Interesting article about Toyota hybrids

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In this country with it's vast network of highways and lack of EV support for long distance coast-to-coast driving, a fuel-efficient hybrid is the best way to go. Toyota leads the way.
 
Thanks for post. Became a Toyota owner 8 years ago. Both vehicles had the 3.5 V-6, 6 speed transmission. V-6 is an awesome engine. Just bought a new 2024 Highlander. It has the 2.4l turbo 4 cylinder. Just as much horsepower and more torque than the V-6. Eight speed transmission. Was skeptical about the 4 cylinder turbo (stopped putting v-6 in Highlander in 2022) but so far it gets great mileage for an AWD larger SUV and pleased with it. Toyota has definitely got their act together.
 
I bought a new 2024 Highlander Hybrid in May. It has just under 3,000 miles on it, much of that from a recent trip of about 1400 miles or so. In town or on the highway, average mileage is around 38 MPG. Surprisingly, the four cylinder engine accelerates well and has plenty of power. No complaints.
 
3.5 V-6

VaTom said:
Thanks for post. Became a Toyota owner 8 years ago. Both vehicles had the 3.5 V-6, 6 speed transmission. V-6 is an awesome engine. Just bought a new 2024 Highlander. It has the 2.4l turbo 4 cylinder. Just as much horsepower and more torque than the V-6. Eight speed transmission. Was skeptical about the 4 cylinder turbo (stopped putting v-6 in Highlander in 2022) but so far it gets great mileage for an AWD larger SUV and pleased with it. Toyota has definitely got their act together.
Click to expand...

The later Toyota 3.5 V-6s was one of the finest automobile engines ever made.
Good power, decent torque, and dead nuts reliable.
👍👍👍👍👍
 
Toyota said five years ago that EVs were not the answer. At that time they were looking at hydrogen cell technology, but abandoned it last year. Now they are exploring ammonia as fuel.

They make good vehicles, but are not perfect.
 
K-22 said:
The later Toyota 3.5 V-6s was one of the finest automobile engines ever made.
Good power, decent torque, and dead nuts reliable.
👍👍👍👍👍
Click to expand...

This. Some years ago I test drove a Lexus GS350 with that motor. I was staggered how smooth and quiet it was, especially being a 90° V6, a fundamentally unbalanced design. Imagine my disappointment when I drove the competing Mercedes E-Class with a motor of similar configuration. That thing sounds like a bucket of bolts being fed into an industrial strength garbage disposal. Rough as old boots.
 
I have been driving Toyotas almost exclusively for 20 years. Tacoma's and Rav4's. I love them I did make a short side trip to an F150 with a small V6 turbo. The gas mileage was very good and the power impressive. However Ford gave me lousy customer service and lost me forever after having my vehicle 2 months on a relatively minor problem. Switched back to Toyota's. I will be sticking with them for good. I was really concerned about Fords turbo long turn. If I ever get a turbo Toyota I will do so with confidence if the Toyota quality.
 
Toyota has always produced solid vehicles. Boring as he!!, but high quality. Their hybrid program (including Lexus) is probably the best of any current manufacturer. Great foresight, engineering and execution on their part.
The DC push for full electric (vehicles, HVAC and appliances, etc.) is so ill-conceived and shortsighted it's frightening. As a nation, we have become a rudderless boat adrift in dangerous waters.
 
Toyota has finally figured out how to make good looking vehicles, for decades their flagship Camry was about bland as unbuttered toast. I was going to buy a Camry once even though I didn't like the exterior that much but their interior fabrics were pretty homely too. Camry's actually look pretty sexy now and their Tacoma has always looked good to me but the Tundra not so much, however it's been looking better the last year or two.
 
Interesting article. Sometime back I stumbled upon a project Dan Gurney's Eagle racing company was working on. An ICE that can vary it's displacement to suit the load. I didn't understand the description-intentionally vague- but it seemed they had a way to vary the stroke to suit the load. At the time of the article, they'd done proof of concept and were working on a full size prototype.

Back in 2010, Subaru redesigned it's engines to be able to increase the stroke while keeping the same overall size of their boxer engines. If you live in some smog drenched area, the output of their PZEV engines is cleaner than the air it took in to operate.

Toyota's got good people, especially in the engineering department. Their management seems to have their priorities straight too.
 
Recently I watched a video about Chinese EV manufacturers.
I was surprised when I learned how many there are.
‘According to Bloomberg, there were 500 Chinese electric car manufacturers in China in 2019. After fierce competition, only 100 manufacturers remained by 2023.’
 
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My wife and I bought my father's 2007 Camry Hybrid. Loved it. I work relatively close to home so I could use 1 tank a month. We ended up with a new 2019 Impreza so we gave the Camry away. A mistake we made. Don't get me wrong, The Subaru is a good vehicle but, I wouldn't do it again. I have been trying to get my wife to trade in the Impreza on a new or newer Camry Hybrid but she won't due to the state of the economy.

I will keep on trying
 
Have had a Toyota since the late 70’s. My 2013 Highlander has 209,000 on it and am keeping it for a second vehicle. The new Hyundai Santa Fe has a 4 cylinder turbo and have to be careful not to speed. Hyundai rides like an old Continental or Cadillac and is very quiet. This will be last new vehicle I’ll buy.
 
WR Moore said:
Interesting article. Sometime back I stumbled upon a project Dan Gurney's Eagle racing company was working on. An ICE that can vary it's displacement to suit the load. I didn't understand the description-intentionally vague- but it seemed they had a way to vary the stroke to suit the load. At the time of the article, they'd done proof of concept and were working on a full size prototype.
Click to expand...

Nissan have this in production. They change the stroke to vary the compression ratio. In the hands of the motoring journos, the claimed economy benefits don't seem to be there. Whether things are different in the hands of Joe Average I cannot say.
 
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