6 spd manual disappointing

I have had my 6 speed for a little over a year now and I will say that this tranny is a challenge to master. I test drove a 5 speed and found you don't base that experience on the 6 speed shifting, it is totally different and the 5 speed is easier to master to me.
That being said and 19K later I like my 6 speed now and what it can do. I used to think 6was not high enough until I checked out other vehicles and rmps running a 60-70 mph. It's not that bad at all and I get over 20 mpg on the road easy.
I hardly notice the rev between gears now for the emission and consider it a non-issue. I do have an annoying thing with my clutch pedal making a slight creeking from release from the floor over time. I have to get under there every so often and try to figure out where to lube it. It'll stop for a while and eventually come back. I may take it to the dealer to correct some day.
Bottom line is I like my 6 speed just fine for the money I saved getting it over the Auto, and then there is the "cool" factor. It's just cool to 6 speed it everywhere.

 

yeah, the 6spd took some getting used to but the rev btw shifts improved once i learned to drive and shift it properly. i think the truck actually "learns" the driving style and runs accordingly. the only issue i seem to have with my 6spd is actually getting into 2nd once and a while and also 5th.... i think it does it when i get lazy or try to shift too fast and let the clutch out before its locked in the gear though.

 

I'm definitely still trying to get used to the manual, but I haven't even got to 2k miles yet. I've been avoiding 1st gear as much as possible on pavement. I find that I can start just fine in 2nd at most intersections, unless I'm on an incline.

I just wish 6th gear was a little taller. Has anyone actually tried re-gearing 6th gear to improve the ratio on a 2nd gen manual?

 

I can now make a comment on this thread

I wish first and reverse was lower and 6th needs to be higher for the fuel mileage (bobtail) since towing any kind of weight is pretty useless unless it's downhill.
I have already towed my Jeep and one light trailer, it did fine with both but a lower 1st and rev would be real nice.

 

Hell, first is already useless unless towing or at a complete stop. I can't imagine having it lower for normal driving. Higher 6th might be nice, but larger tires help balance that out.

If you need lower reverse, use 4LO.

 

I like the 6 speed in the Tacoma. I will agree however it would be nice if it reved 200-300 rpm less in 6th for better economy on the highway. I always start in first but quite often jump-shift, 1st to 3rd to 5th kind of thing. I like the control with a manual trans.

 

Does anyone else experience a noise when you're around 1500rpm in 2nd? When I'm going around a corner in a parking lot or sometimes after just shifting in to 2nd I'll get this noise that usually goes away around 2000rpm. It could be the engine lugging, but it doesn't really seem like it is. I don't know how else to describe this sound besides it being "raspy," I hope that makes sense...

 

I loved the manual 5 speed tranny in my old '90 Nissan pickup - so I got the manual in my '06 Toy and absolutely hated it. I didn't like the way it shifted - probably the gearing. It was noisy and did not shift smoothly. Maybe I didn't give it enough chance (I had it a year) but I traded it in on an '08 auto and I love it. Not to mention the auto is alot easier on my not so young knees.

 

I've driven manuals my whole life. Driven 18 wheelers. And Toyota has completely dropped the ball on their manual transmissions. At least you can put bigger tires on your truck and gear it down some.

 

I have a TRD 2008 4x2 V6 6 Speed Manual w/ rear locking differential, tow pkg.

I have about 7k on it, and I'm getting pretty upset with the manual transmission, so I've decided to seek out others for advice

My problem is pretty much with 1st and 2nd. I'm all for the low first gear, I had an 1989 ford F150 with a granny low.

I find that I have to shift out of 1st with a minimum of 3000 rpm to keep the rpms around 2000 rpm in 2nd gear. If they drop below 2000 rpm I'm completely out of the power band, and I can hear and feel the transmission moaning.
I practicly have to race the engine in 1st to keep the engine in the power band into second. I can't even imagine what would happen if I was towing somthing which I have yet to do.

I'm pretty much a city driver, and that exacerbates this problem. Rolling turns are horrible, shifting into first is next to impossible unless you anticipate to rev match which would be well into and engine racing 4k, but too little rpm in 2nd to even moderately accelerate through the turn.

And to the guy saying he takes off in 2nd. If your truck is anything like mine, I feel for your clutch because your riding that clutch hard all the way to 20mph.

Am I way off base here? Should take the thing in and have it looked at, or are you have the same issues.

P.

 

EXACT same problems with mine on the 1-2 shift and low speed parking lot turns in 2nd.

