I kinda like my V6. Sure, it's certainly no V8. It idles like crap, makes no 'real' HP, sounds like a tractor, but it's hard to argue with 24mpg! (imperial gallons) There's an Astro around here that has a 383 & a 6-71. Runs low 10's. Pretty good for a vehicle that's as aero-dynamic as a brick!
My dad inherited my grandfather's 93 Cheyenne. It had the 4.3 V6 as well. It always idled rough, even when it had 30,000 miles on it. It eventually blew a headgasket, broke the motor-mounts, etc. It still ran though, on 4 or 5 cylinders. That didn't make an appreciable difference in the idle quality. lol.
As far as "real" horsepower - Meh, it's all relative. The V-8's tend to break a lot more drivetrain parts on these trucks, so it's a wash, as I see it. I find it a little silly, personally. We're not talking about dragster-quality power, only 210HP and 300lbs of torque. Why that is enough to tear up transmissions and other parts, at least to me, indicates some major cost-cutting/compromises on the part of the designers. At least the parts are cheap, because you *will* break stuff on these trucks..
Then again, I might be a little biased. My "other" car is a Speed3. 2.3L front wheel drive with 270HP and 263lbs of torque through a transmission the size of a pumpkin.
That and I grew up dumping 500+HP through Datsun drivetrains with no issues. The only transmission I ever trashed, ironically enough, was an American Borg-Warner T-5 (the factory "upgrade" for the 280zx turbos).
You see that a lot, by the way... The new Xterra "Off-Road Editions" are notorious for munching spider-gears when you are hard on them. The rear-end with the issues, in fact, is a Dana 44 that is the "heavy duty off road" upgrade. The base model rear ends are bulletproof. "Oops".
