Never drove the ford ranger but the Colorado was surprisingly fun to drive. The acceleration at low speeds and solid/expected gear shifts are better than the Tacoma in my honest opinion. The auto Tacoma is great if you bump shift your self but at that point I’d rather have a manual. Everything thing else such as interior, exterior and functionality goes to the Tacoma. FTW
Tacoma vs. Ranger vs. Colorado
- Thread starter Thai
- Start date
4runnerinbc
New member
Very general comment but guys that trade up every few years tend to like their ford/ GM products more
Tuco S.
New member
Having owned several diesels in the past, I can say without a shred of doubt I would not buy a new one today because of all the emissions components alone. Plus the diesel has a higher initial purchase price. On my last one (a VW TDI), I calculated I would have to drive something like 300k miles just to break even on fuel savings.
Twan
Senior Member
For me it's not really about the fuel savings, since I don't put a lot of miles on my vehicles anyway. I've had my 4Runner for nearly 6 years and put barely 20k miles on it, even though it's my daily. I'm interested in the diesel because I prefer forced induction if possible because of the altitude here and type of offroading. As it is I'm a mile above sea level, and some of the trails around here are twice that high, and as it is my 4Runner struggles up hills already. Once you get to the trails, they're all slow rock crawling where the torque is a huge benefit.
I've got a coworker who custom ordered a brand new Tacoma this year and it only took two months for him to say he hates driving it and wants to trade it in because it's terrible to drive up to the ski resorts. The other two that have third gen Tacomas as well also complain about having to keep the revs up and the transmission hunting for gears all the time even after the reflash. I'll pass on that.
Tuco S.
New member
Are there any superchargers on the market that might add some low end power for your application? The diesel route is going to be a very expensive solution.
Bumbo
New member
I’ve driven a supercharged 4.0 and it was so lack-luster / underwhelming it’s immediately put a stop to my “day dreaming” about getting one.
Yes it’s better than without, but it just make the truck feel like it should feel. If you were not used to driving the platform you might not even know it had a SC. For the 10-13k add in cost, it’s a lot to stomach for a little boost. It starts to put these trucks into price class where you could just get a GX instead and have a NA V8.
Twan
Senior Member
The supercharger for the 3.4 takes it from anemic to almost adequate. An engineer friend has been talking about wanting to help do a homebrew turbo kit like he did to his Tundra, but meh. I've been talking with a dealer about a diesel '18 ZR2 and they would let it go for $36k. I'm still not ready to pull the trigger on anything, but I'm exploring my options.
sn_85
Senior Member
I went and did it anyway today.
$36K? That's a hell of deal. Congrats on the new ride. It's kind of shocking to see how much of a discount you can get on a ZR2. Packs a lot of value, features, and off-road ability for that price. You probably couldn't get a used 2017 TRD Pro Tacoma for that price right now. The ZR2's are sleepers in my opinion and discounts are to be had, especially for year end models.
Primarytarget
New member
Hmmmm build quality! IJS
Primarytarget
New member
I went and did it anyway today.
I wish you the best of luck!
MDurbs68
New member
That is a great choice. I can't believe the deals that are to be had on ZR2s. I am strongly considering one and giving my T4R to my kids. Can't wait to hear how you like it.
I went and did it anyway today.
Twan
Senior Member
Really enjoying it so far, but I think a Pedal Commander is going to be a must-buy. I'm not really used to it yet and so I go from nothing to right into boost and zip away from stoplights.
