They're officially on the streets...Who has driven one? Chime in!!

Just test drove a 16 trd or 4x4 auto mgm. First thoughts upon seeing the truck was that I liked it more in person than in photos. The front end is unique but not as bad in person. The body lines look good. Interior was ok, couldn't read the stereo for most of the test drive. Glare was pretty bad. It felt like a 2nd Gen sitting arrangement with a different center console. E-brake handle was strange. I like the foot e-brake better.

The ride was very smooth and felt like a car. Much quieter inside as well. I only gave it half throttle from the start twice. It doesn't have the bottom end like the 4.0 and seemed to come to life around 4,000 rpm. But it was not smooth climbing the RPM band, at all. Felt very jerky going up the band. It had 27 miles on it when I got in. At mile 31 the stability control apparently stopped working and the dash lit up and the lcd screen said it needed service. So not sure what they did to it or if the jerking was related.

The ride and quiet interior were much nicer than my truck when stock. Nothing really jumped out at me though. The bed light/3rd brake light was nice. The brake lights have the newer bmw and merc style red glow to them. Looked pretty cool. Tailgate seemed more solid. They didnt have keys to unlock any tailgates but one on an sr5 model. They only had the key less fobs, kinda funny. Just today noticed the OR model doesn't come with the front air dam. Looks better. Front end is definitely much longer.
36,000 with entune/nav, folding bed cover and trd exhaust tip were the only add ons.

For now I'm still happy with my 05. 130000 miles and no issues.

 

@DirtJumper14 how much lift are you working with on your 05? Does anyone think there's a possibility the 3rd gen will sit higher after an equivalent lift as the 2nd gens? Also, I wonder if it'll be able to fit 33x12.5s after a 3" lift without cutting stuff up..

 

Send that truck my way! That is the exact truck I put an order on!

 

I have 2.5" and 33" tires, well they were. The front suspension looked almost identical. I know the ucas are the exact same. So I would imagine the front would be similar. The bed height stock on the 16 was at the same height as mine lifted, almost. So deeper bed for sure. The frame looks improved too. I crawled around under it. Sales guy thought I was nuts and insisted I have some water after looking around.

 

I would pass on that truck. Codes are already popping up on it.

 

Not the new one. I hear it's shift by wire. You can shift all you want but it's still like WII driver and you will never know what gear it's in....a top secret cause drivers will NEVER be in control again. That's a placebo between the seats and, it just looks like a manual.

 

Are you sure the new tacoma manual 6spd is shift by wire? I wonder why we have a clutch at all them. All we need are some paddle shifters on the steering wheel.

 

Pretty sure he wasn't serious.

 

I was going to say WTF.. what a dissapointment that would be.

 

Sorry.....I didn't put one of these down.....it's a joke ?

 

lol.. I just jumped into the conversation late and read the last quote. I was like wtf is this.. this is terrible news.. Ok.. time for another beer.

 

Sorry for being a wise ass without disclosure.

 

I just searched most dealers in a 75 mile radius of Allentown, PA. Team Toyota dealers have 15 or so in transit. Most were SR5 or Sports. There was one OR AC listed as well.

 

That's ok lol.. I'm just glad it wasn't a true story.

 

I finally had my chance. Sandstorm DC OR AT 4x2, no tech package or JBL.

My local dealer doesn't have any in stock but I found one a few towns away at Toyota Santa Maria, CA. I was worried it would be gone by the time I got there, but the salesman I talked with (Shane Bower) said that they weren't selling this one right away. It was there specifically to give folks a chance to see the new design and do test drives. Perfect for me.

Background and biases: I've had an 86 4x4 and a 2000 TRD OR 4x4 and before that a '42 Willey's Jeep, 82 Dodge D50 4x4, and other non 4x4 stuff. I drove there in our Sienna minivan and I daily drive a 3rd gen Miata with extensive suspension mods. I've test driven several 2nd gen trucks. I've been waiting for a Tacoma redesign for years and I've been cyberstalking the 3rd gens since watching the Detroit reveal live via webcast. When I saw the first pictures in January of the blue limited, I was really bummed. When I saw the Quicksand OR at the reveal, I thought "this could be OK" but I have never liked the big grill. I really want to like this truck and I plan to buy one once the hype settles down. The salesman has a 2nd gen Tacoma and actually knew a lot of details about the truck. He knew it wasn't what I was looking for (I want a 4x4) but he was still attentive and helpful. So I was in a good mood about the whole thing. I did have my 7 year old son with me, so I had that distraction and limited time. So that's the situation.


