I got to drive Tom's (mertztr) 3rd gen when I picked him and Sarah up from the airport today. This was about 30 miles of freeway and several stop lights. He has OME 881/891 HD suspension, 33in MTRs, and an auto tranny. My reference is my 2nd gen with 32in pirelli scorpion ATs with downey HD coils and Rancho 9000s set to the middle firmness.

All I have to say is, wow, that thing handles like it's on rails compared to mine. On the mountain twisties...er...I mean um...the curved freeway onramps I didn't feel much, if any body roll. The shocks are a little stiffer than mine. The handling was very responsive.

I was a little surprized that the 3.4L power wasn't subtantially more than my 3.0. The way I heard everybody talk about the 3.4 I thought it would push me back in the seat with my cheeks touching my ears. But, no, it was a leisurly stroll up to 70. It was definately faster than mine though.

The brakes are much better than mine. They are very crisp and responsive. I don't even think I got them to glow .

I don't know what everybody is complaining about when they say the MTRs are loud on the street. Tom's 3rd gen with MTRs is a lot quieter than my 2nd gen with ATs. Heck, it's even quieter than my 2002 corolla (the corolla road noise is considerable with the unibody construction). Tom's aftermarket exhaust was much louder than the MTRs.

Anyway, it was fun at hollist...the freeway while it lasted. I'm going to go play with the settings of my ranchos.

 

Nice Steve! Hollister, ehh??? I thought I saw a little too much dirt up in the fender wells.....

I think the lack of power response you noticed is due to the fact that I'l running 33's on stock gears, which I think in my case are 3.91's.

 

Yeah, that's true. Did you notice a huge difference in power when you switched?

 

Yeah, it was fairly noticeable. I was actually running 245's and then shot up to 285's. I didn't mind it though cuz I don't often jump on the gas.

 

Hey boy, thats cuz all you hear is dem padlocks banging against your custom rear tool box, foo!

Though I did not drive Tom's 4runner, I've been a passenger and I'd have to say that I did not notice alot of road noise from his MTRs.

Anyways, Steve, please return my Corey Cable. Send it UPS Ground. By the way, did the Scratch X got the trail stripes out?

Bob

 

Pretty much, but I don't thing that skunk smell is going to come out any time soon.

 

Try tomato pulp in the #10 can. If it works on dogs, it'll work on the carpet. (btw, its on sale at Costco). What about the busted CV boot? I hope you didn't use Crisco like you said you were going to. The stray cats will lick that stuff off by the morning.

Bob

 

Man, that scratch X has done wonders for my pinstriping over the past summer, good stuff!

Where did you go Tom? Did you have fun?

I like my MTR's, except for the loss of power though...

 

We were on a cruise! Pics coming soon....