2020 may come with a diesel v8

Well now we can get all hopeful dreamy and stupid about 2021 right!!!???

 

Not yet...just got off work. Give me a couple minutes.

 

Okay....I have no idea what's going on right now.

 

I had a 2018 Tacoma for two months before I traded for the 4runner. The engine/trans sucked. At 75mph with any wind at all, the mpg was like 13mpg. Zero low end torque. And it constantly shifted. In town, it raced to the highest gear possible as fast as it could and then often would downshift two gears when you gave it gas to speed up. Just plain weird. Worst trans I've ever driven in any vehicle ever. Just blew me away how toyota would do something like that. I'd have traded it back for my 2nd gen at a loss if I had the option. Really hoping they don't do that to the T4R.

 

I haven’t looked but are they using CVT transmissions?

 

So what exactly do 4Runners and Tacoma's have in common then just the chassis? I used to think they were more related like the old Rangers/Explorers (totally bummed when I learned the Explorers now share with the Flex). I came across weird down shifting issues with the Colorado's & Canyon's when doing my research before my 4R purchase. I liked the Tundra's and Tacos, but at the end of the day it came down to what I could fit in my garage.

 

3rd gen Tacoma’s and 5th gen 4Runners I would say very little. The previous generations seemed to have much more in common than the current. A 1st gen Tacoma and 3rd gen 4Runner are almost the same minus rear body and rear suspension.

 

No. It was a 6 speed auto that I had. If you weren't on flat ground with zero wind, it had a real hard time hanging onto 6th gear at hiway speed. With a steady headwind, sometimes it wouldn't even hold 5th. I was blown away by this when I went on my first long road trip. I just didn't pick up on all this in my test driving. But after a couple months, I just hated it.

 

2nd gen Tacoma's had an engine similar to 5th gen 4runners. But the 3rd gen Tacoma's (2016+) went to a 3.5L Atkinson cycle engine.

It Just didn't have the power where you need it. The power was there, but way up in the high rpm range. And once you get there, mpg suffered terribly.

 

It's not even a real Atkinson cycle engine. It has some electronic crap that in certain situations will mimic an Atkinson cycle. That's it.

 

Well, sort of. It does run a true Atkinson cycle under low load scenarios, like highway cruising (this is assuming that the truck can hold gears at cruising speed). The cam holds the intake valves open longer during the compression phase, which means that some reversion occurs and the total volume of air inside the combustion chamber is lower, meaning you need less fuel in order to maintain combustion.

This is why they have direct injection (as well as port injection). The amount of fuel can be added to the combustion chamber as needed. If the reversion mentioned above included air as well as fuel from port injectors, you would just have atomized fuel flinging back out too (negating economy and driveability). The direct injection is used exclusively when the engine switches to Atkinson. Most of the time, the Tacoma engine runs the pure traditional Otto cycle and a mixture of direct/port injection as needed.

A pure Atkinson engine (one without variable cam phasing) is efficient but a bit of a dog when power is required. The Prius makes up for this shortcoming with the electric hybrid assist motor. It would make no sense to put a pure Atkinson cycle engine into a truck.

 

Exactly. Not a true Atkinson.

 

Atkinson is a cycle, not necessarily an engine. The distinction is important.

And you wouldn't want an engine that's "stuck" in the Atkinson cycle anyway. The 3.5 already gets plenty of complaints, it would be much worse if it ran purely on the Atkinson cycle (or in your words, if it was a "true Atkinson engine").

 

Exactly

 

Glad we're all in agreement here

 

The appeal is that you can't get it, and this is 'Murica, and no one tells us what we can and can't drive!

 

No one except the EPA/.gov and it's wonderful regulations which allow Europe to get the best of the manufacturers while we get watered down versions.

 

Europe pays a hell of a lot more for gas than we do. Diesel is a no brainer over there.

 

It also helps that their diesels are not completely choked off with emissions crap like they are here. There are some diesel cars over there that get close to 60 mpg. Then you have beasts like this...

https://www.motor1.com/news/306917/vw-touareg-v8-tdi-revealed/

Don't know if you remember but diesel used to be cheaper than gas here in the USA. Diesel trucks like a Dodge 1 ton would also get 23-24 mpg. Diesel is cheaper to produce and has less environmental impact to produce than gas does. Then the .gov declared war on diesel here and now these trucks get around 14 mpg and def fluid for the emission systems. Expensive to own but the .gov and big oil make some good money off the trucking industry after all this. It just doesn't make sense to own a diesel here for personal use unless it is absolutely necessary for work/towing, etc.. Sucks. I like diesels, or used to anyway.