whiteclef

I've managed to acquire a '96 4runner Limited with a TRD supercharger. My previous 4runner was a 93 so I don't know about the newer model. Wondering if someone can answer a couple questions for me:
- Is this an aftermarket upgrade? (probably a duh question but I know sometimes you can buy supercharged cars right from the dealer) Did Toyota ever do this with these limiteds?
- anyone have any evidence (anecdotal or solid) that the supercharger increases fuel economy?
- has anyone every dynoed one of these and has some idea of the horse power increase over the stock 3.4?

I'm hoping to sell this so I can buy an older model-probably back to the 93. This one is too nice for a trail truck at least for now

my ad if you're interested:
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/cto/836178188.html

NicCantDecide

if its the TRD supercharger on the 3.4L, why sell it whole?

Buy a 2nd gen with a blown engine, drop the supercharged 5vz-fe in it, then sell the 96 limited.

I don't know if its a straight out of the factory option, but TRD does make the supercharger kit and the factory will install it for you.

edit: or if you really want, we can trade I have a grey 93 4Runner SR5 with basically every option. heheh

olharleyman

Not sure about the fuel mileage increase because you need to run premium but mine has a dyno showing 311 rear wheel hp but it has a 7th injector kit and 2.2 pulley from U.R.D.
Looks like you have the 2nd gen s/cer like mine so you should have no issues with getting very good power out of her it will run about 1g for the kit but more power means truck not having to work as hard to make the power needed to get down the road or trail and if you gear it that will make it more usable power.

X-AWDriver

The SC was a dealer installed option and could've been installed on any V6 model. The basic install adds about 50 ponies bumping things up to around 240 to the crank.

CYi5

You can get slightly better fuel economy, however you really do have to be careful how much throttle you apply. My friend has an '02 Tacoma dubcab on 34's + 4.56's, with the URD 7th kit and he routinely gets 19-19.5 highway.

Reverend

The supercharger is an aftermarket item, manufactured and warrantied by Toyota. It is a dealer installed item.

Anything that's good for performance is bad for fuel economy. That's the bottom line. The only exception to this statement is weight reduction.

PirateMcgee

WRONG WRONG WRONG

anything that makes an engine move air/fuel more efficiently will lead to an increase in horsepower and fuel economy. Now, if you have to start increasing the amount of fuel to match the input of air ie forced induction you will lose fuel economy. At the same time though mild "boost" may increase fuel economy since it doesn't take as much gas pedal to go the same speed.

There's also aerodynamics, increase performance, increase fuel economy

Cars from the factory are not maxed out performance or fuel economy wise. They first factor in cost, then find a good blend between fuel economy, power, and "loudness". Cost is the big factor for manufactuers if you think you can't improve on a manufactuers design you are just plain wrong.

Intakes, exhaust, ignition upgrades, computer chips etc all have the ability to increase power and increase fuel economy.

NicCantDecide

^^ exactly, there's a difference betwen "freeing up" power and "increasing" power.

Free flowing intake and exhaust frees up horsepower and gives you better fuel economy.

High compression pistons, turbochargers in MOST cases, increase power and lower fuel economy.

Reverend

What do you think a SC does? It creates positive manifold pressure. In an EFI system, more air consumption = more fuel consumption, keeping a consistent air:fuel mixture. So.... How does it use less fuel?

Aerodynamics, when applied to performance and fuel economy is a tricky thing. You can obviously increase fuel economy by reducing drag, and you can increase straight-line performance by doing the same. However, if you want to increase stability performance, you have to generate downforce, and that reduces gas mileage.

I agree with that statement. Manufacturers don't care about anything but their bottom line profits. They'll produce what people will buy.

I've never seen any data that shows that increasing intake flow, exhaust flow, ignition spark or ignition timing having a positive impact on fuel economy.

An engine runs on three basic components: Air, Fuel, and Ignition. If you increase air or fuel in an EFI system, the ECU compensates by dumping more fuel into the system. The A/F mixture never really leans out, unless you get an aftermarket ECU or a custom ECU tune.

MadCityRich

To a point, advancing ignition timing makes an engine more efficient and increases power. However, if you advance timing too far, you could get pinging or knock, which is bad for both power and motor longevity.

MadCityRich

mastacox

People with supercharged Tacomas and 4Runners tend to experience slightly increased fuel economy over stock when they install the S/C; around 2-3mpg. If you're flooring it all the time you will of course get worse economy, but if you drive about the same with a few romps here and there, your mileage will generally increase. This is due to the fact that a supercharger nets a slight increase in overall efficiency of the engine.

I get about 20-21 mpg on the hwy, and 18mpg in the city with a Supercharger, URD kit and URD 2.2" pulley. That's a 4wd 4Runner with a 3" revtek, 1" body, and 285's.

PirateMcgee

So all the people that experience better power (there are dyno charts for pretty much every legitimate mod out there) and get better gas mileage are wrong?

A free flowing intake and exhaust allow the engine to pump more freely and therefore more efficently. This increases power (usually topend) and increases fuel economy.

Ignition upgrades allow for a better/stronger spark, this ignites the air/fuel mixture causing more complete combustion ie less unburned gas going out the tailpipe.

Another thing that increases both performance and fuel economy is synthetic oils. Less friction = better perfomance and increased fuel economy.

Back on topic the reason people get better gas mileage with forced induction (to a certain point and only at certain times) is becasue forced induction acutally increases the efficency of the enigine, increasing power, and therefor requiring less gas to achieve the same performance as a na engine. Now at wide open throttle forced induction is forcing so much air into an engine that the level of fuel must be drastically increased, this leads to worse gas mileage but far more power than the na engine is capable of producing.

It's all about efficency and peak power. Now an engine with no mods at wide open throttle will probally get better fuel economy than an engine with mods at wide open throttle but the one with mods will produce more power and be more efficient throughout the entire power band leading to increased fuel economy over the nonmodded engine at partial throttle levels.