1992-2003 Koyote Tonga 1.0

The Koyote Tonga was the companies first SUV/the first Offroader that was comfortable and useable as a daily driver.

It was also the last "classic" Koyote, using the engine families from the 80s, that were developed from the engines during teh 70s, that came from the older ones etc. Every model introduced afterwards came on new platforms with and from 1999 onmwards, every car was updated to the Preston engines, the Tonga was the last car in 2003 using the 18/25 engines.

The Tongas base engine in europe was the 2.5i.s., developed as a sporty engine for the Koyote F series, making 200hp (tbh, it never made 200 but only betwen 193 and 198, depending on the exhaust. I always lied to you...):...
In the Tonga it only makes 136hp, because it has different camshafts and a different ECU, it got detuned. That way, the engine makes less power, and even a bit less torque, but it isn't "sporty" anymore, it doesn't need revs, it has power down low, which makes a lot of sense when you are offroading... or driving a heavy vehicle like an SUV... or towing a traioler.
A popular mod for people driving it was to swap in the original camshafts and swap the ECU for an F series one, that way you have 200hp but at first, nothing happens. Like at a stoplight, you need to build up some revs to start going and the only real benefit is higher top speed, since you wont drive this thing sporty and it has not really more useable torque. People still did it because.... 70hp more!!! (just makes no sense). I called it 2.5i tuned.

But: Koyote had an option for those people too: the 2.5 Turbo!
It makes 170hp, still because of the focus on torque, and it has a lot more torque, buit as the tuned version a bit of power-lack from like 0-10kph. But less power-lack than the tuned version down low... so it's a compromise

The US version didn't get the 2.-5 i4, it got sth else: a 3.5l inline 6. Based on the legendary 4.0l i6 from the big/sporty Koyote cars at the time. Aaaaand: it got detuned to save fuel and make torque down low and only produce 155hp. And not even that much torque,

BUT: the 4.0 i6 made it into the Tonga aswell, with 250hp, quad valve technology and a lot of torque. Aswell as a lot pof fuel consumption. But if you don't really care about that, this is the engien to get. It is inmcluded in the US version but was avaiable in europe too.

If you wanted more offroad capabilities: The tonga climber, here in the 4.0 variant, was an upgrade option to get a bit more structural reinforcement and more ground clearence, which makes sense since the standard Tonga is quite low for serious offroading. It will also have different tires, that are wider and grippier.


Oh, and theres one last thing:
The Koyotze Tonga Apex started life as a proof of concept: make the big, heavy, awd Tonga go from 0-100kph/60mph in less than 5 seconds.
So the Apex devision created a dark.lightning blue monster: only avaiable as a two door version, twice as expensive as the 2.5i, but: It goes liek hell, does 0-100/60 in 4.4s and reaches 270kph.
The Tonga Apex got a new rear axle, new front suspension, an awd system instead of a 4x4 (so don't go offroad with it!!!!), sport tires... and a turbo charged version of the 4.0 i6 engine, making about 400hp and more than 600NM of torque.

And if you don't understand the logic behind putting a Koyote F series on a ladder frame and raise it up for offroading with detuned engiens and than lower the car again, tune the engine up and remove the offroad capabilities.... well so do I, but the Tonga Apex is quite fun to drive


The tonga climber