4 cylinder vs 6 cylinder

[Tiger]

I am starting to look for a used car for my wife. I want to buy a 2005 or 2006 Camry. We have only owned 6 cylinder cars but the greater majority of cars that I see advertised are 4 cylinder models. Would we be happy with a 4 or should I cointue to look for a 6? My wife does half of her driving on highways and half on city streets.

 

[jambo101]

Kinda depends on your driving style,if you are the type that normally likes to cruise down the highways at 80 or 90mph the 4cyl isnt going to be up to the task on a regular basis,if 60 or 70mph is your norm then the 4cyl will be more than adequate and will probably save you some gas.Acceleration with the 4 is going to feel anemic compared with the 6.Personally i'd go for the 4 and just take it easy.

 

[W2R]

Maybe she should take one for a test drive. That's how I found out that a 4-cylinder would be fine for my use. Nothing beats being able to formulate your own personal opinion.

I have a 2000 Camry Solara, which is similar but an older model than you are considering. I have the 4-cylinder version, and it has more "get up and go" than I would ever use. Even getting up to speed on freeway onramps is a breeze.

But then, I never drive with five pro football players in the car as passengers, and never fill the trunk with concrete blocks. It's almost always just me, sometimes with groceries but otherwise no cargo. It's a whole different story with heavy passengers (though I've only driven it with passengers maybe once).

 

[thefed]

The 4's of today are very torquey, so they do scoot from a dead stop....and 80mph cruising shouldnt be a problem for any newer 4 or 6 cyl. car


The 4's are cheaper from the get-go,better on gas(a bit), and cheaper to maintain/repair/replace....go with the 4

 

[freebird5825]

i currently own all 3 types (4,6,8 cyl)

4 cyl 1992 Honda Accord - good dependable car. more than enough pep for all types driving. 5 speed manual transmission for that race-car-driver fantasy and better gas mileage. it's currently serving as the winter rat.

i test drove a Camry back when i bought the Honda. I have long legs and felt cramped in the driver's seat. otherwise, may have bought one.

6 cyl 2005 Mustang - fun summer car only. good gas mileage if i behave myself (never). 5 speed manual transmission.

8 cyl 2002 Jeep grand cherokee - the work horse of the fleet. lousy gas mileage. not a good commuting car unless you are in snow belt. very safe on highway driving. 4WD saved me from being in the middle of a car pileup near the merging point of several major highways near Binghamton NY. i was able to stop easily without skidding, while nobody else could.

 

[haha]

A lot depends on whether you have mountain passes to contend with, or even steep city hills. Also depends on loading. Will she be carrying 3 other adults around?

Ha

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

love my current american muscle 8 in the stang. years ago i had small engine american-made company cars which were a great financial deal for me but no fun at all to drive. when they took the company car away i got myself a 4-cylinder camry, a surprisingly good car back then and a really nice car now.

though i love my big american engine, i'd take a japanese 4-cylinder over an american 4 any day even though i thought i noticed that after a few years the camry seemed to lose power, especially with the a/c running. i don't know if that was real or just my perception. since it is years later and i'm sure their engines much improved, if i wasn't still such a car nut with pretty good reflexes to handle my own bad driving, i'd get a 2-year-old 4-cylinder camry without hesitation (but for ha's comment on mountain roads of which i've only done in an 8 so i'm not one to say).

 

[2good]

I used to own a 2005 Camry with 4 cylinder engine. Was very satisfied with the torque. I live in a flat area without mountains.
The 2005 is a good choice since it has the newer automatic transmission with one more gear than the older (2003 and before) models.

The new style Camry (I believe from 2006 onwards) gets lots of complaints with the 4 cyl engine. It is basically the same engine/transmission setup as on the 2005 but the newer body style is heavier.

 

[jazz4cash]

4WD saved me from being in the middle of a car pileup near the merging point of several major highways near Binghamton NY. i was able to stop easily without skidding, while nobody else could.

Curious about this one...since all cars have 4-wheel brakes, how do you feel 4WD is better at stopping than 2WD?

 

[ziggy29]

Test drive them both. The main knock on the 4-bangers is that they have less pickup when you need rapid acceleration. But if you can drive a 6-cylinder Camry AND a 4-cylinder model, you'll be able to see if the added oomph is worth the extra cost and reduced gas mileage.

 

[chinaco]

4 vs 6 decision depends on the vehicle (and size). Not sure about the Camry.

We will be making a purchase in the next few years. I will lean toward a 4 cyl for fuel economy.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

as to extra cost (not counting mileage) at two to three years old there might not be so much difference in price between the 4 & the 6. before i bought the 8, i researched and found that an 8 depreciates faster than the 6 and in five years they wind up costing, relative to the huge difference when new, nearly the same.

 

[Tiger]

Thanks for all of the replies. I convinced her to test drive a 4.

 

[freebird5825]

Curious about this one...since all cars have 4-wheel brakes, how do you feel 4WD is better at stopping than 2WD?

slippery roads, i.e wintertime.

 

[dumpster56]

Kinda depends on your driving style,if you are the type that normally likes to cruise down the highways at 80 or 90mph the 4cyl isnt going to be up to the task on a regular basis,if 60 or 70mph is your norm then the 4cyl will be more than adequate and will probably save you some gas.Acceleration with the 4 is going to feel anemic compared with the 6.Personally i'd go for the 4 and just take it easy.

You have no idea what you are talking about here. I have a 05 camery 4 cyl 5 speed. Ran up and down I95 from North carolina To New Jersey for a year 85 + MPH and the baby ran smooth and strong.

The 4 banger is a excellent engine with all kinds of torque with the manuel tranny.

