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War Story: 1989 Toyota 4Runner vs 2001 Camaro SS !!!

7/03/2003 Peabody rd from Vacaville to Fairfield, California 1600 hours

Dad picked me up from school, on our way home, we come to a stoplight... when suddenly a shiny, beautiful Red 2001 Camaro SS pulls up next to us on our right. He revs his engine twice...big, powerful rpms... my dad responds with two weak rpm dashes... meanwhile Camaro guy grins... The light turns green... and the camaro is immediately

10-15 ft ahead of us on the right... camaro guy changes lanes and gives us the finger, but I notice 4Runner isn't revving nearly as much as Camaro...of course he leaves us behind and wins round 1. We reach the other stop light. We pretend not to look at eachother while we wait for the light to go green, camaro guy turns on his radio to show off and lets out a huge rpm roar,... light turns green, when suddenly 4runner engine rpms drown out the music coming from the Camaro. Shockingly, the 4Runner is quicker off the line and the Camaro falls behind!, but presses on, his rpms roaring. Camaro zooms ahead but only matches our position... now reaching 60... 4Runner shifts into 3rd... takes the lead... Camaro pulls up again... inching its way forward...4Runner applies more pedal and reaches 85... Camaro catches up and is a few ft ahead... 4runner shifts into 4th... both vehicles neck and neck, nearing 100 mph... into 5th gear... 4runner is running louder than I've ever heard it... the gap between cars is now 2 car lengths with 4Runner ahead! speedometer needle reaches its limit.. Dad waves at Camaro while honking the horn several times. Camaro guy responds with his finger once again, slows down and takes a left turn, admitting defeat! I had never seen the 4Runner show its teeth like that before! "Its like a Supra with 4x4!" I said to my dad. He replied "wait till the TRD Supercharger arrives at the post office" It was great fun and is yet another testament to the versatility of Toyota 4Runners. I feel like going on a Corvette hunt when the Supercharger and all the other parts we ordered arrive.

Cheers,

J.G. 7 'Kommando Nowotny' Jet Fighter Squadron Flying Il-2 'Forgotten Battles' UBI Soft net

Reply to
messerschmitt 262
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Well, to be honest, I've never been much of a Toyota fan, but after seeing 4Runners awesome performance and some of my friends Supras... I guess its fair to say I am a new Toyota man.

As for "bullshit boots", I guess some people refuse to believe it unless they see it. I guess i'll have to keep a camcorder in the glove box.

Well, if you have a well maintained machine, some street skills and some confidence, why not try a little street run against him?

Reply to
messerschmitt 262

So..what your trying to say is that your 4Runner has a better 0 to 60 or even a better 0 to 100 then a 280hp Camaro SS?

All off a modded stock engine in an 89? It was mentioned that it only had lite revs? So no Cam, headers or cat back? Heck even with those its not going to be close in performance.

An altered gear ratio for quicker response would never allow it to reach 100mph..lol

Reply to
The Gunslinger

I'll admit I'm not a car expert at all... but the fact of the matter was... the Camaro lost... It was a close race, but we won. You insist on the 4Runner reaching 100 mph 'so easy' or reaching it all (It can reach 115)... I dont know about the performance of other 4Runners, but this one can do it. I asked my dad... the gear ratios werent changed, my mistake. Its a 3.0 liter V6 3vze in perfect condition with a standard trans. you mentioned something about lite revvs... let me clarify... there were 2 times we ran against the Camaro... we first came to a somewhat short stretch of road.. where the 4runner didnt take off at full power (hence lite revvs I mentinoed)...the camaro won that easily.. he darted off the line and we could not catch up. However, on the second stop, 4Runner actually was quicker off the line and left the Camaro a few ft behind... he caught up and it was tug of war... we kept passing eachother by a few ft every time... I think we were even at 60, but we got in the lead in the 70 and 80s... then in

4th or 5th we beat him to 100 and then he quit.

I myself never thought it would happen, especially since one of my friends is a camaro/corvette freak who talks about them all the time, so I have an idea of how a Camaro is supposed to perform. I guess I can't make any conclusions until we race a Camaro again. But from this race, I saw how well the 4Runner performed, and how loud the Camaros can get when they are under pressure to catch up. It was fun and we're willing to do it again... next time we will have a video cam, and you will be the first person I will send it to. As for other SUVS and trucks, 4Runner has beat pathfinders, explorers, expeditions, Durangos, Kias lol, Rams, a few 4Runners, and a Mercedes E Class. From what you have stated, I'm getting the impression you are not happy with the performance of yours. I really don't know how differently the mid 90's 4runners are in terms of performance, but post ur specs and info so we can make a more detailed comparison. These are by no means any formal 'street races' like fast and the furious or anything... just people you meet on the road or at a stop light... one things for sure, my dad is a hell of a driver...

