What if the Tundra was cheaper, and was able to pull more, accerate faster while pulling more, etc?

 

I dunno, what if?

 

Actually Threxx I am going to guess that the 4.7 will be the volume engine, at least for the 1st year. Toyota cannot allow ANY room for recalls or powertrain problems in the new Tundra, especially true for the top of the line powertrain that they are building their image on. I would expect that the 4.7 will be the only V8 available for quite a while so that Toyota can be sure all of the bugs are out of the other parts of the truck before they launch the 5.7. What will sell better and be more popular remains to be seen and the above is simply my opinion but it does make sense.

 

Longer-term, CAFE will dictate powertrain mix more so than anything else.

 

I think his question was rhetorical because the Tundra is far cheaper than the Sierra Denali and likely tows more and accelerates faster when in those cheaper (and lighter) configs.

I'm having flashbacks to the Silverado SS that used to get out accelerated, out towed, and out everything else'd by a Hemi Ram with a 23k sticker price, while it was wearing a 40k sticker price and only came more or less fully loaded, heavy as hell.

Granted at least this go round the 6.0 with a bit less power is still available in the 1/2-tons without all of the glitz and glamor, but I think the point was it doesn't make sense to compare a special V8 only found in the absolute top of the line fully loaded truck, to a competitor's V8 found in every variant of their truck... unless of course the buyer in question WANTS to go completely fully loaded no matter who's truck he goes with.

 

Toyota will be no threat. The only people who buy them will be current Toyota truck buyers upgrading. Look what happened with the Nissan. Great power, import reputation but crappy sales. Honda even worse because it wasn't even a real truck. GM sells more trucks in a month than Nissan can sell in a year. Truck buyers are the most brand loyal of any vehicle type. Toyota might be a great product but watch how many large construction companies, farmers etc. buy them. They will continue to buy their Fords, Chevy's and Dodges.

 

Fine then. What exactly was the cause of you saying, at the very beginning of the thread, that "it sounds like a nice engine. Can anyone here just swallow their pride and admit that?" All I had done was post about the new torque rating, since I had seen the commercial for the first time. I then said that I hope the Vortec Max gets a mild bump in output (since 367/375 is a bit behind 381/401), and that the six speed auto gets proliferated down the lineup (currently only available with the 4 speed auto, which is partially why I'm surprised that the GM product does basically as well on fuel economy). Right now, the six speed auto is only in the Denali with the 6.2L V8 (basically the powertrain from the Escalade lineup).

No one had (or still has, really) blasted the new Toyota engine. No question it makes impressive power and torque, about what I expected. It is a formidable engine, and I (and others) have said as much. But your very first post was to ask if anyone can just swallow their pride and admit it, as though we'd been laughing it off the whole time. I only teasingly brought up Ford because, well, you are known for being a supporter of Ford (which is fine by me). Given that truck engines are one area in which Ford is quite simply behind, I was jokingly implying that you were too quick to bow down to the Toyota engine simply because Ford doesn't have a gas V8 anywhere near 370-380 hp. No, I don't really think you are a Toyota Kool Aid drinker...

My basic take on it is this:

5.7L = impressive new engine, but not at all at a surprising level. It has a marketable but not overly significant advantage in power/torque over the 6.0L small block at this point. Which is why I said I hope the Max gets a little bump (or the 6.2L becomes available everywhere in its place).

6 speed auto = definite advantage, for the time being. Which is why I said the GM six speed needs to spread, and soon.

Fuel economy isn't that impressive, especially from the "green" leader, and with a brand new, "high tech" DOHC V8 and with a new six speed auto. It is certainly appropriate fuel economy for a full size pickup, but I had feared and half expected a truck with a 380 hp engine and a 2 or 3 mpg advantage over the competition. So the basic dead heat (and actually, if you look at all of the powertrain options, I think the GM trucks actually have an advantage overall in fuel economy) is a nice surprise. You'd have to think that at some point, if they want to push the big trucks toward a bigger slice of the market, people will start to catch on that Toyota isn't the benevolent green machine that they are too often perceived to be; they are a full line auto manufacturer, just like GM and Ford.

 

That's not true at all. It's not even debatable. This new Toyota WILL eat some of the 'big 2.5' market share, without even a hint of a question.

The question is - how much will it eat? Just a little? Or will it take a chunk out?

 

I think with Toyotas forcasted market share increase...actually large share increase, they are planning on taking a lot of truck sales from GM and Ford.

 

Anyplace to find a breakdown and specs on this engine?

 

From the Toyota press release that we have posted on Autoblog:

It's interesting that a bore of only 3.7" (hardly any larger than Ford's Mod motor) is being used; that ultimately will limit the power output, even with 4-valve heads. GM always has the option of punching out the GenIV (of course as evidenced by the LS7).

For now, though, Toyota has shown the willingness and ability to be a serious player. I curiously await the reaction of the market.

 

What octane fuel does the 5.7 use? Glaring ommision from all the releases.

 

That is a good question. I checked Toyota's website. According to the specs page, it requires 87 octane or higher.

BTW, www.toyota.com has the new Tundra info now.

 

Not bad, I guess I should switch sides now..................NOT! Anyone think they will see ANY, bad press, for producing such gas-guzzlers!

 

That is a much nicer truck.

The Toyota is ugly inside and out. Tundra Interiors look cheap compared to GM and Ford in higher end trucks, they layout looks bad too.

GMC Sierra is my favorite truck on the market now. Probably the best truck engine on the market is the DoD 5.3L from GM. Best mix of performance and economy and price, I can't wait until it gets mated to a 6 speed automatic though. No one will want a gas pig when $3 gas comes back