Oh I got best mileage of 37.4 on one trip of 510 miles last fall. I get 31 city and 34 highway consistently.

A fantastic japanese made vehicle, yes this one was put together in Japan.

In fact the service manager at the local dealer said to me the other day heck 300K miles can be put on this baby!! With little maintence. 56K so far change oil thats about it air filters etc. Plugs not until 120K. Time belt at 90K

The best car I have ever owned, not fancy but really drives well.

 

[Rambler]

We have all three as well, two at home and two "home away from home". Once we leave here we'll keep the 6cyl until about 5-7 years from now and then trade to a 4cyl. We will keep a V8 truck until I am no longer able to do things around the house requiring a hauler (or until we trade up to an RV from travel trailer)...then we'll either sell and stick with one car, or have two 4 bangers. The 4cyl Camrys are quite nice, IMO, and 4cyl Accords do well too, although we may opt for a Prius/Camry hybrid for the better mileage (still a way off in the future).

R

 

[jazz4cash]

slippery roads, i.e wintertime.

4WD will not help you stop any better under these conditions. Sometimes drivers get 'overconfident' with 4WD because they don't realize that just because they can GO better than 2WD, they can't stop any better because all cars have 4-wheel brakes. An SUV might have a bit of a braking advantage over front wheel drive, but that's because of more even weight distribution, not due to 4WD vs. 2WD. Sorry to distract from 4 cyl vs. 6 cyl discussion....but we see lots of 4WD suvs in the ditch around here!

No two used cars are the same, so I would base my decision on the whole car, unless I needed more power because of mountain roads and heavy loads.

 

[mathjak107]

Curious about this one...since all cars have 4-wheel brakes, how do you feel 4WD is better at stopping than 2WD?

4 wheel drive has nothing to do with stopping,only going

 

[dumpster56]

4 wheel drive great advertisment. Got americans to waste money on vehicles that well are a bad rough ride weigh so much more and get much less gas mileage.

Did we all not learn to drive rear wheel drive cars and put snow tires on the baby during winter

Fishtail all over when it snowed but so what you knew where the rear end was going.

Bottom line and I have owned every type of vehicle built, The 4 cyl 5 speed 05 camry is one heck of a ride, try and find one with 60K or less on the odometer.

 

[cantlogin]

4 wheel drive has nothing to do with stopping,only going

You guys think you’re so smart. You’re right, 4wd is better for going than 2wd but if you can’t get going, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to stop. So there!

 

[mb]

I have a 2000 4 cylinder Camry and I think that it is fine. That includes climbing the Sierra which is a lot tougher than cruising at 80 mph.

My wife has a 4 cylinder Honda mini-van that is about 500 lb heavier than the Camry and we would have definitely preferred a more powerful engine for that car.

But the Camry is more than adequate with the four.

MB

 

[RunningBum]

A lot depends on whether you have mountain passes to contend with, or even steep city hills. Also depends on loading. Will she be carrying 3 other adults around?

Ha

Yep, I was perfectly happy with a 4 until I moved to the mountains. Now I drive a 6.

 

[Marquette]

2006 Accord with the 4 banger.

Generally two adults in the car and one doesn't count (wife is very happy because she's finally back over 100 lbs).

Loaded with luggage, cross-country trip... no problems. Accelerates fast enough for me, top speed according to the gps was just over 87. Ran like a champ.

I only have 65k miles on the car so far, but it's been running well.

 

[haha]

4 wheel drive great advertisment. Got americans to waste money on vehicles that well are a bad rough ride weigh so much more and get much less gas mileage.

Hate to say it NewGuy, but like most things, it depends on the use. Around here we have mountains with lots of snow, and hills in the city. We have almost no snowplows in the city, except main arterials. Often after a snowstorm cars are scattered all over the road, but not many Subarus!

4wd Subaru, Audi, and VW coupes and sedans are very popular, and not only for snow. Much better traction starting up a hill in the rain. Also much better traction with high powered sporty cars like the Audi S series, or the Subaru WRX line. I replaced a wrecked Integra FWD with a Subaru AWD, and I would not go back. I wouldn't mind stepping up to an Audi S-4 though; and if I ever get rich I will.

Also, I wonder if any car other than a tiny one should have an automatic trans mated to a 4. If it takes longer to get through the gears, you could lose any gas advantage that there might be in the 4.

Ha

 

[Insanity]

We own a 3-liter, six-cylinder, 145 horsepower Ford Ranger which we bought to pull a small, 3500 pound (loaded) 5th-wheel travel trailer. With trailer in tow the Ranger struggles a bit in the hills, but can usually maintain 55-60 mph. When we're not towing it has way more power than we need. We have a friend that tows his nearly identical 5th wheel trailer behind a 4-cylinder 2.7 liter, 150 horsepower Toyota Tacoma; he reports very similar results.

The point is it's not the number of cylinders your car has, but how much the car and its occupants/payload weigh vs its overall horsepower. If you have a big, heavy car hauling big, heavy people and use your air conditioning while driving in the rockies, a 3-cylinder, 1 liter, 55 horsepower Geo Metro is not going to do it for you, but unless you're hauling really heavy stuff (or really heavy people), a 150 horsepower engine is more than sufficient to get you there and back again.

Speaking of my old 3-cylinder, 1 liter, 55 horsepower Geo Metro, it was generally plenty zippy, too. With four adult passengers it didn't do quite so well, and loaded to the rafters and sagging on its suspension as we moved from the San Francisco area up to Washington State it struggled to maintain 45 mph in the mountain passes, but even heavily loaded it got us where we were going.