Low engine power or just normal?

Hey again all

I've been driving my v8 '03 around for a bit and my girlfriend and I both had the same observation

- It's a bit surprising that her '21 v6 Tacoma CRUISES up our local mountains in 4th gear with power to spare
- And my v8 Tundra reaches starts dropping gears until it hits 3rd where it has *some* capability to accelerate up mountains.


Now my Tundra is a worn horse at 300k but it's still quite striking how different they pull. I expected at least to be equals, but boy her Taco has some guts.

Is this was what 20 years of Toyota R&D has sowed and reaped or is my v8 simply past prime?

There's really nothing else for me to complain about driving wise on the Tundra. She's great
I do intend to replace sparks and coils soon, that might help, but otherwise I'm not really going to chase for more power unless it's something simple I can do.

Just curious what the crowd thinks

 

How many gears does the taco have?

 

it's a 6 gear manual

 

No, you're experiencing overdrive. 4th gear is overgeared, so your drive shaft is going to spin at a higher RPM than your engine. In third gear, the Engine RPM matches the driveshaft RPM. 2nd and 1st, the engine spins at a higher RPM than the drive shaft. 3rd gear is the gear where you will reach your maximum speed, 4th gear is where you'll reach your maximum fuel efficiency, but running at a lower speed. Turn O/D off in the mountains and you'll probably have a better driving experience.

Your Taco doesn't reach O/D until 6th gear, and your Taco's O/D gear is taller than the Tundra's. Also without O/D in your truck, you'd get shitty MPG.

 

what size tires are you running?

 

This sounds reasonable, just surprising that her Tacoma doesn't reach OD until 6th. I thought all vehicles had a 1:1 in 3rd and crossed over into OD by 4th - just some assumption my brain conjured up.
But if you're saying Tacomas aren't in OD in 4th I'll also count that as a win for 20 years of R&D then, because she gets almost 50% better gas mileage than me and I know she just leaves it in 4th.

Dunno if anyone else has driven a manual Tacoma, but you can comfortably sit in 4th gear 35 to 60mph before you start thinking of shifting, regardless of hills.

She's got 275/70/18 tires on and a 3" lift
I'll have to check what are mine

 

Tacoma and Tundra are going to be different powerbands. It's really not fair to compare them at all. My Tundra's garage mate is a 4.0L Taco with a 5speed automatic and 3.73 gears, completely different driving experience to my Tundra in stock config.

Your Taco is also 1:1 in 5th gear. Your axle ratio on the Tacoma is also shorter than the Tundra, 4.30 vs 3.91.

And no, not all transmissions are O/D in fourth. O/D Some transmissions can have multiple overdrive gears as well, 5.7 Tundras have two overdrive gears and the newest Tundras have three.

That's a big part of the issue right here. These tires are over 8% bigger in diameter and almost 4% wider than stock sizes. Increased rolling resistance, combined with the fact you're losing HP as you climb elevation, are not doing you any favors.

Change your axle ratios from 3.91 to 4.56 or 4.88 and the truck will respond better to the bigger tires.

 

Your Tundra must get abysmal gas mileage if any Tacoma gets 50% better

 

He states that it has 300k on it and is due for plugs and coils. I'd be willing to bet the injectors aren't operating optimally at that mileage, either. All factors that play into how it runs & shifts as well. A lot going on here in the comparison.

Not trying to be harsh, OP, just shooting you straight, but freshen your shit up and I believe you'd notice a significant difference in the performance of your truck.

 

None taken @Desert Dog, i just bought this truck a few months ago so I'm in the process of freshening up as you say.
Neutral safety switch, valve cover gaskets, sparks//coils are all on my todo list.

PO sorta did maintenance, but one thing I noticed is they just replaced 1 spark and 1 coil as they became a problem. I'm running the assumption most of them are on death's door which is why I mentioned it.

Girlfriends Tacoma gets 20-23mpg if I recall correctly. My Tundra is still new to me but I'm seeing around 15.
This doesn't surprise me much since it's a v8 vs v6 and mine is old n crusty xD

 

I guess they are rated close to that, but I’ve never seen anyone with a V6 Tacoma get 23mpg. It could happen though! Especially with a manual.

 

the tires are bigger than 8% when compared to the original base model sized 245/70-16. It would be going all the way from a 29.5” tall tire, to a 33.16”!

 

I noticed a huge difference in power just between 265 70 16 and 265 75 16. Currently have 255 70 16 and compared to my 98 V6 Tacoma (which is still far from apples to apples but a hell of a lot more fair comparison) it's got a ton of power. Less peppy from a stop, but far more pulling power.

 

Right on. I would strongly encourage you to get all 8 spark plugs and all 8 coils replace as soon as possible. Use the Denso's Toyota recommends for your MY. And, as I stated prior, get those tired, plugged-up injectors out asap, too, and get some Dirty Deeds Industries replacements in it and I promise you'll notice the difference.

Keep us posted.

 

Dunno, my coils are all factory original, as are the injectors. Performance still seems great. Pulls my camper great through the hills, even with these bigger tires. But a 4 speed trans that turns into a 3 speed when towing does suffer from lack of gear ratios available.

 

Sure, but the key word is "seems". Performance is one of those things that degrades slowly in a way that can be imperceptible. We get used to a state of something, and unless and until a change is made, we oftentimes don't realize how something is affected. I know what I'm stating is purely anecdotal, but it has been my experience multiple times. With the Tundra, and 2 Jeep XJ's. New, 12-hole injectors from a Dodge Neon livened them up and made them smooth and crisp again. It's just one of those things you have to experience for yourself to appreciate.

Same with the coils on the Tundra. The originals did the job, but after replacing with new, they were clearly less-efficient even though visually they looked fine and the truck ran.

 

Is there a thread or other resource to learn about tires? I know nothing lol
I'd like to learn what the numbers mean, and how the size affects performance

I'd recommend changing out your sparks and coils @KNABORES when you get time.
It's nothing life changing, but you'll notice the vehicle feels a bit fresher.

 

Hmmm. If it ain’t broke….

 

Your axle ratio determines how many turns of the driveshaft/pinion gear are needed to make a full revolution of your tires. Taller tires take more distance to make one full revolution, plus they will typically weigh heavier. If you do not change the axle ratio, the driveshaft has to turn more to compensate for the extra distance it takes to make one full revolution of the tire. Changing the axle ratio to a lower gear ratio will require the driveshaft to not turn as much to to make one full revolution of the tires.

 

Try cleaning your Mass Air Flow Sensor. It's cheap and easy.

 

Just make sure you use "MAF Cleaner" specifically

I've seen some shit, not on this forum, but elsewhere on the interwebs.