wemay
Site Donor 2023
Had one as a loaner. Loved that truck.
Chevy turbo max 4 banger
- Thread starter ARB1977
- Start date
I got a ton of contacts from dealers about trucks since I looked at one a few months back. I guess doing that put blood in the water for the sharks on the car lots. 
I’ve explored these 2.7 turbo 4 cylinder trucks in 4WD configuration as a tow vehicle. I’m all for turbocharging to gain power and torque, but wasn’t sure if I’d want to tow a car home on my flatbed trailer with one. Something in my experience goes back to a tiny, screaming engine overworked in a situation like that. Even though I know GM designed it for that very use. I’ve yet to test drive one though.
Related is that I got contacted by the dealer I got my last couple of vehicles from with an offering of a new 2024 Ram 1500 on close out. It was $32k, which seemed really low given the equipment. Yep, 3.6 V6 Pentastar engine. I’m very familiar with working on them, but I’m still not convinced that the engine is a good one for towing cars like I do. And, I’m fairly sure the reason for the blow out price is Ram dealers have hundreds of days of supply on these and need to move them out.
My point? I’m intrigued by the 4 cylinder turbo engine, but like the Pentastar V6, I’d have to see how it actually performs in my towing situation. Granted, I’m not towing every single day with it. But enough that I’d want to be sure it can handle the job.
I’ve explored these 2.7 turbo 4 cylinder trucks in 4WD configuration as a tow vehicle. I’m all for turbocharging to gain power and torque, but wasn’t sure if I’d want to tow a car home on my flatbed trailer with one. Something in my experience goes back to a tiny, screaming engine overworked in a situation like that. Even though I know GM designed it for that very use. I’ve yet to test drive one though.
Related is that I got contacted by the dealer I got my last couple of vehicles from with an offering of a new 2024 Ram 1500 on close out. It was $32k, which seemed really low given the equipment. Yep, 3.6 V6 Pentastar engine. I’m very familiar with working on them, but I’m still not convinced that the engine is a good one for towing cars like I do. And, I’m fairly sure the reason for the blow out price is Ram dealers have hundreds of days of supply on these and need to move them out.
My point? I’m intrigued by the 4 cylinder turbo engine, but like the Pentastar V6, I’d have to see how it actually performs in my towing situation. Granted, I’m not towing every single day with it. But enough that I’d want to be sure it can handle the job.
@hemioiler - it sounds like you are towing more often than I did, and you completed what I think I meant to start out saying, that’s it’s hard to compare without lining the engines up with equivalent drivelines.
@RAR mentions something similar in terms of frequent towing -
The 2.7 turbos, I think they almost glowed a dull brown on me after one particularly hot day pulling uphill in East Tennessee. The gauge temps were all in good places, but I knew it was being worked. I can say that when the engine is worked hard, coolant weeps from the lines feeding the turbos - they have to be sending something hot back to the cooling loop. BUT, aside from turbo wine, the v6 is sitting there 1800-2200 most of the time, only touching 2400+ when it really has to - it pulls very similarly to a diesel, and as a preference I love that. BUT I was towing recreationally a few times per year, not weekly or even monthly like that. If this was to be weekly, at the very minimum the cooling system would have to be refitted with other connectors and yes, I’d be nervous about putting that engine into that use cycle.
I’d probably feel similarly about the pentastar, great for DD and occasional tows, but not heavy tows weekly - seems to me it would be stressing it, but I truly don’t know. I suspect the sweet spot with these Chevy and ford 2.7s are good for DD and can handle solid weekend work, but might not be designed to handle heavy work daily. That’s just my armchair guess - but it would make sense as that’s a large portion of the market, and probably more capability than most of the market asks of them.
Good stuff!
