Yeah, the 22R/22RE engine is a real beast... think about it, I HAVE over 200K and about 150K of that is with 31.5' tires. Ok not BIG but enough to make a difference. I change my oil regularly (every 3K) and the filter with it, I religiously clean my air filter, check belts, preussures etc. and I only put in Chevron or 76 gas. Still, you can't dismiss the HP and Torque issue. Ok for rock crawling it really doesn't matter, you get dual or even triple transfers and 5.29 gearing front and back and you can idle over anything without stepping on the gas. Even with tyour 40 inch swampers.
The problem is on the highway, or going up hill, or on dirt roads where SPEED counts.
Even with lil bitty rice-burner eggbeater tires (20 inch) you still just don't have the umph. Hell there are street motorcycles with 2x the HP and the torque.
The low end torque vs. high end torque question all over again... Agains this all depends on gearing, how long your throttle valves are open, forced induction and a million other things. if you really want low rpm and high torque, get a diesel. In gas engines the only way you can get real power at low RPM's is by lettign your gas mileage go to hell with enormous displacement. (5.0 liter range)(forced induction really only works at higher rpms)
Im my opinion, one of the best engines ever made my toyota is the 1JZ engine (never sold in the US). The thing redlines around 8 or 9K, has 280 HP at 6500rpm. And still gets 27MPG+ pushing around the heavy MKIII supra. The engine is solid and not known for any sort of mechnical issues. The thing packs a whallop for being a dimunitive 2.5 liter engine. The turbos on the 1JZ are rock solid and not known for breaking since they engage linearly with engine RPM and don't suffer from the knocking of the later model supra.
As far as it being used for a "truck" engine. Ok low end torque, due to the simultaneous engagement of the turbos at low RPM the 1JZ offers much more baseline torque then either the 3.4, 3.0 or 2.7 liter engines. Since as you put more strain on the engine the turbo spools accordingly. though it peaks in torque around 5-6 KRPMS. It really gets its groove on though in its mid rpm range which is great for accelerating in traffic etc. The larger displacement "truck" engines ussually have very bad performance in this range since they are really geared towards "grunt" torque. Ie, my dads cummins turbo diesel, accelerates great at the low end, but tapers off immediately. If I down shift and punch it, the only thing that happnes is me slowing down! It doesn't have much high end power at all! With the 1JZ or other similar engines (honda Vtec etc) the opposite is true, down shift and insta acceleration!
We tend to think strictly gear ratios and tire size, but you need to take into account torque vs rpms, hp vs rpms, and what gear box is sed with what engine etc. For rock crawling it is hard to beat the 22RE, nothing is as bullet proof and has the linear power response of the beast.
On the highway with nothing in tow, you may want something like the 1JZ-GTE.
On the road with a big load (don't do it in your toyota anyway, not heavy enough)A diesel would eb abetter choice. But don't expect acceleration, just expect to hold a steady grunt.
If you need both then your only real option is to throw away your gas dollars and get a monster sized engine with real displacement, boost is great, but wont help you through all rpms.
Jay
