Just bought 02 Taco; transmission concern

A V6 shouldn't have any more "linear" of a power band than any other engine does. Different engines will be tuned to have peak power or torque at a specific position within the engine's operating range. A lot of larger engines, like V8's, will have their power/torque points tuned low within their operating range, and appear to have a wider power band because they have a narrower operating range.

Light duty engines tend to be tuned to have their power/torque points high within their operating range and have wider operating ranges. This is what you are experiencing, the engine needs to be spun up (down shift) in order for it to be able to make significantly more torque as you are demanding of it.

Newer engines have the ability to control their tuning by advancing/retarding their valve timing based on a number of input factors, such as operating speed and throttle position. The 4.0 and 2.7 (2005 onwards) are so equipped. They are able to make significantly more torque at low speeds while maintaining a high peak power output, and thus don't always have to downshift as soon as your 3.4 does.

Now to compare your 3.4 to a very common chevrolet 4.3. Both are V6, both peak out at 190 hp, both lack variable valve timing, yet yours is a smaller displacement. The chevrolet has its power/torque tuned to a point lower in its operating band. This reduces the operating band and peak power output, but brings the torque on at a lower engine speed. The newer 4.0 can adjust itself lower than the chevrolet, and higher than your 3.4.

 

My 04' has been doing this same tranny thing since it was new, and it has 98k on it now. Totally normal Bro. I've always heard good things about the auto tranny in 1st gen Tacoma's.

 

My Tacoma was my first automatic so I also noticed needing to get on it a bit to force it to shift to get some RPMs and more power. I do two things.
1. I keep the ECT button on (to the left of the steering wheel). It changes the shift points and shifts a little more early so the RPMs won't drop as much before it shifts.
2. Turn off the over drive (button on the side of the auto shifter). If you are going up a hill and don't want to floor it, turning off OD can shift you up and into RPMs that will give you much more power.

 

I didn't read anything but your post but you better get it serviced like NOW, i had quotes up to $3300 to rebuild

 

Did I lose a post, or did it get deleted? Hmm.
I thought I remembered commenting that the ignition timing has been electronically controlled for a lot longer than just 2005 and up. My 1997 Tacoma has electronically controlled ignition timing. Pretty much if it doesn't have a distributor, it is electronically controlled, and even some that have an electronic distributor also have timing controlled by the computer.

 

That's what I was initially thinking but if you'll read all the posts (which have been most helpful; thanks to all) you'll see that the condition seems to be quite normal. I did have the tranny serviced and all seems well. The mechanic mentioned something about the transmission accumulator spring (as BamaToy mentioned earlier) and also something about how the torque converter engages. It's all foreign to me mate.

 

I suspect the clunking that everybody is describing is the rear engine mount at the transmission. Brand new mount will do the same thing, the mount is just too loose and flexible. (?)