V8 vs. V6 in 4th Gen 4Runners

Other than the slight difference in gas mileage, which engine seems to last the longest and is more maintenance free? The V6 or the V8? Looking online right now I've seen quite a few V8's that are cheaper than the V6's. I was wondering if other than the gas mileage factor is there another reason that they may be a little cheaper.

Also I will not be pulling anything big at all so the towing factor is not part of my deciding factor on which engine to get. Any advice is great appreciated. Thanks ahead of time.

 

It's a pretty heavy SUV. go with the 8..
My 4th gen 8 gets pretty good gas mileage and never breaks a sweat, even when my wife drives it. And she thinks she's Mario Andretti behind the wheel.

 

Theres so many schools of thought here but realistically it comes down to personal preference and your gut. Early v6's had headgasket issues, some v8's had their own problems that came up. If you think youd regret getting a v6 get the v8, if you think the v8 is a waste of money and you dont want full time 4wd get the v6, drive both though

 

just bought an 06 with 4.7 v8 and drove it 330 miles doing between 76-85 mph the whole way and got 17 mpg, don't even think about mpg making any difference between having a v6 vs a v8 because its only like 1-2 mpg difference, or to put it another way, a difference of $3-$4 cost to drive it per tank of gas and the v8 has a ton of power compared to the v6. if you tow anything get the v8 or you will regret it and only get a 4th gen between 05-09 years because the 03-04 v6 have head gasket issues and the 03-04 v8 have less power then the 05-09 ones

in 4wd you might be better to get the v6 because if you get the v8, it stays in 4wd all the time so

 

v8 is a better option if you tow because it has more torque and a higher towing capacity, but by no means is the v6 a slouch or incapable, the HP and TQ numbers are very close between the two motors. I've been towing with my v6 since I bought it 70k miles ago and never once has it not performed to my expectations, with a 18' utility trailer mind you

 

Have put this on this site on other post, I owned a 2004 v6, and own a 2003 v8 now. I get better mileage out of my v8 than I did the v6! Something about the 5 speed auto and the v8 just work so damn good together!

I was so frustrated with my 04 v6 I tried the cold air intake, magnaflow exhaust, etc, it saw an improvement from those but I can say the only thing I have actually seen increase on mileage on both the v6 and v8 was going up in the octane of gas!

 

I think the 05's and up got an improvement in horsepower, not mileage. My 2004 got close to 21 mpg with the V6 my 2007 only gets 17.5 mpg. I drive the same so the only difference is that my current tires are more aggressive tread and I have leveled the front with Bilstein 5100's.

 

pretty much, it upped the hp and torque but not the "rated" mpg but it stands to reason if it makes more power it will use a little less gas because it doesn't need to work as hard. because they have 15 more horsepower and more torque so you "can" go a little easier on the gas pedal, so I would bet driving both the same way, side by side, the 05-09 would probably get at least 1-2 mpg better in "real world" testing

 

I have v8 with 230,000 with no issues ever. Of any kind. I have two 05 4runners i really see a difference in power that's too noticeable. It's when it comes to gas mileage. the V8 gets 12.3 right now. In town mostly. I dont see it getting 15 in any scenario. The V6 gets about 18. The v6 has 196,000 no issues ever.
If I was going to buy one again the biggest thing I would want is the sport so it had to hood scoop.

 

so did you ever get a new 4runner? I will till you the V8 is full time 4wheel drive, meaning if you wheel it, and snap a CV you better have a spare lol

 

Well I ended up buying a 2000 SR5 Sport with the V6 and love it.

 

Nice, the 3rd gens are great off road. Almost bought a 2000 last week myself lol