Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by paqza
Originally Posted by wag123
Originally Posted by buddylpal
A 4cylinder Sienna would be last on my list for minivans.It's probably reliable and definitely much easier to work on in that cramped engine compartment, but that must be the slowest vehicle on the road and would make driving much more of a chore.
+1
Stay away from the 4-cylinder Sienna. I spent a week in one (rented it). The van is FAR too heavy for that engine. It drives fine around town (on a test drive), but it is woefully underpowered on the highway, and worse when it is carrying 4-5 passengers and their luggage. Toyota discontinued the 4-cylinder because they couldn't sell them due to this.
Because of this, I have strong reservations about the 2021 Sienna's discontinuing the V/6 and going with a 4-cylinder Hybrid only drivetrain.
I'm looking forward would to test driving one of the new hybrids. Even though it's a 4-cylinder and the horsepower's down, it's going to be extremely torquey with the electric motor. The instant acceleration from the electric motor will probably make it feel faster and more responsive than the V6, at least based on my experience with the RAV4/RAV4 Hybrid.
It is really not hard to make faster Sienna than current one with V6. While V6 is definiately must go option with current generation Sienna, engine is really not well suited for minivan. It is lazy at low rpm's, it is ok around 4k to 5k then it just drops dead. Current V6 with DI technology IMO is even worse at lower rpm's. So hybrid might be actually more pleasant to drive. Here in the Rockies if one wants to keep up with traffic, he/she better be willing to work transmission manually with current V6 and keep it above 4k rpms. Other vans are no better, just for clarification.
The new Hybrid drivetrain in the Sienna should be a good driving van in the city, but since the van won't be any lighter (perhaps even heavier) or have much improved aerodynamics, the highway performance is not going to be nearly as good as the V6. In your particular case edy, driving it in mountainous terrain will likely be very problematic because the battery pack will run out of juice on long uphill runs, so the electric power assist will quickly become unusable and you would be on gas power only. Having the power of an Atkinson cycle 2.5L 4-cylinder engine trying to pull 5000 lbs will make it dangerous in traffic IMO.
I still think that Toyota is making a big mistake by eliminating the V6, and I predict that they are going to lose market share because of it. Toyota won't stand for that very long and I suspect that the V6 will be back in a year or two.