VVT-i critical for V8?

[gloch]

I am looking to pick up a 4gen T4R V8 and I am having a hard time finding an 05 or newer in my area that is in good enough condition. I have found a nice '04, but I am wondering if the extra HP is noticeable? I have driven the 05 V8 and it scoots along really well, but I am planning on doing some mild to medium towing with it and the extra torque of the non VVT-i might be nice to have. Thoughts?

-gl

 

[bamma]

I am looking to pick up a 4gen T4R V8 and I am having a hard time finding an 05 or newer in my area that is in good enough condition. I have found a nice '04, but I am wondering if the extra HP is noticeable? I have driven the 05 V8 and it scoots along really well, but I am planning on doing some mild to medium towing with it and the extra torque of the non VVT-i might be nice to have. Thoughts?

-gl

I have driven both and both are fine. Make sure if you go pre 05 to make sure you get the higher wt rating tow package.

 

[gloch]

I have driven both and both are fine. Make sure if you go pre 05 to make sure you get the higher wt rating tow package.

Thank you! Good call on the hitch.

-gl

 

[CXS]

As a biased '05 V8 owner that tows I'd say keep looking til you find one. Not trying o start (another) V6 vs V8 thread, just offering my personal experience & opinion.

 

[Inv4drZm]

The newer ones have another set of gears which might be even more important than the vvti for towing.

 

[bamma]

The newer ones have another set of gears which might be even more important than the vvti for towing.

All the V8 4th gens are 5 speeds. 03 and 04 V6 are 4 spd.

 

[bamma]

As a biased '05 V8 owner that tows I'd say keep looking til you find one. Not trying o start (another) V6 vs V8 thread, just offering my personal experience & opinion.

The difference is 320 ft/lb vs 330 ft/lb. Have you driven both? Not a huge difference. My experience with vvti is you run into issues with the cam phasers getting stuck in the retarded position. Vvti=more problems.

Really, just go with whatever has the best maintenance records in the best condition. I had a choice between an 05 v8 with limited service records and 100k or an 03 with 135k and every service record and all recommended maintenance completed. I drove both, and both had plenty of power. I took the 03 because it had been babied.

 

[gloch]

Really, just go with whatever has the best maintenance records in the best condition. I had a choice between an 05 v8 with limited service records and 100k or an 03 with 135k and every service record and all recommended maintenance completed. I drove both, and both had plenty of power. I took the 03 because it had been babied.

How many is too many miles? 150k? 180K? I saw an 04 with 177k, but had the timing belt/waterpump done at 175K.

-gl

 

[BlackWorksInc]

I love my '04 non-VVTi V8, both are good engines.

 

[AKmoney]

Not critical. It's more important that you find a truck in clean condition with a good service history.

'05+ VVTI only adds power at the high end; redline is about 5400 instead of 5000. Big deal. 99% of the time you'll never notice. Also, the VVTI engines have the secondary air injection pump that's doomed to failure. Not an issue with non-VVTI.

 

[MSRP.]

Only bonus to the early non vvti are the lack of secondary air to fail and some even have a transmission dipstick!

 

[Antoddio]

04 seems to be one of the best years for reliability. Perhaps because of air injection pump and cam phaser or whatever issues on the vvti. You won't be disappointed with the power. I tow a 24 foot boat and we are probably looking at 7000lbs total and it does great. Plus it's had only normal maintenance work in 12 years, 150K miles. No repairs needed except for cv boots. And most of those years were with towing, so it will be tough for you to go wrong.

 

[duffdog]

Nobody mentioned the better gas mileage with the VVTI motor. Yeah, it only has an extra 30hp and 30ft/lbs of torque. (which is totally noticeable when you floor it btw, don't let anyone tell you they can't tell the difference) But the vvti gets at least 3mpg better in all conditions.

That is why its hard to find one... if they were so horrible there would be tons of them for sale.

 

[bamma]

Nobody mentioned the better gas mileage with the VVTI motor. Yeah, it only has an extra 30hp and 30ft/lbs of torque. (which is totally noticeable when you floor it btw, don't let anyone tell you they can't tell the difference) But the vvti gets at least 3mpg better in all conditions.

That is why its hard to find one... if they were so horrible there would be tons of them for sale.

The V8s are hard to find period, at least in my experience. And it is a 10 ft/lbs difference in torque, not 30. And > 3mpg better? Based on what data? I researched a ton before purchasing, and nothing backs this up. The EPA estimates are basically the same and the 08 estimate is actually worse. All the mpg threads show they are about the same, with the VVTI maybe getting a slight mpg better depending on conditions. I truly doubt you'll find a difference in gas mileage between similarly equipped vvti vs non-vvti v8 runners.