 

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I agree. If I try to take off in 2nd even on level pavement I am riding the clutch up to about 18-20 mph. 1st is brutally low driving around town but really nice when you get off-road. And like most other people, I really, really wish 6th would be more around 2300rpm (instead of 2600) at 70mph. All in all, though, I like the 6-speed. It really does get smoother with time and I don't think it's that bad.

 

There are different oppinions about this site. My opinion is based on the 2007 5 speed manual on the 4 cylinder Tacoma that I had for one year with approx 7,000 miles. First gear was too tall. Take off from a stand still was never smooth and it always felt like a struggle to get her going. I definately couldn't see towing anything with it. I've driven other vehicles and they just seemed smoother and easier to drive.

5th gear was fine. RPM was not too high at highway speed and had plenty of power to cruise at 75-80 MPH easily.

I had a Magna Flow stainless cat back on it that sounded GREAT going through the gears. Hated to do it because I loved the truck and the gas mileage was great at 400 miles on a tank but traded her in for an 08 with V6 and auto trans. Note that I would have gotten aother 4 cylinder in a heartbeat if Toyota offered it in 4WD!

End result, I love the truck I have now. Same exact truck,,, well almost. lol Now, I love driving the truck anywhere.

P.S. manuals with the Granny Gear Rule! lol

 

Agree wholeheartly that 1st is wayyyyy to tall. Plus the gap to 2nd is way too wide also. You have to rev it to 2500 RPM of so to not have the entire truck vibrate when engaging 2nd. After 5K, it still feels awkard much of the time. I actually killed it the other evening on a very slight uphill with the A/C off. There is no way the clutch will last 100K with as much slipping of the clutch that is takes. Toyota will lose some customers over this generation of manual trannys, both 4 and 6cyl. I guess they just want to sell more of their expensive ATF.

 

When I first bought my Tacoma - I hated the transmission. I've been driving a stick for about 25 years, and have never disliked a tranny so much. I was really kicking myself for not buying the auto tranny.

Then..... I drove it for 15000 miles, and something happened. Don't know if I changed my driving style, or if it broke in or what but now I really like the 6 speed and enjoy driving it.

My one ongoing complaint is that the clutch seems to require a lot of effort. My previous truck was a pos chevy s-10 with a 5 speed, and it didn't take as much effort.

 

At 7000 miles, I can tell it's getting smoother. I had to relearn how to drive this stick. I am still learning to get off the gas sooner to avoid revving. Starting out in second also takes some finesse - being able to keep the RPMs below 1500 and fully engaged at 5 mph in second is where I'm at now with it. It took some tries to find the fine line between snubbing and riding the clutch. There is no need to burn the clutch to 18-20 mph. You're revving too much if not fully engaged within 10 yards. I still use first on upgrades and shooting the gap in traffic, with a quick and firm shift into second. It's a definitely a truck, and needs to be treated like one.

I still don't understand why 6th isn't the same ratio as top gear in the auto. This is my long standing disappointment. I get a consistant 18 on the highway, instead of over 20 like the taller gear in the auto. Chalk another one up for big oil.

 

It feels a little sloppy at first especially for me since I came from a VW 5sp. I also had trouble with it grinding. The slop I am going to fix with a short shifter and the grinding, I have learned too push the clutch all the way down. Other than that I like the 6sp

 

Six speed is awesome after you relearn how to drive stick. Man, I got back in my 5 sp Honda I been driving for 10 years and it felt like a totally different car after I been drivin the taco. Neways, I got about 2.5K on the ODO right now and it's starting to smooth out alot. I hear Redline MT-90 will also help significantly.

The thing I like about this truck is how you can just really crawl it in 1st if you had to without stalling. Great for parking lots and offroading and snow..... that's y the 1st is so low.

Good luck, I think after some gettin used to, you'll enjoy the 6sp..... MPG sucks, but I knew that when I read the sticker.

 

There is no getting used to the manual 6 speed in the tacoma!!!!! I drove a stick for over 20 years and NOTHING SUCKS WORSE than the 6 speed manual in the tacoma. I drove it for a year and traded it on an automatic. I can't tell you if it was just the tranny I had or if it's the same in all of them, but it was HORRIBLE and I don't regret trading it for the automatic. I loved the manual 5 speed in my old Nissan which is why I wanted a manual in my tacoma, but I regretted getting it for every single mile and every time I had to push the clutch in and shift it.

It was never smooth and the clutch was pressure loaded - it was hard to hold it in at traffic lites and such.

6 speed manual transmission

 

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Sorry to hear that....bummer for sure.... I hope I never feel that way about mine....

I like it as of now.

MPG sure does suck on this tranny..... that is my only complaint because that is not something I can adapt to.... doesn't matter how much I keep my foot out of it.... still can't break the 20 mpg mark......