Tacoma Chief Engineer on PUTC

If they make the manual trans make the same MPG as the automatic I am sold . I also hope the rear seat has more space than the current 2nd Gen, those are my 2 major gripes

 

Doubt they can make the manual have as good MPG. Not the case in the current Taco and autos just get better MPG now. I don't think the difference should be much however. Also, I am able to get better that EPA MPG with a manual if I drive like I'm white.

 

My argument still stands though. How many people drive trucks and never use them as an actual truck?

 

If they changed the gearing in the manual trans you could get good MPG from it, the OD gear isn't tall enough.

 

So more hip and shoulder room, but no mention about rear leg room. Makes me a sad panda.

 

Exactly my thoughts on the matter. One of the things i went with the 4runner 3 years ago and not the Tacoma is the leg room on the rear seats (double cab configuration)

 

"Michael Sweers" this is the same guy who said in January that 2016 Tacoma has only maybe seat belt buckle from old truck. I would take his crap with grain of salt.

Best quote so far "Sweers: The feedback has been largely positive." Yup He said that.. even after reading Tacoma world forum...

The people they talk to all must live in Cali.
Tahts the folks who have that truck on pavemnt all year. Coincidentally those are the same people who are going to buy Canyon because it has more luxury items..

 

I see that the TRD models will have the Keyless start/stop engine button. One question that I would have for the Engineer is if the Manual will have that choice as well

 

Also any idea what he is talking about here

We only had 3.73 and 4.10 Where he got five from ?
Also How the hell going to 3.90 or 4.30 is going to improve anything unless that new engine is really that crappy and they needed to get lower gears to improve torque feeling.
Lower the ratio the more fuel you will burn.... (Check Tundra with their 4.30)

 

I can think of two more, the 3.31 and 3.58 rear ends on the five luggers. Can't think of #5 off the top of my head

If the automatic's top gear is 22% taller, then even switching from a 3.73 to a 4.30 rear, rpm at 55 mph drops from about 1800 rpm on the current truck to about 1600 rpm on the new one.

Interesting we get the tundra's ratios now, even if we don't get the 10.5" gear. Unless Toyota wants to take overkill to the next level, heh

 

Why didn't Toyota just make the new tacoma PRO line the new 3GEN TRD OFFROAD line without the huge markup and premium......now that would have made a bold statement to us offroaders. Guess I'm just dreaming.

 

I am guessing this is going to be similar to Toyota AB60 Transmission
1-3.333:1
2-1.960:1
3-1.353:1
4-1.000:1
5-0.728:1
6-0.588:1
R-3.061:1

Compare that to A750

1st 3.520:1
2nd Gear 2.042:1
3rd Gear 1.400:1
4th Gear 1.000:1
5th Gear 0.716:1
Reverse Gear 3.244:1

Much lower 1st, slightly lower 2nd and little lower 3rd, than 4th the same and very little taller 5th and than 6th on the top.
problem is that even with V8 5.7 getting to sixth is a challenge If you driving that thing on flat road, you can get to sixth and stay there, that will yield you almost 20MPG+ (Highest ever cruise I got was almost 25MPG according to scangauge) .
Problem is that in most of driving you use 1-4 with 5 sporadic. You only see 5-6 on the highway.
And since 1-4 are lower with 4.30 gears your fuel mileage can go from 20 MPG + on highway to 5 MPG when you trying to climb grade.
Than comes winter and you are alike 2MPG WTF

 

How many people drive sports cars and take them to the track?

 

In all fairness that's an expensive hobby. My roommate did a track day for his camaro, it was discounted for $350, usually $500! Thats just to drive around a racetrack!

 

Probably not many. How many sports cars, out of the box, would suck as a track day car? People who want a vehicle to do one thing and do it very well will either have to spend an enormous amount of money up front or buy something that has a good starting platform and build it themselves.

 

I think we can say the same about trucks...most trucks out of the box aren't great offroad but with some good mods they'll do fine. Just like having a dedicated track car that's not your daily, a lot of people have a dedicated trail rig so they don't bust up their daily truck.

My point is this....having a fast car allows you to go fast WHEN YOU WANT TO. Just like having a truck allows you to haul items in the bed WHEN YOU WANT TO.

I've been struggling with this topic a lot recently. I'd prefer to have an SUV like a 4 Runner instead of a truck; plain and simple. But I don't think I could get by without having a truck bed. Whether it's moving 6ft tall speakers, a kayak, muddy bikes, an entire sheet of wood, washer/drier, fridge, etc....more than every once in a while I need a truck and there's simply no substitute.

Nearly all of us haul nothing but air 99% of the time. Think about it, for every 100 miles you drive, do you drive 1 of them hauling something? I'd guess not. So does it make sense to design the truck to excel more at what you do 99% of the time or the 1%? Now that you understand the average use case for nearly all trucks in the USA you should have a better understanding of why manufacturers do what they do.

 

"Good" mph vs "better" mpg are two totally different things.

 

Which begs the question, "If you did not need a truck why have you bought one"

Personally I need one
Weekly garbage runs because where I live there is no garbage pickup. (I can pay for private company but that's $200 per month) Most of the time there are small things but every fall, spring and sometimes winter there are big ticket items.
Even small things I haul would not fit in any passenger car.
Than comes winter and truck become salter/sander. At $300 per my driveway to sand up. I would easily end up with $2000 in a winter.
So by having a truck I keep in my pocket at least $4000 per year. I had my truck for 9 years so Truck at this point paid for itself.
But I have cost justification for truck if somebody does not than why buy one.

 

Oh crap......I agree with BlueT!?