@RAR mentions something similar in terms of frequent towing -
The 2.7 turbos, I think they almost glowed a dull brown on me after one particularly hot day pulling uphill in East Tennessee. The gauge temps were all in good places, but I knew it was being worked. I can say that when the engine is worked hard, coolant weeps from the lines feeding the turbos - they have to be sending something hot back to the cooling loop. BUT, aside from turbo wine, the v6 is sitting there 1800-2200 most of the time, only touching 2400+ when it really has to - it pulls very similarly to a diesel, and as a preference I love that. BUT I was towing recreationally a few times per year, not weekly or even monthly like that. If this was to be weekly, at the very minimum the cooling system would have to be refitted with other connectors and yes, I’d be nervous about putting that engine into that use cycle.
I’d probably feel similarly about the pentastar, great for DD and occasional tows, but not heavy tows weekly - seems to me it would be stressing it, but I truly don’t know. I suspect the sweet spot with these Chevy and ford 2.7s are good for DD and can handle solid weekend work, but might not be designed to handle heavy work daily. That’s just my armchair guess - but it would make sense as that’s a large portion of the market, and probably more capability than most of the market asks of them.
Good stuff!
Test drive one and report back. I can only give experience from 'across the isle' at Ford, but the 2.3 in my truck does anything but scream when you're working it. Most of the time it is in 8th or 9th (Sometimes 10, but I'll usually lock out 10 and sometimes 9), and running along at around 3000 RPM, which isn't screaming by any stretch of the imagination. This is towing an 8 foot wide travel trailer at around 5800-6000 lbs.
Sure, if you punch it to pass or climb a grade it will get up near redline and sit there at 18-20 lbs of boost, but it doesn't seem to care one way or the other.
I suspect the GM mill is similar.
Coworker has one with about 93k on it, he likes it. We usually take it to lunch, his only complaint was it burns oil. About every 1500-2000 miles he’s adding a quart of Full Synthetic 5w30 he keeps in the backseat. I told him maybe try Xw40 to see if it burns less.
The screaming idea comes from a video review by a guy up in Canada (The Getty Adventures channel on YouTube). He puts a loaded trailer on these test trucks and drives at speed on grades, in town, etc., and I saw that fuel mileage wasn’t any better than a V8. And yes, that 4 cylinder was spinning at 5000 rpm. That kind of heavy use makes me wonder how long that turbo 4 will hold up.
I agree that it’s probably perfectly fine for commuting and occasional trips to Home Depot.
I’m still evaluating but I’m watching feedback from others here to see their real life experiences.
The Pentastar is great in my Wrangler and my Grand Caravan, but I’m not totally convinced in the heavier Ram.
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The screaming idea comes from a video review by a guy up in Canada (The Getty Adventures channel on YouTube). He puts a loaded trailer on these test trucks and drives at speed on grades, in town, etc., and I saw that fuel mileage wasn’t any better than a V8. And yes, that 4 cylinder was spinning at 5000 rpm. That kind of heavy use makes me wonder how long that turbo 4 will hold up.
I agree that it’s probably perfectly fine for commuting and occasional trips to Home Depot.
I’m still evaluating but I’m watching feedback from others here to see their real life experiences.
The Pentastar is great in my Wrangler and my Grand Caravan, but I’m not totally convinced in the heavier Ram.
I loved that comparison of his (Getty), direct comparison of the 5.3 vs the 2.7 and on paper, the 2.7 should come out on top but it is very clear from those 2 reviews that the 5.3 is the better choice. That 2.7 was not happy at the end of that review.
Link to the video, but his channel has tons of truck/towing content and worth a deep dive, I prefer his reviews over TFL any day.
Steady state fuel economy has more to do with rolling resistance and wind resistance than weight.
Weight only plays in on acceleration or when doing on overall climb for a trip.
I get a kick out of the boomers who automatically whip out the "a 4 cylinder has no place in a truck" or..."there is no replacement for displacement"! There is...it is called forced induction.
An engine is an air pump. A 5.3l engine sucks in 5.3l at of air and adds fuel accordingly to maintain the proper air/fuel ratio. A 2.7l turbo operating at lets say 14.7psi of boost (double atmospheric) is using 5.4l of air, compressed into a 2.7l space. More air equals more fuel which equals more power.