And I have driven both, and truly did not notice a power difference between the two, but maybe I would have if I literally drove them back to back. Too bad the 5th gen didn't carry over the 4.7 or 4.6, because the V6 is lacking. Sad when I prefer driving my 13 yr old runner compared to my 4 yr old runner.

Now my 5.7 Tundra, man, that was a marked difference. That thing could fly. Too bad a 5 pt buck decided to play frogger with it.

 

[techoguy]

I'm looking for the v8 as well and was curious about the same thing the OP is. Great information here.

 

[ChrisLovesUgly]

Now my 5.7 Tundra, man, that was a marked difference. That thing could fly. Too bad a 5 pt buck decided to play frogger with it.

Agreed. I drove my buddy's Tundra and man that thing is a beast, and that was BEFORE he SC'd it.

 

[indawire]

My only comment on the V8 is based on the one I have in my '02 Tundra. I drive alone, no weight in the back, pull a trailer 1x a year to the tractor show. My gas mileage bloze IMO 11-13 mpg. When I get another 4Runner I'm sticking with the 6 which is what's in our 2000.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

The low end is different enough between the V6 and V8 to be noticeable, particularly when you load the vehicles up.

You're gonna notice that the V6 will drop mpgs rapidly when you throw 33's, a bumper, and some other goodies on it; not to mention it will need to rev higher just to lug all that weight around. The V8 on the other hand can bet stretched a bit further without needing to regear, additionally you're also looking at other things that are beneficial (All-Time 4WD, 5-spd Transmission if you're buying older than about '05, ect.).

The V6 4th gens are good vehicles, but I still laugh at most anyone that is picky about mpg for this type of vehicle; if you're that concern about fuel mileage you will more than likely be better off with a Highlander rather than the 4Runner. Now stock for stock, unless you're towing, the V6 isn't a horrible choice of engine (I would have gone with it had the S10 Blazer I had not turned me away from anything less than 8 cylinders due to it's horrid early 4.3L).

This is a vehicle you buy for capability and reliability, mpg is the cost you pay; particularly if you mod them. I'm running 35's, full under armor, 3" suspension lift, 1.5" BL, and full metal front bumper; I'm still pulling about 12mpg in town and about 14~15ish freeway. That's rather appalling to most people I suppose, but the low-end still feels torquey (despite a significant increase of 0-60secs from about the factoy 7.7 to close to 10 seconds), the V8 still pulls hard and I have towed a trailer and yanked 2 4Runners at the same time for recovery with my vehicle. I've been in a 4th gen that was ridiculously overloaded in terms of weight (at the time I believe he had 39's on his 4th gen?) with a V6 and that thing had a hard time getting out of it's own way; got a bit better when he regeared it, but still needed a bit higher revs.

Bottom line, if you're quibbling over 2mpg difference in this particular segment, then you're more than likely not going to benefit from this vehicle and would be better off in a Highlander or similar vehicle. V6 or V8, just adding slightly more aggressive tires of the same size will nick your mpg down; it won't matter on the engine you'll be disappointing because you're focusing on the wrong thing.

 

[mizak82]

everyone here is going to go down swinging to say they have the best engine..

I'd rate the 03-04 V6 with the 4 speed as the least desirable engine, but only because of the tranny.. not far behind is the non VVT-I V8..

the two best engines for the 4th gen are is the 5 speed V6 and the VVT-I V8.. and then you have an argument, but Id take either.. the other 2 I'd consider it a negative personally..

plus most of the V8s you buy used are much more likely to be used for towing its whole life, which to me means more stress on the drivetrain..

 

[Antoddio]

plus most of the V8s you buy used are much more likely to be used for towing its whole life, which to me means more stress on the drivetrain..

If you mean towing kids to a soccer game. I'd venture to say that you would be hard pressed to find even a V8 that has been used more than 5% of it's life for towing something behind it. Come to think of it, I've never seen a 4runner towing anything at anytime other than mine and I do see them driving all the time.

If someone is going to tow a heavy load, they buy a truck generally, not a 4runner. People pulling construction or utility trailers don't seek out 4runner's to buy. Plus most people naively think a Tahoe tows better than a 4runner. I've been in several Tahoe's where I've had to pray to make it to the destination and at least one that left me stranded on the side of the road when a boat was in tow. I have only seen one Toyota of ANY model broken down on the side of the road in many years of driving.

So even if you blindly throw a dart at the classifieds page and buy the first 4Runner it hits, you'll probably have good luck.