Say goodbye to the four-cylinder Toyota Tacoma. We (barely) missed you.

According to sources at Toyota, the four-cylinder version of the venerable 4Runner is being discontinued after just one model year. Why such low interest? The 2.7-liter I-4 doesn't offer much of a fuel economy advantage versus the larger 4.0-liter V-6 - especially when considering its 113-horsepower and 100 pound-foot disadvantage. In fact, EPA ratings for the two are just a single mpg apart from each other, registering at 20 mpg combined city/highway for the smaller engine and 19 mpg combined for the V-6 in the same SR5 2WD trim. And any way you slice it, 157 horsepower and 178 pound-feet of torque isn't a whole lot when you have nearly 4800 pounds of curb weight to move around.

Thus sales for the I-4 have been, to be kind, abysmal, with the V-6 model accounting for well over 90 percent of 4Runner sales.


Source: Toyota courtesy of Truck Trend