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Mike Kojima posted on March 10, 2011 23:05
Project Toyota Tundra Part 5: Testing TRD’s Warranty Friendly Exhaust System
By Mike Kojima
It’s been a while since we tested our last power adder on Project Tundra, a TRD cold air intake. Not that we had any complaints about our truck's power. Project Tundra continues as always in service as our main office truck, hauling parts, towing our project cars around and serving as our mobile headquarters at events where it can haul scooters, photo gear, a race car, tools and parts. Like our staff, our Tundra is always working hard.
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| The stock exhaust was this restrictive single with this humongous muffler and a resonator. Like a typical Toyota it was silent. It is probably not the best for power. |
Read more about Project Tundra Here!
Since we use our truck so much, especially for strenuous duty like towing, we purchased a Toyota extended warranty with the truck so we could have full coverage to 100,000 miles. Because of our hard daily use and our expensive factory extended warranty, we have been reluctant to mess with our truck very much. The exception to this is our use of TRD parts. TRD parts are well engineered and built to OEM standards. The TRD parts will not affect our warranty.
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| A big truck needs a big exhaust and the TRD system came packed in two big boxes. Look at the mess from unpacking! |
TRD parts are also fully 50 state legal and will not affect emissions legality or violate sound regulations. The last cool thing is that if you wished, you could even purchase your vehicle new with TRD parts and have them financed with the vehicle. All cool reasons for factory engineered performance parts.
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| The TRD system is a true dual exhaust with twin pipes from the cats on back. The TRD part is high quality being made of 100% stainless steel. |
Friday, March 11, 2011 6:04 AM
*sigh* Waiting for NISMO to have a similarly good lineup of parts for their cars and trucks. Or HPD to come out with something more than wheels and spoilers.
Friday, March 11, 2011 6:48 AM
Slip fit exhausts suck. I paid good money for a miltek for my 01 S4. It was a horrible fitting piece of junk. Granted, it probably could have fit better had I adjusted it some; but the gunk they give you to seal the pipes gave me about 5 seconds to mess with it before it cured and wouldn't move. If for some reason I decide to get an Audi again (more money than brains?) I won't be using any exhaust with slip-fit connections. Unfortunately, that seems to be all of them.
Friday, March 11, 2011 9:29 AM
You're right Mike, that is a lot of packaging! I'm definitely looking forward to reading about the addition of the TRD Supercharger package.
Friday, March 11, 2011 10:11 AM
Fly'n_Z beat me to it. TRD Supercharger! It's refreshing that some OEMs still care about performance enough to offer products like this. And warranty them no less.
Friday, March 11, 2011 11:31 AM
The 3UR-FE on this really is a technological wonder with all that torque for a non-pushrod/non-diesel motor. That torque curve is beautiful for towing! I just wish Toyota had entered into the diesel wars with the big three and maybe beat out the Duramax for fuel economy bragging rights.
Friday, March 11, 2011 9:15 PM
The Cummins is generally the mileage champ. Mine gets between 18 and 23mpg unloaded depending on city/highway. Towing the racecar (Project G20) yielded 19mpg last time around. :) Duramax is a good motor, just not the fuel economy champ.
Saturday, March 12, 2011 9:21 AM
Do these parts have to be installed by a Toyota dealer to keep the warranty valid?
Saturday, March 12, 2011 12:20 PM
this is all well, but i still cant get over the idea that when i was first introduced to TRD parts, the person explaining it all was calling it "turd performance parts" i dont think he liked toyotas. sweet project, i love factory performance parts.
Saturday, March 12, 2011 5:36 PM
Um Rockwood, I'll stick with the last three years worth of results from Diesel Power's annual challenge results on mileage and go Duramax! I'll also draw upon my Dad's old Duramax vs. My friend's new 6.7 cummins mpg comparison. Duramax won. I'm being objective here, just so you know, because if I were to own one of the motors it would be the 5.9 cummins because of the ease to work, gobs of cheap hp, etc. Of course, it would probably be swapped into a chevy, ford or even the Titan. Nicer interiors!
Monday, March 14, 2011 2:43 PM
Here is TRD's warranty policy Warranty Toyota/Scion Warranty - Length of Coverage Accessories installed at the time of the new vehicle purchase are covered for 36 months/36,000 miles, from the vehicle's in-service date, whichever occurs first, under the New Vehicle Limited Warranty. Accessories installed by the dealer after the new vehicle purchase are covered for 12 months, regardless of mileage, from the accessory installation date, or the remainder of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty, whichever provides greater coverage Accessories purchased over-the-counter are covered for 12 months from the date of purchase. Car covers are warranted for 12 months from the purchase date and are not covered by the New Vehicle Limited Warranty
Friday, March 18, 2011 5:45 PM
@Der Bruce, Not a fair comparison, due to the new emissions (particulate filter, mainly). My dad's 08 duramax gets about 20% worse mileage than his 02 did across the board, chipped or not. Not to mention less power and torque.
 
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