I just bought a manual 06 XB. The car's a blast, and I really enjoy driving it. My commute to work is 150 miles per day, mostly highway driving. Here's my concern. At 70 mph, the XB's engine is turning 3500 RPM, at 80 its turning 4000. At 70-75, I'm barely keeping up with traffic. In two years this car will have 100k miles on it, and I'm just wondering if my engine will last.

My XB has 1400 miles on it and I may sell it now if I can get what I paid for it, and then get an XB automatic which might be easier on the motor long term.

Do you think that driving in the 3500-4000 RPM band regularly will kill the longevity of this motor?

 

Chill....Maintenance is the key here....OIL CHANGES, ETC.............Do not abuse it, and it will carry you a long ways..Remember Toyota's reputation...But do try to get an Auto.

 

I have an auto and drive similar speeds to work, but only 50 miles a day.
It runs about 500rpms lower than your manual at those speeds. No big deal.

You should do fine, if you changed the oil and trans fluid when needed. I recommend Mobile 1 oil.

Toyota makes fine engines, don't worry.

 

if you get an auto make sure you regularly service it (trans flush, or drain and fill) if you're gonna be puttin that many miles on it. Also, switch over to synthetic oil after the motor's been broken in.

I use Castrol Syntec 5w-50. More additives then you can shake a stick at, haha. Goes in clean, comes out clean.

 

I know it's not a Scion/Toyota, but my other car is a 1995 Mitsubishi Galant. Driving 60mph the motor turns 3k. 4k is about 80....

Car's got over 145k on it and runs like a dream (motor anyways...mitsubishi's love to eat second gear in the transmission though).

Take care of it, do your oil changes, you'll be fine. I just bought a 5 speed xB to do the same drive i take my Galant on every day and i dont foresee any issues at all.

 

I drove both the auto and stick before buying and determined that the auto was the better highway cruiser. The lower rpm makes it a bit quieter and yields slightly better mpg....or so they say. So, I got the auto.

However, I had a '95 Tercel for several years....a 4spd manual that turned about the same rpm at 70 as the manual Box. I put a 100K miles on it....almost all highway miles. Never an issue and never used a drop of oil.

Just service it on regular basis and you'll be fine.

 

Do you really think Toyota hasn't already thought about the effects those RPM's would have on the motor considering current speed limits in the US? Believe me its fine, its a car, drive it. Break it in, switch to synthetic use a good oil filter, keep your other maintance up and roll out.

 

just run synthetics a true synthetic..not ester based ones like Syntec(unless it is the German made one)...Amsoil, Redline, Royal Putple, Mobil 1..and you won't need useless additives

 

Ya, my 94 manual Integra runs around 4k rpm @ 80mph (average hiway cruising speeds). It was a bit to get used to when I moved to CA with its rediculous speeds on the hiways, but I don't even notice it anymore.

 

You will be fine! These are Toyota motors.

 

Constant highway speeds are not a strain on an engine. Stop and go city driving is worse. Many people who do a lot of highway driving get 200-300k out of their vehicles..

 

So aren't they all using sythetic hydrocarbons plus additives?. Why say don't use syntec? I have found it to be an excellant oil.

 

This chatter about high rev engines is over nothing. The engine red lines at far higher. Small engines like this are built to rev high. You may be used to another car brand that has more torque at lower RPMs.(and worse gas mileage Jeep for example lots-O-pull power at low rpms). A similar comparison can be made with motorcycles. Harleys have lots-O-torque at low RPMs and a Japanese bike will produce the torque at higher RPMs and redline RPMs far higher than a Harley. I would prefer the maintenance and reliability record of a Honda motorcycle to a Harley. No disrespect intended to Harley owners, who enjoy that design. I am referring to the engineering that goes into the engines not the image, life style or status the label infers, to the consumer…real or imagined.

The Toyota engine has a proven track record as one of the most trouble free and reliable in the industry. Check Consumer reports. Get used to higher RPMs they are here to stay on efficient engines. With good care and fluid maintenance you engine will provide hundreds of thousands of miles. As mentioned in other posts, frequent oil changes, with high quality oil such as Mobil 1 with a good quality oil filter and perhaps magnetic drain plug will help.

I was reading the shop manual and noticed Toyota shows 2 high power magnets are installed in the auto trans pan. They collect ferrous wear spouge, too small for the filter and keep it safely trapped. The manual says to inspect the magnets and clean them when changing the trans oil. It also says to look for non magnet metal collecting in the pan for an idea of wear. You engine will have no problem delivering 200 thousand miles and more assuming you keep the car that long.

 

Here is a great place to give yourself an education on oil..and no not all synthetics are the same..some are pao and some are ester based.....SYntec like I said is basically no better than any other dino oil
the link
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi

 

Heh, heh, heh . . . . Nah, I'm not making fun of you really, but to me, 3500-4000 is barely off idle. Y'see, I ride motorcycles, most of which live at RPMs quite a bit above that. For example, my BMW K75 (3 cylinder 750 CCs) ran at 6000 RPM at 80 and would happily cruise at that speed all day and all night. Riders would routinely go 100K-200K miles on them without any major engine work. Mine was at 65K when I sold it and still had that barely broke in performance.

Anyway, if you be sure to change the oil regularly and often (every 3K miles or 3 months, whichever comes first), don't worry about it; just DRIVE it!

-Don

 

Hey... I had a 1991 corolla for about 5 years (1999-2005) until i got my xB. Lets just say it's ok... don't worry about it too much. If you do major mods... then you should start worrying.

Like that one guy in the old threads who put NO2 in his box... hehen

 

I have 57,000 miles on my '04 5spd, 140 mile commute mon-fri (about 120 of that is highway), average speed of 70-80 (3250-4000 rpm), goldlines, exhaust and intake, havent had a single problem except for a wire falling out of the knock sensor throwing a CEL (replaced under warranty). Make sure you keep up on maintance and you will be fine.

 

I saw that one person had a 120 mile commute and the other a 150 mile commute; that's brutal, how long does that take? At least, you've got the xB to keep you company.

 

I think most people will agree not to worry about your engine as long as you take care of it. I had an s-10 pickup before I bought my xB and the rpm was solid at 2,000rpm at 70mph. I bet my engine will last longer than the one that was in my truck.

As a side note, I had a 2-stroke 70cc motor scooter that was hopped up for racing, but I also drove it daily while I was in college. Auto clutch engaged at about 6000-7000 rpm and at 80 mph it was turning over 12,000 rpm!! Redline was at 16,000 HAHA what fun. Of course it also had a CV transmission. Cruising in the city my rpms were at 9,000.

I guess thats why I'm not so annoyed with our motor's rpms...

 

ive gone to diego pedal to the metal...
doing around 90~100 the whole way..
not a single ping or anything..

ive put 50k on my car in less than 2 years..
i drive a GANG! and my freeway cruising speed is 75-80.
i have zero problems, all i've done is change my brakepads
once.. and ive just been doing oil changes and periodically,
air filter change. thats it.