Quote:
Originally Posted by Sulu
As for the other manufacturer's crossover SUVs that are listed, I think that the only two in that list that could get away with a 4-cylinder engine would be the CX-7 and the Edge. All the others, I believe, are larger and heavier than the Highlander. Actually, I thought the CX-7 had a turbocharged 2.3-litre 4-cylinder engine?
The base Journey does come with Chrysler's 2.4-litre 4-cylinder World Engine, but, of course, that will be no match against the Highlander's new 2.7-litre 1AR engine; and the Journey is a larger, heavier vehicle than the Highlander.
The availability of this large 4-cylinder engine shows once again that Toyota is the leader in the development of small engines, better than the claimed leader, Honda. Honda does have that second, more powerful I4 in the Accord, but its torque is low -- as in most of Honda's engines -- and would not be enough to pull around a heavy vehicle such as the Pilot. Toyota's engines have the torque, the power, AND the fuel economy.
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You are correct, my mistake. The CX-7 does have a turbo four. Fuel economy unfortunately on the CX-7 is quite poor, given the engine being used and the vehicle's weight. Plus, premium gas is recommended for the CX-7 engine.
That is exactly the point. Honda would not be able to use the I4 from the Accord, as that engine is already high strung and needs to rev high to achieve peak HP. Torque on that engine is also quite peaky. The 190HP I4 in the Accord achieves peak HP at 7000 RPM, compared to the 1AR in the Highlander which achieves peak HP at only 5800 RPM. To complicate matters, the Pilot is a heavy vehicle, quite a bit heavier than the Highlander. Reading reviews, even the 3.5L V6 engine in the Pilot struggles to move around all that weight. A 4 cyl in the Pilot would be out of the question, as Honda simply has no expertise in making high-torque 4 cyl engines, and the Pilot would require an engine with more HP and torque than the 1AR due to the weight difference between it and the Highlander.
If Toyota chose to do so, they could make the 1AR rev to 6600 or 6800 RPM and it would likely make over 200HP, without even using Valvematic. Doing that of course would sacrifice some torque, and fuel economy as well.
Compared to the Journey's I4, the 1AR makes more HP at a lower RPM, and makes a lot more torque as well. The Journey's I4 is also paired with only a 4-speed transmission. The Journey is a smaller and lighter vehicle than the Highlander, but the Highlander will still undoubtedly achieve better fuel economy.
