Toyota FJ Cruiser owners?

[CrotalusFJ]

Are there other Toyota FJ cruiser owners on this this forum or in the Mud Nuts?  I\'ve had mine for a little over a month - base model 6 spd manual tranny, full-time 4WD with stock locker - and self-installed A-Trac system on the front.

I\'ve taken out in 1-ft of snow up unplowed moraine roads, in 2-ft deep mud hole, and up a large cobblestone pile.  I\'m very happy with its offroad performance and am getting it equipped to go out on some of the local runs.  Has anybody else wheeled an FJ?

[Vanillathunder]

My girl has one, but she won\'t let me take it out yet.  Getting a foot long piece of aluminum stuck in one of the tires at the last highway clean-up didn\'t help any.  Just from regular driving I\'m sure it\'s more than capable with just a tire upgrade.
 
There are plenty of FJ clubs and sites if you just want to see and share FJ info, but I\'d like to see it in action.

[CrotalusFJ]

Yeah, sounds like your GF has better sense than we do.  I live over in Livonia - saw a nicely built TJ in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Geneseo on Saturday - any chance that was your rig?

Oh, thanks for the suggestion about checking the forums - I\'ve been on several of them and am an active poster on www.fjcruiserforums.com - great info there.

[Yukoneer]

Speaking of FJ\'s, do they really require premium gas?    I was looking at one \'08 without a roof rack and just happened to open the gas door then saw a sign saying \"PREMIUM FUEL ONLY\"...  that\'s nuts.

[MrMindless]

nuts?  quite common in high performance motors.  Most have knock sensors that will retard timing if you put in the cheap stuff but they won\'t make peak power without it.

Premium is also the cheapest it\'s ever been.  Prices have stayed pretty steady with premium being 20c more than regular most places.  Some stations just 12c between grades but the majority are still 10c.

I feed the Dakota premium.  I get noticeable butt dyno gains from the 91 octane program versus the 87 octane program on my SuperChips.  I don\'t have knock sensors on the 318 so I don\'t cheap out on fuel.  I\'d like it to last another 100k+....

[CrotalusFJ]

Premium fuel is recommended, but not required in the FJ - there\'s actually an official Toyota bulletin on this issue.  I\'ve burned a few tankfuls of 87 octane and experience no knocking or drastic decrease in performance.  That said, I now only use premium because it actually saves me a bit of money by the tankful - about $1.50 to $2.00.  I get about 16 mpg on 87 octane, and 18 mpg on 93 octane.

BTW, http:fjcruiserforums.com is the absolute best online source for all things FJC.  There are some quirks and bugs, but they\'re minor in my opinion - windshield is a rock magnet, blind spot, etc., but orders of magnitude hands-down better quality than the junk I\'ve driven in the past.

I love mine and plan to keep it for a very long time.  I bought it in November and have already had it offroad and am very pleased with its performance.  I have the 6spd manual transmission -full time 4wd (hence lower mpg than the automatic tranny), rear locker, virtual front locker (A-Trac system - installed myself for $60!) and a stock water-fording depth of 27.5\" - three inches more than a Hummer (but who\'s comparing...), and a rubberized interior w/ waterproof seats - you can hose it out.

[Guest]

RC for a complete demo anyone :naughty:

[CoraC143]

sounds pretty sweet.

[Yukoneer]

by Mr.Mindless on 2008/1/9 14:18:57

nuts? quite common in high performance motors.

Sorry, I just don\'t get the connection of high performance motors with Toyota as well as a FJ cruiser.

[Vanillathunder]

There is a chance it was me but there are also some others on this board from that area it could have been, depends on what color it was.  

Man feels like it\'s been forever since we\'ve gotten to play.