V6 Towing

Well did you read my post above about my moms 1986 ford tempo. I am sure you will be just fine with the v6. OK
 
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Get the v8.

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Now we got that out of the way, you should be fine with either engine. You're talking about towing 2,000lbs at most. With the '05 v6 getting the 5spd auto trans, it'll feel quicker than the '04 and '03 v6s.

Now lets get onto more serious discussions...

Which color are you getting? :D
 
600 lbs? Zero problems

You won't really notice any difference. I have put 2000 pounds of retaining wall stone on my trailer, and I notice no difference in driving capability.

For any doofi (plural of doofus) who would like to shoot me down because of my first sentence , NO, I am not racing from stop to stop, so in fact I don't care what the actual effect on my 0-60 time is. Since I drive sane and reasonable all the time, the effect of 200 pounds makes no real difference in my driving. I just give a bit more gas.

I'm sure that pulling upwards of maximum load capacity (5000lbs) would slow down zero-to-whatever, and make climbing hills more work for the motor, but when you TOW, you shouldn't be to concerned about how quick your truck will be anyway.

Think about carrying four 150 pound adults as passengers, so there you go , 600 lbs. I'm sure you wouldn't notice any difference.

You don't say if you plan on any serious towing (+2500 lbs), in which case, you should have a trailer with electric brakes, and consider the V8 if it's something you would do a lot of.
 
I mentioned in a previous thread that I pull my 800 lb quad on a 1,200 lb trailer (along with 3 of my buddies). No problems at all! I pull through some nasty terrain (rocky, muddy, sandy, hilly...), to get my quad to the good spots. Another thing I really liked with the V6 is you have the option to be in 2wd or 4wd. The V6 has all the power you need and more! The 4.0 has a pretty nice growl to it too ;): .
 
Here is real world experience:
I have had the benefit of experiencing both. First, let me say the v6 can handle what you are needing to tow (obviously) but it does have to work harder to do it. What I mean by this is when towing the same trailer and 3 people in the vehicle with the v6, it had to down shift a lot more on the interstate to maintain cruising speed (hills). This constant changing gears is more work on the transmission and uses more fuel. The v8 with this trailer and 3 passengers hardly new it was back there; only down shifting on long, steep grades; and the v8 was cruising in 5th gear.
The trailer was a small boat weighing approximately 1,500 - 2,000 lbs. The vehicles were 2003 4Runners. One other thing, the v8 has a mega warrior on top of it, which increases drag.
 
with the 5 spd V6, you shouldn't notice the downshift any more than the V8. I've been towing for about 12 years now, behind 4 different vehicles (passenger). The V6 has enough power and grunt for the demand which you will place on it. Gas mileage while towing shouldn't be a concern as towing is an infrequent activity (or else you would have gotten a truck or a bigger tow vehicle).

Basically get the vehicle you want to drive every day if this is also to be a daily driver. Either engine will do fine with the weight you are towing.
 
boston_kevin said:
with the 5 spd V6, you shouldn't notice the downshift any more than the V8.

How is that? The v6 was already having to go from 4th to 3rd gear to pull hills. If the v8 was already in 4th it would have never down shifted.
 
4th gear in the 5spd tranny is not the same as 4th gear in the 4spd tranny. Now the gear ratios are the same since both engines now share the same tranny, diffs, and 4H gearing. The only appreciable difference is the extra 25 HP and the 48 ft lbs of torque.

The change in the gear ratios between '04 and '05 for the V6 was a significant improvement. I have noticed that the 4spd has trouble finding the correct gear for engine speeds between 35 and 45 mph, but the 5spd has no problem since the gearing is a lot closer together.
 
boston_kevin said:
with the 5 spd V6, you shouldn't notice the downshift any more than the V8. I've been towing for about 12 years now, behind 4 different vehicles (passenger). The V6 has enough power and grunt for the demand which you will place on it. Gas mileage while towing shouldn't be a concern as towing is an infrequent activity (or else you would have gotten a truck or a bigger tow vehicle).

Basically get the vehicle you want to drive every day if this is also to be a daily driver. Either engine will do fine with the weight you are towing.

You must be talking about pulling 2K lbs or less!

If your're pulling over 3K lbs there will be a noticable difference between the V6 and V8. Your talking about almost a 15% increase in torque and a 35% increase pulling capacity.

Koz
 
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boston_kevin said:
4th gear in the 5spd tranny is not the same as 4th gear in the 4spd tranny. Now the gear ratios are the same since both engines now share the same tranny, diffs, and 4H gearing. The only appreciable difference is the extra 25 HP and the 48 ft lbs of torque.

The change in the gear ratios between '04 and '05 for the V6 was a significant improvement. I have noticed that the 4spd has trouble finding the correct gear for engine speeds between 35 and 45 mph, but the 5spd has no problem since the gearing is a lot closer together.

The 5the gear has a ratio of .716 the old v6 4th gear ratio was .705. The v6 was downshifting to gain rpm for max. hp and torque at 70-75 mph.
I am not saying the 5 speed auto will not help, but I think you will still experience more downshifting with the v6 especially since it gets more of its power at higher rpm's.
 
ignorant post(s) about the v6 aside, the manual says the v6 is rated at 5k lbs towing capacity. Specs for this kind of thing in an owners manual are usually underrated so you will be more than ok. I've towed my father's 23 foot Chapparal with my 4runner without incident...albeit a short distance. I have no idea what those things weigh...
 
For me, at least half the fun of my 4 Runner is the V8, mounted front to back - smooth, semi-exotic valve train, never under strain, the excellent 5 speed planetary gear transmission, and rear wheel drive.
Even though I rarely tow anything the cost difference of the V8 was worth it to me. Gas cost difference is negligible and I'll bet the initial cost will mostly come back at trade in time.


I got tired of the three FWD sedans I had before the 4R even though the Pontiac Bonne with the Supercharged V6 was great when it was not in the shop with electrical problems.

And the Acura CL S, well how many transmissions can fail on the same car ? I gave up after three. Major rear main seal failure was an unhappy event as well. Resale was awful on that turkey. The trans was really a manual transmission design with solenoid activated clutches controlled by computer.
 
There''s nothing better than driving around with the good old American designed and developed 90 deg V8. One of those great and timeless designs.

Especially nice is the refined version you get in a Toyota.
 
Bluto said:
Three x-CLS owners in a row. :artist:

there's alot of us isn't there?? Are there any other ex CLS AND ex 350z owners here?? :hello:

yeah 2 bad trannies was enough for me. ugh.
 
Atlanta_man said:
There''s nothing better than driving around with the good old American designed and developed 90 deg V8. One of those great and timeless designs.

Especially nice is the refined version you get in a Toyota.

is the record skipping? :confused:

yeah but what good is a v8 without 4wd. LOL.
 
Atlanta_man said:
The trans was really a manual transmission design with solenoid activated clutches controlled by computer.

there was nothing manual about the CLS's tranny design btw...most auto trannies use solenoids/clutch plates. It was an auto tranny with 'sport' shift. Now if we were talking SMG bimmers...then you might have a point.
 
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Atlanta_man said:
constant mesh gears on countershafts vs planetary gear sets... think about it


ok...i hear ya...becuase CLS uses 3 shafts instead of fixed planetary gearsets....which yeah I guess is more similar to a manual tranny since manual uses shafts/clutch packs...but IMO it's so computer controlled/limited it's an auto. I guess I think of these setups being just another common 'new style automatic' in the same vein as a CVT is just another kind of auto.
 
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