The retro charm is pretty cool. I like a lot of ToMoCo SUVs lately

 

https://tfltruck.com/2023/08/wait-wi...onomy%20rating.

 

Yeah, displacement taxes suck. In any case, I'm done talking about this powertrain other than saying I hope it at least lays down some decent acceleration numbers.

 

so if we just add "i-FORCE MAX" to the end of an engine designation, it's suddenly 'tough' and 'powerful'. marketing... lol.

 

a friend has one too and it's quiet and peppy on electric, but sounds like a noisy sowing machine when the ice kicks in.

 

I didn’t think it was that bad. Sounds like a 4 cyl.

 

Ok I said I was done talking about the engine but calling it an "I-Force Max" when the last one was a 350CI V8 is a bit of a stretch.

At least think about that, to those that disagree with me.

Toyota surely could have come up with something clever, that's even better (for this application).

 

yes in post 199 above i wrote the same.

 

Not sure if this is a dumb question, but from my experience owning a PHEV, the battery drains pretty quickly. Is all 465 lb/ft of torque still available when the battery is drained or nearly drained? I can picture situations where the truck is off road and it doesn't have much opportunity to recharge, thus draining the battery.

 

It's not a dumb question at all. We shouldn't have to even be thinking silly questions like this with a dang Land Cruiser. ICE only please.

 

Pretty much yes. You have engine charging the battery as well. Although this powertrain will not help a lot during these situations:

You do have turbos though.

 

Plug-in hybrids will run on electric-only (unless you override this and/or stomp on the gas pedal) until there's only enough juice to run as a traditional hybrid. It's unclear, to me at least, how power levels drop as the battery depletes. But this iFORCE MAX is more like a traditional hybrid in that 1) it's not a plug-in, so the battery is smaller on purpose which helps them charge and discharge quickly, 2) the battery should always have enough power for maximum torque (unless, perhaps, one did several back-to-back 0-60 or quarter mile tests) because it will recharge itself from the motor and/or the brakes as needed.

For the Sequoia and Tundra TRD Pros that I've driven, as well as the F150 PowerBoost, which are more similar to the LC, the hybrid motor effectively works in tandem with the turbos... on the cluster, you'll see a gauge for each that displays how much the turbo is spooling, and how much the e-motor is helping. And all of that is controlled by the computer's interpretation of throttle input, vehicle geometry, driving mode, and various sensors (wheel speed and such). Those vehicles never ran in e-only mode unless I was cruising on flat terrain and under ~20mph (so basically parking lots and a congested highway)... otherwise, it was a combination of ICE, turbos, and e-motor.

In those applications, I don't really see the benefit to silent crawling since, as the engineers pointed out, smoothness is the goal. And in low-range, the gearing is so extreme, the computer may not need to add very much e-boost, as it were.

But trust me, brake-torque one of these turbo/hybrid trucks and plant your foot and you'll launch super hard off the line. In other words, the power is there when you really need it (towing & acceleration, or as the engineers said, going up grades and through bogs).

 

Wow I wasn't aware of how small the engine is. That's crazy. I read (from Carmaker?) that these projects have been in place for 10-20 years. They must have overdone on the green part. These cars are like ... body builders. They look strong but not strong.