Toyota’s V6 Lineup Shrinks to Two Models as Four-Cylinders Take Over

Toyota’s V6 has gone from a familiar option across its American car, SUV and truck range to an engine offered in only two Toyota-badged models: the Tundra pickup and Sequoia SUV. Most of the former V6 applications have moved to turbocharged or hybrid four-cylinder powertrains, exchanging displacement and mechanical simplicity for technologies intended to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions.

The comparison is more complicated than a simple shift from six cylinders to four. Toyota’s two remaining V6 models also illustrate the broader downsizing strategy. The current-generation Tundra and Sequoia use a 3.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 in place of the naturally aspirated 5.7-liter V8 offered in their predecessors. Turbocharging allows a smaller engine to serve vehicles that previously depended on greater displacement, but it also changes the engine’s thermal, lubrication and control requirements.

Tacoma and 4Runner make the truck transition clear

The Tacoma replaced its former V6 with a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder beginning with the 2024 model year. The 4Runner followed for 2025, ending another longstanding Toyota V6 application. Higher trims of both vehicles can add hybrid assistance to the turbocharged engine.

These two models put the engineering tradeoff in especially sharp relief. Their previous V6 powertrains accumulated a long service history, giving owners and technicians years of field experience from which to judge durability. The replacement engines use less displacement while adding boost, and some configurations combine the combustion engine with hybrid hardware. Those features do not establish that the new systems will be less dependable, but their comparable long-term record has not yet had time to develop.

Turbocharging uses exhaust energy to force more air into the engine, enabling a smaller unit to produce output suitable for a larger vehicle. Hybrid assistance adds another route to useful torque while allowing the combustion engine to operate differently across a drive cycle. The engineering benefit is the ability to reduce fuel consumption and emissions without relying exclusively on a large naturally aspirated engine. The cost is a more integrated system whose performance depends on additional air-management, thermal-management, electronic-control and, in hybrid versions, electrical components.

Camry, Sienna and Highlander took different routes

Toyota did not apply one replacement formula across every model. The Camry eliminated its V6 when it moved to an all-hybrid lineup for the 2025 model year. Rather than offering buyers a choice between conventional four- and six-cylinder engines, the sedan now standardizes a hybrid architecture.

The Sienna made its change earlier. Beginning in 2021, Toyota replaced the minivan’s 3.5-liter V6 with a 2.5-liter hybrid powertrain. The Highlander took a different path for the 2023 model year, replacing its standard 3.5-liter V6 with a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder. Together, the three vehicles show how Toyota has used both electrification and turbocharging to remove V6 engines from different market segments.

Toyota has not clearly provided a single explanation for phasing out the V6 across these models. The pattern nevertheless follows the wider industry practice of using smaller turbocharged engines and hybrids to pursue better fleet efficiency and lower emissions. For readers who want to examine certified vehicle information directly, the Environmental Protection Agency maintains searchable emissions and fuel-economy compliance data, including annual certification and fuel-economy test resources.

Lexus preserves a naturally aspirated alternative

The engine has not disappeared from Toyota’s wider corporate portfolio. Lexus continues to list naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V6 applications, including the IS sport sedan. The official 2027 Lexus IS specifications identify a 3.5-liter V6 producing 311 horsepower in the IS 350 configurations shown. That makes the luxury division an important boundary to the Toyota-brand trend rather than proof that the engine architecture has vanished altogether.

For buyers focused on durability, the unanswered issue is time rather than cylinder count alone. The older V6 engines earned their reputation over extended real-world use; the newer turbocharged four-cylinders must build an equivalent history under comparable workloads. Toyota’s transition is already largely complete at the showroom level, but the long-term comparison between those powertrain generations is only beginning.

By Thomas Caldwell — AMI’s senior editor for mechanical and mobility engineering, covering vehicle electronics, systems integration, electrification, chassis systems, propulsion, and safety policy.