Wife's 4runner

Ok, to be fair, I live at 5.5 thousand feet. My 99 4runner averages 16-18 MPG and is slow.... Well, normal for a 4runner-but my 92 Honda accord smokes it in every category. Sure, the accord is half the weight and less HP. So, here are my observations that hurt the 4runner in the perfomance area.

-The 4runner is a flying brick. It sits high off the ground has a high drag co-efficient (sorry engineers if I slaughtered that)
-The 4runner is a 4wheel drive(duh).Therefore it has the added weight and drag of two axles vs. 1.
-The 4runner large wheels and tires thereby increasing rotating weigt. The average tire runs about 45lbs.
-The 4unner automatic uses part of the motor's powe to run the transmission thereby reducing efficiency
-The engine is overbuilt and thereby has heavier rotating parts to increase reliability but reducing efficiency

Ok, so the 4runner has a lot going against it. So...what can I do to improve my grocery getter during the week and adventure vehicle for the weekend?
Here is what I came up with so far:
-True flow intake (leave airbox alone, dump intake tube thingy)
-Downy headers and twin exhausts with high flow cats and mufflers (this is an area not too researched)


That is all I can come up with. Is there anything more that will increase HP and MPG yet still be a daily driver and keep that oh so famous reliability?

rearviewmirror

A properly tuned Supercharger might get you the same MPG with a power increase, but other than that it's pretty much a turd. I fight the battle on keeping mine every time I drive it. I mean I could get 15MPG out of a new Tundra 5.7 and have 2x the power. An F-250 Diesel can also do 15-18MPG and it's got 600+ Ft lbs of torque. Thanks for reminding me.. Time to start doing some reading on Edmunds again. Come on light duty diesels, I'm waiting for ya!

sdstud212001

I live at 7,000 ft and my 4runner is peppy. Then again my wife says I drivelike an old man. But when I have the need for speed I get on the r6 not the 4runner.

Belize Off Road Team

if you want to go fast DONT BUY AN SUV! why do people want a 4Runner to be as fast as a Toyota Supra Twin-Turbo w/ 800HP?????? it is a rock crawling, mud slinging Sport Utility Vehicle, not a Super Fast Vehicle. the new vehicles, i dont know why they make all these new vehicles with soooo much power, you dont need it in a SUV, at least not in a wheelin SUV.

rearviewmirror

Why did you take it to an extreme? Why can't we want something more powerful? It's not about speed for me, it's about power. Sure it says it'll pull 5000 lbs, but have you ever done that? I've done about 3500, it's an awful experience. I guess you must post your Supra TT comment in every TRD Supercharger thread on this forum.

thewjsand

get a super charger. Better MPG 17-21. More power. (Sea level)

But i think there is somthing wrong with your runner, i had a 93 accord and a normal 3.4 would blow it out of the water. Accord might beat a 3.0 but not a 3.4

Belize is right, if you want to go fast get a sports car ...or a supercharger with all the fuel touch ups.

Elvota

Couple suggestions:

1. Get smaller street tread tires for your daily use, then slap on your bigger offroad set when a offroad adventure is planned. Requires two sets of wheels of course. (cost maybe 11 to 20 tanks of gas, depending on level of bling)

2. Install manual locking hubs, so the front axle/ diff only spin when 4WD is engaged. (costs only 3 full tanks of gas)

3. Do a manual tranny swap (costs only 100 full tanks of gas)

3. Try to drive only in the direction where the wind will be behind you.

4. Drive your Honda more often on the trails to make the comparison fair.

5. Drive a 3.0 4Runner with 35's for one week and never complain about your current vehicles MPG or power again.

cackalak han

Simple. The engine is a truck engine that is geared more towards pulling than speed. Granted, it will be tough pulling anything above 4000lbs (esp. if you live in a hilly area. Braking = yikes).

MPG wise, it's not bad considering the other alternatives. Jeep Grand Cherokee's get 11-16mpg. Explorers/Blazers get about the same as the Jeep. Unless you want to start talking about Hyundai Santa Fe's and such, the 4Runner's MPG's are actually really good.

My old 98 Limited was supercharged and I was getting ~20 MPG on the highway. But I did have to use premium gas. It did have great pick up, but I don't miss it at all. An SUV is a utility vehicle, not a speedster or a gas-efficient machine. You will not find another SUV with the same capabilites as the 4Runner getting the same or better MPG's.

I would suggest getting a beater car (Civic, Corolla, etc.) if you're worried about gas.

