Frustrated abour my 2010 SR5

[JayceeP]

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?

Not at all. I drive through the hills of Northern Nova Scotia (Cobequid Pass) and New Brunswick every so often and this thing pulls along effortlessly considering its weight- even in windy conditions and at higher speeds.

 

[Randyman...]

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

FYI - The ECU won't let you "Blow the engine" as it will simply refuse to up-shift if it will result in a redline condition (shifter will "beep" at you in this case).

I rarely use "S" mode, but I do agree if left in the default "S 4" mode it does not feel any different from "D" with the exception of omitting 5th gear by default.

 

[Durango24runner]

My previous durango with a 4.7 v-8 ran at unnecessarily high rpm and the power didn't translate into speed very well. I rather prefer how the 4 runner shifts, even though it can be slow to accelerate at some points. I also find the transmission to be very easy and fun to control with the 4 runner when needed. I like the economy of my 21 mpg and the ability to ramp up the power when needed. It truly is the best of both worlds.

 

[2013Trail]

it just won't let you pass 4.

Unless the 2010-12 4R is has a different tranny than my 2013 4RTE, yes you can. I use "S" mode all the time and I can upshift into 5th gear without putting it back into the "D" mode. Try it, you'll be surprised. And watch your gear indicator on the dash when you do it. You'll see that it stays in "S" mode.

 

[love_4runner]

I bought it in 2010-7.

 

[Jeremy556]

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

Complete nonsense. The only way you could hurt it would be to downshift into a gear that would spin the engine much faster than redline (like going 80mph and downshift into 1st gear), which the transmission will not allow you to do anyway.

 

[love_4runner]

Unless the 2010-12 4R is has a different tranny than my 2013 4RTE, yes you can. I use "S" mode all the time and I can upshift into 5th gear without putting it back into the "D" mode. Try it, you'll be surprised. And watch your gear indicator on the dash when you do it. You'll see that it stays in "S" mode.

What difference between 2010-10 tranny and later versions?