the world when I am towing or driving on steep grades.

 

[love_4runner]

I heard that it is safer to stay away from S-Mode becuase it can blow the engine.

 

[mfregeau20]

Confused by this...Am I the only one that uses S-mode like a manual transmission?

"S" ABSOLUTELY allows you to change the shift points. I can run 3 gear to red line if I was so inclined. It makes all the difference in the world when I am towing or driving on steep grades.

I am totally with you on that, used it the whole time when driving up HWY 1 in CA. Lots of turns on the road and up and down hill. Made a huge difference for me spent a lot of time in S3

 

[adio3x]

I heard that it is safer to stay away from S-Mode becuase it can blow the engine.

Learn where to shift and don't redline it.

I was going through Colorado to get to Moab and in drive, it would bog down going up those hills. Slap it in S mode, 3rd gear was the sweet spot going up and down hills. The engine braking really helped going down those mountains.

 

[FrontRange4Runner]

Here in CO I don't really have much trouble with the mountains. All I do is slide the shifter over to S before I hit a large hill. This put the vehicle straight into 4th which gets me up most hills at the speed limit. The key is to do this before you start to lose momentum. Keep in mind that up here at altitude we are down quite a bit of power and it will only get worse as you gain altitude. So just plan ahead and shift early.

Also S mode will not do any damage to your engine unless you decide to drive around at redline all day. The engine is made to run at all different RPS's and honestly there are enough computer nannys programmed in to keep you from doing harm unless you really try.

We all wish they would just put the 5.7 in the 4Runner, but then all of our "I need more power" threads would just turn into "where the hell is my gas going" threads

 

[love_4runner]

Can anyone explain why S mode can improve the performance in large hill comparing to D mode? I thought it will only prevent the grear going higher. I don't understand why it dosen't give a smooth gear swith in uphill during D mode.

 

[4Run4YourLife]

Can anyone explain why S mode can improve the performance in large hill comparing to D mode? I thought it will only prevent the grear going higher. I don't understand why it dosen't give a smooth gear swith in uphill during D mode.

"D" is programmed for fuel economy. "S" allows the driver to decide when to shift. Most of the power in the 4runner is in the higher rpm ranges, hence why can be useful to use "S" mode.

 

[Canazes9]

Can anyone explain why S mode can improve the performance in large hill comparing to D mode? I thought it will only prevent the grear going higher. I don't understand why it dosen't give a smooth gear swith in uphill during D mode.

Purely guessing as I haven't been riding with you when it occurs. It sounds to me as if you are in 5th when you start up the hill. As you continue to drive up the hill you start bleeding speed and subsequently giving it more fuel to maintain speed. In 5th at those speeds, at those grades and at that altitude (reduced power over-all from thinner air) the motor can't maintain speed regardless of extra throttle.

You continue to lose speed and continue to give more throttle. Eventually the computer logic tells it to downshift or you mash the throttle enough to trigger the downshift. Now your throttle input is very large, your rpms are low and you don't downshift to 4th, it skips a gear and drops to 3rd. Same basic effect as if you floored it.

If you switch to S and keep the transmission in 4th, you will probably be able to pull the grade without losing speed with just a little additional throttle. You will never give it enough throttle to trigger a downshift and you will just ride smoothly up the hill in 4th.

HTH

David

 

[Rubberdown]

Well your power output on an engine isn't linear in relation to rpm. I poked around and found a dyno chart from k&n... It looks like the sweet spot on our truck happens between 3700-5000 rpm. So when you push the shifter into s, it turns off overdrive and puts you in an area closer to that sweet spot. D will downshift eventually, but typically it's already way outside of the power band. Incidentally, don't expect miracles. The stock 4runner made 189hp and about 212ftlb peak. Pretty shitty in a 4500ish pound car.

 

[Whiplash Willy]

Confused by this...Am I the only one that uses S-mode like a manual transmission?

"S" ABSOLUTELY allows you to change the shift points. I can run 3 gear to red line if I was so inclined. It makes all the difference in the world when I am towing or driving on steep grades.

If you use the S/Manual mode like a sport shifter, it will change shift points, but I meant if you put it in "S4" from D, the computer still controls the shift points from 1-2 & 2-3, it just won't let you pass 4. What I was saying that the ECU's shift points from 1-2 & 2-3 in "S4" mode don't seem any more aggressive then if you were in D.