Belize Off Road Team

im sorry if it came out wrong, there have been some set-backs onthe B&B building today, it has not been a good day in contruction, so again i would like to apologize if it came out wrong. please i hope you can accept my apology. im not saying you CANt want a more powerful machine, but that is not what the 4Runner was designed for, it was designed for. and towing, it CAN tow 5000lbs, it just wont be a very fast day. i have done that kinda thing before, only a short distance.

icerunner

Hey,
Here is the "dealo" your 3.4 is real Overbuilt. the 3.4 is an exercise in engineering overindlugence. Truely, really just a great engine and there is nothing wrong with "over engineered". Botton line, the engine is bomb proof.
"
If you want to increase MPG you need to reduce the wheel and tire weight, or the "rotating weight" (unsprung weight) of the wheels and rims play a huge role in decreasing gas miliage.....
Unfortunatly ...like everything in life, we make tradeoffs...

frodin1

I just wanted to add, please do as much reading as you possibly can about adding a supercharger. It's easy for people to say " just do it" but installing these units requires more than just the SC unit to work properly without harming your motor. There's been alot of threads of people having success with these, but on the other hand there's been just as much from people that have nothing but issues from them not being installed properly. I'll say what I was told when I was thinking about doing this. "If your going to do it, do it right the first time"! Good Luck!

Wife's 4runner

Ok, to the haters out there...let me break it down simple...

How can I maximize what I have..... (read slow for the "get a beater crowd")

I HAVE A COMMUTER I DRIVE EVERY DAY.

The wife drive's the 4unner the 1 mile to work (thus the screen name wife's 4runner)

Geeze people, take out your work issues on your secratary...

Wife's 4runner

Yep, I did some reasearch on supercharchers. More trouble than they are worth...

Tranny upgrade, injector upgrade, fuel upgrade, premium fuel....etc.

cackalak han

You have to realize that if substantial gains could be had from an "X" mod, we'd ALL be sporting it. Bottom line--it's an SUV. Anything you do, (intake, exhaust, the Tornado) will only net very minimal increase in MPG's. Unless you make it into a hybrid or a hydrogen powered car, you will not see anything above 20MPG on the average.

On a side note, I also live at around 5,000 ft, and I consistantly get 21-22 on the highway. Maybe a tune-up is in order for you?

rearviewmirror

A 1 mile commute? Ouch, that's the absolute worst thing you can do to a car.

CJM

Intake wont gain you mpg, maybe 1/2 a mpg at best, headers will free up more power..

The 4 runner is a truck and as such gets the correct mpg a truck will, its RWD/4WD and not a crossover FWD thing, its big an bulky..DONT EXPECT ANYTHING BETTER THAN 20mpg at best outta it around town..

Want better mpg at cheaper cost-downsize to smaller tires.. Overall its an SUV not a compact car, and it sounds like you need a tune up...

Wife's 4runner

yeah, tune-up might be in order. Yes, my wife drives one-mile to work. To burn off the crap and heat the oil, I drive it two work and back or for errands on the weekend. She drives it because the MPG is low compared to the Honda. My commute is 20 miles.

Geeze you guys, like I don't know it is an SUV? Hmm....I better go out and shoot myself now since life is hopeless and I can't ID the staple of suburban life.

Haven't anyone of you thought...hmmm, how can I maximize performance?

RacerX

I had a quite few vehicles for clients that I handled indirectly and I have done a decent bit of high altitude (7300ft) builds for Mexico City; most were late model Porsche w/ superchargers but I did do an armored Cayenne and some Escalades as well.

At those altitude's it pretty common to loose about 35% actual wheel horsepower due to the air density, Forced induction from turbo's or superchargers create positive pressure so they truly shine in high altitude areas. In fact, for cars that didn't leave the high altitude areas we could run an extra 2psi on top of the 6psi from the normal pulley on the supercharger.

Personally, I would say get forced induction of some kind and at that altitude it will be really fast, it's an investment. Although, if you plan on keeping the truck vs. getting a newer one I'm pretty sure the supercharger would make it more powerful than a V8 at those altitudes. If you had a custom turbo set up might prove to be better as it's possible to get more torque in the bottom end with a properly sized configuration which might yield better MPG (not much but maybe).

There is the possibility that you will have less tuning issues at that altitude as the lower air density can get by with lower grade fuel and even less of it per psi of boost increase (more so on the supercharger since it is rpm dependent and linear)



The power difference is so dramatic at those altitudes...
Almost every non-turbo Porsche at those altitudes was running a supercharger to make it keep up with 1.8T VW's.


In perspective a supercharger for a Late model Porsche is about $16K-17K installed, the expensive one its $25K (RUF) so it must be worthwhile for those guys to spend that kinda money just to keep up with a modded VW.

Elvota

Hey... can I have the 4Runner if you do that?

flyfishexpert

I have been running the True Flow/ISR/Decplate for a year now. I recorded my gas mileage prior and after and noticed a marginal increase in MPG. I believe this is mostly due to a clean filter. As for increase in HP, it, the Deckplate Mod, has been dino tested to add 5HP. Wether or not I have seen this much, I could not tell you.

Brant with Idaho/Utah TTORA put the Downy Headers on his Taco prior to supercharging and informed me that he actualy measured a decrease in MPG. I am not sure if he noticed an increase in HP.

One thing that always amazes me is tire pressure. I have a small leak in the front drivers side tire that I can not get rid of. If I am not on top of checking my tire pressure, I have noticed as much as 1mpg decrease from a 4psi decrease in tire pressure.

If you want an SUV with good gas mileage and is 'sporty' get a Scion