Raced a 2008 Toyota Sequoia

andy

A friend of mine picked me up in his new Toyota Sequoia and it felt pretty quick riding inside, so I wanted to compare it to my 4.7 Durango (mods in Signature). To make a long story short, I would take him off the line until about 30-35 when he catches me 40-50 im on his back door 60-70 im a half car behind close to his bumper. I felt kinda horrible until I did some research online and found out it had 5.7-liter V8 with 381-horsepower and 401 pound-feet of torque, thats some monster power right there. Granted there a bit heavier I think I hung with him for a short while

.throw a supercharger on it

.people rip on foreign vehicles all the time for being underpowered, etc.  that is a thing of the past.  they are really starting to bring on the quality to really give domestics a run for their money, quite literally.  no wonder domestic sales are suffering more than foreign/imports.  

mind you, i am not saying foreign cars are better: just that i can see why their sales are increasing.  they are becoming more and more of what americans want.  big lumbering tank-like trucks/suvs.  check the gas mileage of the sequoia, it gets something like 17mpg, hardly efficient when compared to toyota's reputation.

.I am now in an 09 Tundra Crewmax 4x4 with the 5.7. Effortless grunt, everywhere, all the time. I surprise cars who try to get the jump on me, or speed up while I'm passing, or try to but in front of me CONSTANTLY. Nobody can believe it when a 5600 pound behemoth steps away from them like it's nothing. I think Average 0-60 times for the 4x4 Crewmax (The bigun with the FULL SIZE rear door) 4x4 range from 6.5 to 6.9 depending on the driver. Double Cab 4x4s have been consisntently doing it in 6.1-6.5 seconds. A reg cab will do it in 5.9. I miss my Dakota for the pure attitude of the 4.7 and the way it sounded with decent exhaust but I have to hand it to Toyota, this motor is awesome.

The only thing I see as a bad thing for the industry as a whole (will get on a pedestal and sound like a hypocrite now cause I love HP and TQ and look for as much as I can afford) is this horsepower race the big makers are embroiled in with their half-tons. It happened with muscle cars in the 70s, and it's happening with trucks now. Everybody had to get to 250 horses 15-20 years ago, then 300 became the bench mark, now it seems like you soon won't be taken seriously if you can't bring close to 400 to the table. The Ram makes 390, Tundra 381, A Silverado can be had with just over 400, and the Titan, the only one still hovering near 300, isn't selling right now. Back in the day a 0-60 time of 8-10 seconds was perfectly acceptable in a truck, now the magazines are rating any half ton that can't do it in 7.5 or less as underpowered or 'just barely adequate.'

Just curious as to where this eventually goes. 10 years from now will a half-tom gasser with less than 500 naturally aspirated hp and 500 pounds of torque be even considered worth a second glance? I think part of why we still buy our oil from terrorists is we can't come to a conclusion about when exactly enough is enough.

.Enjoy it now, they won't be existence in the future. Big power is here, for now.

.well, i dont think big power is going anywhere in the future. however, the means of getting that power has to change. as technology advances, there will probably be smaller engines putting out damn near what the bigger ones do now and they will do so more efficiently. hell, look at the v6 camaro...it has the same hp as a gt mustang and two less cylinders and is rated with almost the same mpg. nissan and infinity have v6's that put out 280+hp. in terms of torque its a different story, but that may change soon too. so i dont think the power is going anywhere, cause who doesnt love power? but the way the power is produced and the engine technology will change. i dont have a problem with it except the fact that i love the sound a v8, and i like my cam over my crank. the better the technology, the harder it will be to do your own repairs and maintenence...the days of tinkering under the hood will be gone and you will have to pay someone who knows the technology to work on the little things. thats my fear, cause i barely afford to do my own work with just parts.