Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum banner

driving in the mountains

4K views 8 replies 9 participants last post by  fsubzero 
#1 ·
first time poster here so forgive me if this has already been asked/answered.

as a texan most of my driving is done on flat type roads. Over a month ago I took my fj to Colorado and drove all around from Denver to Breckenridge and down to Ouray. While I understand my 2013 is not a modern type car I was wondering if people that live/drive in this area notice their car to struggle going up inclines. by struggling I mean you have to really step on it for it to move specially up an incline and even then it feels as if its barely moving. is it as simple as the fuel type or is this just how they are geared?

I did try going from premium fuel down to middle grade and didn't notice much. I saw plenty of other FJs/4runners in the area so im wondering if they were keeping the gas pinned most of the way up.

A few weeks later I went back to Denver in a rental (2020 Nissan Murano) and that car had such a quiet engine even going up inclines and never felt like it lacked any power to go uphill. I realize these are not orange-to-orange comparison, just an observation.

Any info/details/insight would be great to know.

thanks
 
See less See more
#2 ·
They're heavy body-on-frame vehicles. Whereas the Murano you mention is essentially a car, much lighter.

You pay to play... lol.

I do wish there had been a V8 option...
 
#3 · (Edited)
Very simple answer - it has nothing to do with the FJ "not being a modern-type car", or the type of fuel. It's purely the physics of thin air (low air density) at high elevation. Fewer air molecules are pumped through the engine, which means less fuel can be burned, cylinder pressures are lower, and engine torque and horsepower drop substantially.

A naturally-aspirated (not turbocharged) engine like the FJ has will lose ~ 3% of its sea-level horsepower for every 1,000 feet of elevation. On the high passes over 12,000 feet, the FJ's big 4.0L V6 that makes ~260 HP at sea level will only make ~160 HP.

Climbing the switchbacks on Highway 550 out of Ouray you will really feel the loss of power.

Your rental Murano was also working harder at higher elevation, but you're comparing the 8K elevation of Ouray with the 5K elevation of Denver, so not a valid comparison.

Also, the Murano is a passenger vehicle with lots of noise insulation, vs the FJ being a 4WD truck with almost zero noise suppression, so it's not surprising the Murano 'sounded' quieter.
 
#5 ·
I bought Pedal Commander
I'm still working on the sensitivity of City mode +3 with my MT. PC is a big difference maker... 👽
 
  • Like
Reactions: bubbadogg77
#6 ·
With the very sluggish kickdown of the automatic transmission in the FJ, I find its a lot better to just manually downshift the FJ when going through Colorado mountains and keep your rpms up. Never run below 2500 RPM while pulling hills, just downshift to keep it between 2500 rpm and redline when climbing. If you arent manually downshifting when climbing hills or descending hills you are doing it wrong.

58 year old native Coloradan and have driven i-70 (and Hwy 285, Hwy 50, etc) through the mountains about 9 million times, give or take a trip or two. Pedal Commander (or similar) or anticipating grades and downshifting is your best bet. My FJ has seen plenty of 5-5.k revs pulling a trailer at 70-75 mph up the Eisenhower tunnel grades. The key is to never lift your foot which means riding up the @ss of people that dont move over when they cant keep their speed. Every truck or heavy vehicle I have ever owned has to be flogged in the mountains to keep highway speeds. My Honda Pilot does just fine as it has super sensitive and responsive transmission. Weird thing is that it has about same HP and weight as my FJ, but the FJ is an absolute slug with the electronic throttle compared to the older Pilot (2005) with cable actuated throttle.

FYI....i can already hear in my mind the complaining of people stuck behind you while seeing your Texas plates and you not keeping speed on steep grades. But I would guess you are probably going about 85-90 mph on the long downhill grades like everyone else that doesnt bother to manually downshift their automatic. Do what we do, manually shift that thing (a lot)...will keep you from getting bored.
 
#7 ·
I have a 2014 and live in the Denver metro, and I've been pretty happy with the way the FJ handles the hills - compared with past 4WD vehicles I've owned. You do need to get on it, and occasionally downshift (mine is the 6MT), to climb some of the hills, but as pointed out it is a heavy vehicle.
 
#8 ·
as a texan most of my driving is done on flat type roads. Over a month ago I took my fj to Colorado and drove all around from Denver to Breckenridge and down to Ouray. While I understand my 2013 is not a modern type car I was wondering if people that live/drive in this area notice their car to struggle going up inclines. by struggling I mean you have to really step on it for it to move specially up an incline and even then it feels as if its barely moving. is it as simple as the fuel type or is this just how they are geared?
If you ever do want to bring your FJ to Colorado again and do some offroading with the locals, we have a big group here on Facebook: Facebook Groups

Second: yes our 4.0L V6's (FJ, 4Runner, Tacomas) do struggle up here at elevation, and it's a combination of what has already been said: less oxygen at elevation for the engine, for our trucks that aren't stock we've got a lot of extra weight -- bumpers, armor, winch etc -- that doesn't help. It's OK to rev the truck up, the engine does a pretty good job cooling itself. But the main risk is the transmission temp. On steep hills here at 65-70 MPH I've seen the transmission temps in the 235-240 range. As long as that doesn't last very long, it's OK. But if you're going to do it for a while, especially if towing, you'll want to add a transmission cooler.
 
#9 ·
I recently drove from Chicago to Scottsdale. Hit 25 to 50 mph cross and headwinds through Missouri, Oklahoma and New Mexico. In OKC could barely stand up outside when arrived at hotel and got out of car, was brutal. Was able to get up the hills but was sluggish. New Mexico into Arizona was about 6500 feet. Was carrying a ton of weight in an already heavy FJ. It made it but needed pedal to floor often going up. Gas mileage went from 17 down to 13.5mpg. I did get blown around a bit but not too much.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top