Cheers,

J.G. 7 'Kommando Nowotny' Jet Fighter Squadron Flying Il-2 'Forgotten Battles' UBI Soft net

Reply to
messerschmitt 262

...and lucky he hasn't been arrested yet, or worse, hit a pedestrian.

-- Chris

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Reply to
Chris McMartin

He has never been arrested and has had no more than 3 parking tickets in the 24 years he has been living in this country. In all the years riding with him, I never felt in danger. The point is that he is a very skilled and experienced driver with common sense. In fact, I think I would not be alive talking to you today were it not for him; as a defensive driver, he has kept us out of many accidents (drunk drivers, fast drivers in thick fog, violent 'road rage' drivers etc) This particular race was on a clear, slightly curved, open road with no traffic. During these races, my job is to look out for other vehicles and police. In conclusion, I leave you with a quote, which is very relevant to our activities... "The car is only as good as its driver"

-Anonymous

Me-262 Fighter Ace J.G. 7 'Kommando Nowotny" Jet Fighter Squadron Flying Il-2 Sturmovik 'Forgotten Battles' UBI soft network

Reply to
messerschmitt 262

You really are the king of tools. God...you've got an answer to everything don't you.

Since when did parking tickets ever prove someones driving skills?

Reply to
The Gunslinger

The 4th Gen 4runners with the v-8 do 0-60 in the low 7s. Motortrend just did the tests.

With the TRD supercharger, that could be in the 6s for sure. Not bad for a

4300 lbs truck.

When I break in mine a bit more, I will pick up one of those g-testers to check it out. I also plan on sticking in the super charger in a couple years.

Reply to
Dan J.S.

This is very intriguing... Some of my dads friends have mid 90s

4Runners and some of them did not seem too happy with them. Just today there was (Im guessing 93-95) 4Runner that was next to us on a stop... both trucks took off quickly but ours won easily... it seemed as though the other was too heavy or underpowered. Could it be the different engines? As some have 2.4 or 2.7 liter 4 cyl I believe and mine is a 3.0 v6. It would be interesting to note how much each vehicle weighs and what power they have to get a power to weight ratio. As for my 4Runner... we've estimated 0-60 between 5.5 and 6 seconds, its a surprisingly quick vehicle.Unfortunately the speedomter needle is stuck at 0 since this morning... it could be bad wiring? We will have to see.

If by performance you mean specs... the 2003 has higher specs I believe... I think the engine is (for the v6s) 190 hp compared to 183 for 89 4runner? I don't know the specs for v8... From seeing them on the street, it appears that the v8 is not so much for quick response as much for power, towing or uphill power? like a cummings diesel for example

I don't really know about the newer 4Runners, but out here in northern California it seems that the mid to late 80s 4Runners have the highest demand in the used 4Runner market. I'll do some research and post what I find.

Cheers,

Me-262 Fighter Ace J.G. 7 'Kommando Nowotny" Jet Fighter Squadron Flying Il-2 Sturmovik 'Forgotten Battles' UBI soft network

Reply to
messerschmitt 262

No, just that it's sad that the fastest Toyota vehicle is an SUV (not counting the Lexus line, of course). I wish Toyota brought the Supra line.

Reply to
Dan J.S.

I guess I'll just have to prove it. Give me a few weeks (as I have to buy a camera) and I'll post a video. For now thats all I can say, but the performance of the 4Runner is remarkable and never let us down.

Cheers,

Me-262 Fighter Ace J.G. 7 'Kommando Nowotny" Jet Fighter Squadron Flying Il-2 Sturmovik 'Forgotten Battles' UBI soft network

Reply to
messerschmitt 262

I guess there isn't much I can say, so I will prove it. Give me a few weeks (as I have to buy a new video cam) and I will e-mail it to the skeptics. Right now, I am guessing 0-60 time is 6 seconds give or take .2 sec. In the meantime, don't shun me out of this newsgroup! I just got here!

Cheers,

Me-262 Fighter Ace J.G. 7 'Kommando Nowotny" Jet Fighter Squadron Flying Il-2 Sturmovik 'Forgotten Battles' UBI soft network

Reply to
messerschmitt 262

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