Lack of Gauges in the New Tacomas (05-^)

It's endearingly ugly. What is iDrive, maybe that's only on the double cab? The double cab has more bells and whistles they didn't make available on the Access Cab.

It has power rear slider, leather, power driver seat, heated mirrors, locking tailgate, mechanical LSD rear, trans cooler with factory tow pkg, no engine oil cooler, gets 16-19 mpg, smooth as silk, very quiet cabin, rear windows vent on the Access Cab. Two inches wider than the GenII Taco, 10 inches longer. Center console opens straight up, not to the side. Has better visibility because the side windows are two inches taller and two inches longer, the windshield is two inches taller also. Has a cargo lamp, the rear bumper I can actually get my foot on safely. Column shifter so that space on the tranny hump is usable. Full instrumentation, factory alarm system for doors, windows, hood. A/C feeds into the rear seats behind the center console. Access Cab has 60/40 split foldup rear bench, padded and comfortable with decent legroom. Captains chair front buckets with map pockets on the back of the buckets.

Better stock ground clearance, no goofy crossover exhaust, two-piece drive shaft but it's straight no extreme angles to/from the carrier bearing. Stouter front skid, but little aftermarket support for skids. Some versions have a front bench seat, that would be cool to have, you can fit six adults in the cab.

The 4.7l has a timing belt, that sucks. People say it's more powerful than the 4.0, but since it's 750 lbs heavier the HP per pound and torque per pound are pretty much the same 4.7l Access Cab vs. 4.0 Access Cab. 26.5 gallon gas tank, so having the same fuel mileage as the 4.0 you go about 90 miles further on a tank.

It's just as capable offroad as an SR5 Tacoma, of course it can't outclimb a Taco TRD offroad with the ATRAC. Same approach/departure angles as the Tacoma, same breakover angle as a DCLB, but since it has better stock ground clearance the breakover point is better.

It has all the little things that they should have made available on the 2nd Gen Tacoma. Hell, they had all the parts on the shelf, they could have easily integrated them into the Taco. Still could.

 

FIFY


iDrive comes on BMW's. The Bangle Butt referred to is from Chris Bangle.... the guy that fucked up BMW'S rear ends for quite some time.

 

WTH, it matches me. The back of my skull looks I have a pork roast strapped onto it and my ears stick out. We're both ugly, but smooth as silk and very refined.

 

Lol

True

 

Gas, speed, and temp. The rest are just clutter.
We need fewer gauges and generally less techno crap. I just want a truck. Not a cheap chinese circuit board on wheels.
cameras, touchscreens, etc. just irritates me. can't stand them. I can use mirrors to backup and I'd rather reach over the feel the radio button without having to look to see what screen the display is on before touching some indistinct spot.

 

The backup camera is dynamite. That is one great, useful tool. Wish the Tundra had it, as well as the compass and outside temp display. I found a nice aftermarket one http://www.rearviewsafety.com/products/camera-systems/rvs-770618-rear-view-camera-system.html it doesn't have the temp/compass though.

I found some direct and duty-free from Hong Kong through aliexpress that have the full bore cam/temp/compass cheap but don't know if I trust aliexpress. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Car-...splay-For-Toyota-Honda-Nissan/1490141736.html

 

They took amp gauges out when the put alternators in not needed any more if the voltage is there so are the amps.

 

I would also like a compass. Not just the direction you are going, but a compass display that rotates to display the direction you are going at the top. If you are going east, you could see at a glance that if you turn left you would be going north; if you turn right you would be going south.

 

Did I mention the Gen I Tundra has a mechanical LSD rear diff? Sorry if I didn't do so. Better stock ground clearance, mechanical LSD in the the rear, that's a pretty nice combo, right?

 

It's ugly , but whatever floats your boat

 

It has all the little things that they should have made available on the 2nd Gen Tacoma. Hell, they had all the parts on the shelf, they could have easily integrated them into the Taco. Still could.[/QUOTE]

Yep and they would have priced them self's right out of the small truck market. Wonder how many people would buy a $45,000 Tacoma when they could spend a little more for a full size?

 

What? F150s had amp gauges at least until mid 80s. They were really helpful when you loaded up a truck with electri al stuff. Also easy to tell when alternator was going. Today's alternator are definitely much better. I have not replaced one on a lay 90s or newer truck. Did you mean computer instead of alternator?

 

Have you considered getting an ampmeter and a shunt and installing it?

 

All of this data could be easily displayed on Entune, I'm sure it's already wired to the CAN. Attn: Toyota - We want an app for that ! ( or allow open source) .

 

Gauges help people who pay attention to their car. If you're tearing ass down the highway or street and you all the sudden loose all oil pressure or your trans temp goes through the roof, you can tell you need to pull over and can possibly save yourself a new engine or trans. Versus the opposite, driving your car, unaware that your truck has lost all oil pressure or the trans temp is super high, and because you can't glance down and check, you blow them both. There's 6 grand out of your pocket because the manufacturer is too cheap/comfortable to put them in. And for radio buttons and touch screens last I checked those are optional. Technology is a good thing, soon cars will drive themselves and people won't have to worry about gauges or touchscreens.

First, you should know your directions. I have a compass in the mirror of my truck, but you could put me in the middle of nowhere and I can tell you where north and south and east and west is. Directions in my mind are common sense. If you don't know, teach yourself, learn. I found it's very helpful to know where you are directionally. IMO, too many people are completely dependent on technology. People survived this long without it, but it is nice to have sometimes.

 

Finally got a scanguage II to get back some of the gizmos/functions, and then some (ie. Transmission temp), that I miss from having a previous 2005 4runner and 2007 Tundra. Definitely better than expected and no more hand jamming mpg's with the cell phone.

 

Oh... good.... it's back