Of course a turbo engine isn't 100% efficient, but the turbo is running at higher than 14.7psi anyways...it's in the 20's. And with electronic boost management that pressure is available at very low engine speeds which improves torque significantly. That's why these small turbo engines produce 90% of their torque at like 2000rpm's.
And for those who say "today's engines are too complex", keep it simple! We could rewind 30 years and have vacuum tubing, air pumps, egr valves and all sorts of other gadgets to try and manage the engine. Probably with a third of the power too. Which one would you rather have?
An engine is an air pump. A 5.3l engine sucks in 5.3l at of air and adds fuel accordingly to maintain the proper air/fuel ratio. A 2.7l turbo operating at lets say 14.7psi of boost (double atmospheric) is using 5.4l of air, compressed into a 2.7l space. More air equals more fuel which equals more power.
Of course a turbo engine isn't 100% efficient, but the turbo is running at higher than 14.7psi anyways...it's in the 20's. And with electronic boost management that pressure is available at very low engine speeds which improves torque significantly. That's why these small turbo engines produce 90% of their torque at like 2000rpm's.
And for those who say "today's engines are too complex", keep it simple! We could rewind 30 years and have vacuum tubing, air pumps, egr valves and all sorts of other gadgets to try and manage the engine. Probably with a third of the power too. Which one would you rather have?
They got rid of this for ‘24. Metal now.
The screaming isnt there quite so bad because the sweet spot in the torque curve is nice and low.I got a ton of contacts from dealers about trucks since I looked at one a few months back. I guess doing that put blood in the water for the sharks on the car lots.
I’ve explored these 2.7 turbo 4 cylinder trucks in 4WD configuration as a tow vehicle. I’m all for turbocharging to gain power and torque, but wasn’t sure if I’d want to tow a car home on my flatbed trailer with one. Something in my experience goes back to a tiny, screaming engine overworked in a situation like that. Even though I know GM designed it for that very use. I’ve yet to test drive one though.
Related is that I got contacted by the dealer I got my last couple of vehicles from with an offering of a new 2024 Ram 1500 on close out. It was $32k, which seemed really low given the equipment. Yep, 3.6 V6 Pentastar engine. I’m very familiar with working on them, but I’m still not convinced that the engine is a good one for towing cars like I do. And, I’m fairly sure the reason for the blow out price is Ram dealers have hundreds of days of supply on these and need to move them out.
My point? I’m intrigued by the 4 cylinder turbo engine, but like the Pentastar V6, I’d have to see how it actually performs in my towing situation. Granted, I’m not towing every single day with it. But enough that I’d want to be sure it can handle the job.
Big mistake that GM is making is not putting the 10 speed behind the 2.7.
IMO that is. The two extra ratios would probably put the 2.7 in the lead over the 5.3.
I kind of agree. At least for 2024 they actually changed out hard parts in the 8 speed to fix its problems.
The plastic pan was only on some of the mid size trucks for a short while. Full size are all metal, mine included.
Also known as the False Dilemma Fallacy, presenting a situation as only having two choices.
There's a middle ground without returning to miles of vacuum tubing and carburetion.
The (generally despised) 5.4L in my 2009 F150 was in fact the perfect engine. By then Ford had worked out the bugs. Simple enough, indestructible, ultra responsive, pleasant and smooth. With a tune, a considerably better tow engine than the later 5.0 V8.
As I mentioned above, I did not hate the 2.7L 4 cyl on my road trip, as it was generally unobtrusive, right up until it wasn't. At which point, I was really wanting a smooth V8. Acceptable, yes. Worthy of "love" not a chance.
I wonder how resale value of the 4cyl will be? Just a guess it will be a value reducer regardless how good it might be. I think, for now, there are still more people wanting V8 power than I4 and that will drive the used prices down a little on the 4's.
If he is tired of that burning tell him to check out this vid.. it is easy and he can do it on a weekend but just make sure he uses the berrymans and when he finally starts it better to do it later at night so his neighbors won't see the excessive smoke so obviously.
It will be far less than a $1,000.00. Not enough to affect you if you going to turn around and buy another $50,000 or $60,000( or more) truck.
