So i just moved up to June Lake for the summer and man is it beautiful up here right now. On my drive up the hill i was loaded down pretty good and was just luging it around. I just went out for a drive and it was tough to keep 65mph on the slightest hill. No by going by 3% loss every 1000ft of elevation, im down about 22.5%. So is there any way to inexpensively gaining that power back? Im going to have to say the deck plate mod might be something worth while. What else is there that could help out. I know short of getting a SC theres not much i can do to gain back the ~40hp i lost. So any thoughts?

 

Drive downhill, the only thing that will make a dent in it is a charger.

 

The main reason I got a supercharger was for the mountains. There is no substitute for O2, the less you got the slower you'll go.

 

That climb out of Bishop is a power killer.

Where are you living? My wife's parents have a place up there and at one time I was going to pack up my former business and move there. Beautiful area, miles of forestry roads.

 

kinda figured there wasnt much i could do. couldnt hurt to ask. Yeah that climb was just killer. Im working for my cousin at the general store. so im living in one of his apartment.

 

It's the elevation, you know how I know? A few weeks ago I was down there for the Eastern Sierra double century (200 mile bike ride in one day). Started in Bishop, went up past Crowley, June Lake Loop, through Mammoth, over to Mono Lake then south to 120, east to Benton and then back to Bishop. I was sucking wind and weezed for a couple of days after. On the drive down and back I would get short of breath just talking in the car. This was the first ride that elevation got me.

Elevation, hills and loaded driving is why I went for the 5 speed.

 

I went for spring break in colorado and I can definatly tell a difference when I am about 11,000 feet up! The key is for your ecm to learn the area. If you drive up there a bit with a bunch of key cycles your 4runner will "learn" the surroundings and start to gain that power back. It took mine about a full day of driving through the mountains with stopping many times before I didnt have to go up a hill 20mph below the speed limit... I would just tell you to drive up there more and more because I dont know about you, but my 4runner and thousands of other 4runners (among other toyotas) dont seem to have a problem with cimbing the mountains in Colorado! If they suck so much, then why did I see 1 4runner out of about 5 vehicles on the mountain?

 

just a blower or a turbo

you could install a nitrous bottle and bleed some in, it
has it's own oxygen. but is not cheap at all

 

65? Sounds good to me! lol try going up the Sierra's in a 4cyl and undergeared, now you're talkin slow, 55 mph max up the big mountains in 4th gear and flooring it and coming westbound by truckee up the long steep climb 45 mph in 3rd gear!!!

 

You could also do the usual inexpensive mods to help it breathe better:
Deckplate, ISR, etc.

The air will still be thin, but it'll be getting more of it.

Enjoy the mountains!

 

deck plate and isr did help me, also the 5 speed helps alot.

nothing like the charger though, course im still below what I would be at sea level.

one good thing about high altitude, your gas mileage WILL increase. at least mine did.

 

And kiddies, who knows the phsics behind this fact?

First one to post the correct awnsers gets cookie

 

though the oxygen is less, and the car makes less power,
the engine management system will still try to maintain ideal air/fuel mixture.

so it will use less fuel to match the lesser oxygen content, and in some cases [but not all cases], this can mean more miles per gallon. other factors may be involved like lighter atmosphere/less wind resistance.

 

Semi correct, the ECU and other stuff you mentioned is a little bitty bit of it, it only helps a little.

that thing you added as an afterthought about wind resistance is the key here.

The atmosphere is much thiner up there and thus allows the cars to move much more freely the higher you go. So you don't need as much power to do the same speed. This is the key, try putting you hand out the window on the highway, now mutiply that force to the whole surface of the car and you see how much power it takes to go through it.

The higher you got the less air there is, so less force to go the same speed, which = better MPG.

 

And I thought it was because at altitude there are always steep downhills to coast down

 

While I can't relate to the altitute, I can with the hills. Several years ago while in college I would routinely have my 92, 22re pickup w/ 31 bfg mt at 70+ mph 3rd gear pulls going up steep grades in the mountains of Virginia. That 22re loved to rev high for long periods of time! It was also a draft master.

 

Now also realize before doing your deckplate mod, the smog shop probably wont like that so if you are gonna do it, get a spare airbox to throw in when its time for smog

 

its slowing getting used to it and im not going far so im not gonna bother yet.

side note to the guy that did a 200 mile bike ride up here. Props to you. i just went on a 3-4 mile ride and had my a$$ kicked. apparently im not quite acclimated yet.

 

Basic acclimation takes place in about 3 or 4 days, but true acclimation take 6 to 8 weeks. There are other things going on, but the big one is the body producing more red blood cells to utilize the available oxygen at altitude.

You will also notice that until you are truly acclimated, you'll be a cheap date, since your body cannot oxidize the alcohol efficiently.

The sucky part about all of this is that when you go back to lower altitude, it only takes about a week to lose your acclimation (but you can drink like a fish until then! )

 

well then house warming parties in chico shall be quite fun