Not happy ....

Anyone who had ever been involved in a high speed collision and felt the trauma and years of rehab that results from it, knows 100 mph is way too risky in a 4 Runner.

 

If you think 105 mph in a modern, well maintained, familiar vehicle on a totally empty straight highway with no intersecting roads is too fast... well, sorry that you're afraid of the dark and monsters in your closet, too.

I'm no speed demon, but speed can easily be achieved safely.

Related: I regularly top out a Crown Vic at a disturbingly slow 126 mph. And get paid for it.

Let the heads commence exploding.

Also I could only see simplemind's posts when they were quoted by someone else... I must have blocked him for some aggravating comments at some point previous, I reckon. Oh well.

 

LMAO! Those things are dogs! My TC will do 137 (allegedly).

 

I would say it's situational if anything. I would feel safer at 100 on an empty stretch of road than I do at 85 surrounded by unpredictable maniacs.

 

Strange. I think the most controversial thing I've ever said on this forum is that 105 MPH in a 4R isn't reckless under the right circumstances, but the idea of pulling a trailer at 105 freaked me out. (And I later apologized for mistakenly thinking the guy was pulling a trailer when really he was just using a hitch hauler -- a big difference).

Oh, there was that time I noted that electric vehicles do have some benefits and keep improving. I guess that annoyed the anti-science crowd. That could be it.

 

Yeah it's pretty frustrating when a 1500 pickup with a donut spare installed gets away from you

My steering wheel top is dented forward from "anger smashing"

 

I live in Colorado, have a 3" lift and 33's and never had an issue driving in the mountains. Yes sometimes you have to switch to S4 to get up hills. I had to lock-out gears in my completely stock Dodge Ram 5.7 4x4 as well. The 5th gen is light years ahead of climbing these mountains than my 3.4L 3rd gen.

 

Or as Pogo once said, “we have met the enemy and it is us”.

 

https://youtu.be/R7dG9UlzeFM

 

A lot of you complaining about the torque of these 4Runners are sure making a good argument for a CVT transmission.

Just sayin....

 

I'm actually at sea level, on the East Coast. So every once in awhile I take it up in the mountains, but those are small New England mountains, only about 3,000 feet.

Most of my daily driving is probably within 50 feet of sea-level, LOL.

I actually saw a Dyno chart of 4.0 once, and at 2000 RPM it was making 150 foot pounds of torque. I mentioned the Chevy Sonic, because the 1.3L Ecotec turbo makes 203 foot-pounds at 2000 RPM, LOL.

That's a nice thing about some of these new turbo motors, they're tuned for low-end torque over high RPM horsepower. Like my Volvo....it only makes 208 horsepower, but 236 foot pounds at 1900. The torque is exactly where you want in daily driving, power is always there when you need it. It's also not fast, as in acceleration, however it just pulls strongly at low RPMs. So if I'm climbing a long grade or crossing a long bridge, there's no need for it to kick down into lower gears in order to maintain speed. I can even accelerate up most hills without it kicking down. It's an XC70 wagon, so it is fairly heavy, but you're right that it has better aero and is lighter than the 4Runner. I'm sure that does help.

Same as the Cummins you mentioned. While those are not fast in the acceleration sense of the world, it's the same deal, one of those can pull some serious grades at low RPM without the need to constantly downshift.

I actually hope for the 6th gen, they get away from these peaky V6s and go to a turbo four-cylinder or V-6 that makes good low-end torque, such as the Ford EcoBoost motors. Oh, and turbos can be plenty reliable, btw, my Volvo has 224k on it with no turbo related issues ever, and there are quite a few of them on the road with over 300K.

All that aside, what the 4Runner really needs is an LS swap!

 

This was the best I could find, but it was a single VVTI Tacoma 1GR. I would imagine the dual VVTI 4runner version should be similar if not better. This shows 78% (225 lb/ft) at 1000 and 88% (250 lb/ft) at 2000 RPM's.



Driving mine around today after reading this thread, I was paying extra attention to the driving characteristics. To me, the 4runner feels fine. I just don't get what some are talking about.

Driving through the mountains in Tennessee, I have used S mode and downshifted when I could feel the engine starting to bog down, and had no problems.

Of course, this topic is subjective. We could go back and forth all day and neither of us will change our mind. There's no argument here, just different opinions.

As far as a 5,000 lb shoebox is concerned, I am completely happy with the power. Would I mind more? No. But that's always the case.

And, get out of here with that LS swap garbage talk!

 

If they do to the 4runner what they did to the Tacoma, it would suck. The 3rd gen Tacoma’s 3.5L absolutely sucks on the highway unless it’s totally flat with no wind. More than happy with my mpg in my 4runner. The Tacoma I had, I was getting like 13-14mpg at 75-80mph with any wind at all. It just couldn’t pull without dropping to 4th gear (6 speed auto).

I pray they don’t do that to the 4runner.

 

All the safety testing for the star rating system is based on low speed tests - so 5 stars means you’re ok if you rub a guard rail or bump into someone in a parking lot. Surviving a high speed accident involves mostly luck, something to think about whenever you exceed 70mph or so. Especially in a high centre of gravity, and heavy vehicle like a 4 Runner, that will be completely useless if any high speed manoeuvres are attempted including stopping on luggy off road tires.

 

"every vehicle"?

I built a lifted Safari AWD with a 502/502 Ramjet crate engine, 4L80E tranny and t-case from a 1500 pickup mated to a custom Ford 9". Pulled my custom 3,000 lb modded Safari trailer up hills in PA without ever noticing.

And yes, I'm bragging. The $30k CAN kind of bragging LOLOL

 

Probably got about 12 MPG also.

 

Wow, I like that, peter2772000! Cool. Great overland vehicle. What made you sell it?

 

Yeah, mileage is an overrated attribute for a vehicle like that. It’s like fuelling up a big boat. So what, big deal. You either do it, and pay for it, or you stay home and drink beer on the deck.

 

The highest point in PA is 3,212 ft, that doesn’t even count when talking about mountains.

 

I agree! But, I think you missed my point. It's just not a good comparison. It was like saying that a Toyota Corolla is underpowered because a blown Corvette is faster.

 

You need a "I Have Candy" sticker on the back of that thing.