For decades, Toyota’s naturally aspirated V6 was a quiet hero-smooth, durable, and seemingly immune to the passing of time. Now, it’s vanishing from showrooms. By 2025, only the Tundra and Sequoia will still have six cylinders under their hoods, and even those will have been downsized from 5.7-litre V8S to 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6S. The rest of Toyota’s U.S. lineup has moved to smaller turbocharged or hybrid four-cylinder engines, signalling a decisive turn in the brand’s engineering philosophy.
It’s part of a larger industry trend driven by tightening emissions regulations and the increasing need for improved fuel economy without sacrificing performance. Turbocharging has emerged as the preferred tool, allowing engineers to wring more power out of less displacement. Compressing intake air allows a turbocharger-equipped engine to have better volumetric efficiency over a wider range of revs, flattening the torque curve in ways even the most advanced naturally aspirated designs-with all their variable valve timing, can’t quite match. Downsizing and “downspeeding” can simultaneously yield stronger low-end pull and reduced fuel consumption, as today’s modern turbocharged engines show.
The biggest replacement for Toyota’s retired V6S is the 2.4-litre turbocharged inline-four, internally coded T24A-FTS. Part of the Dynamic Force family under the Toyota New Global Architecture, it debuted in 2021 with the Lexus NX and has since proliferated across Toyota and Lexus models. In the Tacoma and 4Runner, it makes 278 horsepower and 339 lb-ft of torque, with peak torque arriving at just 1,700 rpm-ideal for towing and off-road crawling. In hybrid form, as in the Toyota Crown, output jumps to 340 hp and 400 lb-ft, enabling 0-60 mph in about 5.5 seconds while still returning around 30 mpg combined.
Those aren’t theoretical gains, either. In the real world, the 2.4T offers about 30 per cent more torque than the outgoing 3.5-litre V6 in the Tacoma, much of it available lower in the rev range. That translates to stronger acceleration under load and less need for high-rev operation, improving real-world fuel efficiency. The Tacoma now posts a combined 22 mpg, an impressive figure in a midsize truck that will tow up to 6,500 pounds. Reliability, a linchpin of the Toyota brand, was the biggest question mark when the company adopted forced induction on gas models.
Until then, it had avoided turbos on U.S.-market gas vehicles due to durability concerns. So far, at least, the early data looks good. Several T24A-powered models rank as the most reliable in their respective segments in the 2025 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, including the Highlander at 81/100 and 4Runner at 86/100. The engine has no active recalls and few reported problems, with some owners reportedly well over 100,000 miles in without issue. Maintenance costs are higher than naturally aspirated counterparts due to the turbo components, but basic design borrows heavily from the well-proven 2.5-litre A25A, so repairs remain relatively straightforward.
It’s not just trucks and SUVs, either. The Camry abandoned its V6 in 2025 for an all-hybrid lineup, the Sienna went to a 2.5-litre hybrid in 2021, and the Highlander made the jump to the 2.4T for 2023. Lexus, too, will be phasing out its 3.5-litre 2GR V6-a former benchmark for refinement-across models like the ES and IS. It’s part of a larger trend: from Honda to Mazda, Japanese automakers are abandoning naturally aspirated sixes for turbocharged fours and hybrid systems that meet strict Euro 6d and WLTP standards while delivering equal or superior torque to V6S.
From an engineering standpoint, the trade-off is clear. The naturally aspirated V6 offered mechanical simplicity, linear power delivery, and a proven track record over decades. The new turbocharged and hybrid four-cylinders bring higher torque density, better emissions compliance, and improved efficiency attributes that align with modern regulatory and consumer demands. The challenge for Toyota’s engineers is to ensure these gains do not come at the expense of the brand’s long-standing reputation for engines that last a lifetime. The early verdict on the T24A-FTS is that, for now, Toyota may have found a way to bridge tradition and technology, bringing in the performance and efficiency of the future without abandoning the reliability of its past.