Opinions and observations worth exactly what you are paying for them:

Exterior: Freaking amazing. I think it looks awesome. Yeah, that grill is too much, but in this color and this lighting, it doesn't spoil the overall look. To me the truck looks modern and purposeful. It might even get a back-glance as I walked away. The predator step bars look really good and all the black accents contrast well with the light color. If they weren't an off-road liability, I'd definitely get those step bars for practical and aesthetic reasons. I really have to say that I was shocked at how much I like the exterior. Yeah, I didn't dwell on the grill, but it didn't bother me either. I was planning to replace it, but now I think it is livable. Note that the perspective in my picture does exaggerate the front end, it didn't look that way to me in person. I'm fairly set on white for practical reasons, but the Sandstorm color makes the truck look tough. I would have preferred it to be a little lighter like my '86 was and it was more brown in person than I expected based on pictures.

Interior: Not as impressive as I expected. I loved the pictures and was really excited about the update, but it was "nice" not "extraordinary". I'd say it's a good, competent, reasonably modern interior that I like a lot more than the gen 2's. I poked around a bit and I didn't feel like the interior was cheap. Though I didn't dedicate much effort to that investigation. The glove box door did feel a little flimsy. The little screen in the instrument panel was handy and I love having live tire pressure data.

Driving:

Power: Yeah, it does not *feel* that powerful. It seemed fine, but not what I expected, or would have liked. I think Toyota dialed way back on the throttle mapping for fuel economy. That means you don't get much response in the first part of the pedal travel. It's a big psychological effect and you can (for at least some cars) buy devices that remap your throttle just to improve the feeling of power. I think this is just the way it is in this modern CAFE world. My wife's Prius is even worse and you just get used to it. I'm going to say this and I know it will be taken out of context, but it's a key observation: When I drove away in our Sienna (215? HP) it felt like had more power and torque and I know that is not the case. But it's older (2006) and has an old-school throttle map. I suspect if you floored both of them, the Tacoma would dust the Sienna but I have no data to back that up. Here's another comparison: I test drove a new BMW 335i a while back and getting on the freeway I progressively loaded the throttle expecting to feel 300 ft-lbs or so of torque shove me in my seat. My exact thoughts were "Our minivan has better throttle response! WTF?". The thing was in default "comfort mode" and when I switched to "power" (or whatever) it was a lot more responsive and what I would expect. So there you have it, the Tacoma (not in ECT Power) has a throttle response similar to a 300 hp turbo'd sports sedan if said car is in default mode. Like I said, it's just the way it is these days in a CAFE world. I tried the ECT Power mode very briefly and it felt a lot better at an unknown cost to mpg's. Hopefully someone with more time can do some more testing with ECT Power on and report back.

Transmission: It does downshift early to give you power and it does (somewhat strangely) hold gears before the upshift when you unload the throttle. I did not find it distracting and wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been looking for it. Our Sienna does stupid stuff with the transmission, so I guess I might just be used to it. I tried the sport mode and found it intuitive and easy. I think it forced downshifts if you mashed the gas, but I didn't spend much time with it to confirm.

Ride: Damn good for a truck (better than any truck I've driven). "OK" for a car (better than most rentals, not as smooth as our van on marshmallow tires). Generally smooth, some bumps jar through. The OR appears to have fairly soft springs (progressive?) but really good shocks. It did lean when cornering hardish but it didn't float or become unstable. Though, keep in mind I had limited opportunity to test cornering. It was really quiet to me, but keep in mind I DD a convertible. There was just a hint of wind noise on the freeway (from the mirrors maybe?) and I didn't notice any tire noise. Definitely quieter than our Sienna (or any of our other cars).

Non-JBL head unit: It sounded OK to me, but I'm no golden ear (on a good system with headphones I can hear the limits of mp3's, but I'll happily listen to mp3's with decent sample rates anyway). Since the cab is so quiet, I think the volume level is fine. I have previously listened to a '15 with and without JBL and had decided JBL was needed for both quality and volume. I'm not seeing that with the 2016, but I guess it would be best to try both if that's important.

Tailgate: It felt substantial.

Tires: Look toward the street end of the AT spectrum, but I'd give them a shot in non-mud off-road use.

 

Great write up and I agree with this statement.

Also love that color!

 

Thanks for taking the time. Was a good read.

 

Test drove a DCSB SR5 V6 today. I cant really comment on the exterior as I liked it from the git-go but the tailgate is a real improvement. It does not take much effort to close and latch..just a gentle touch. I like the hood both with and without the scoop. Yea, sitting inside you do get a little more hood in your face. I had an early Gen 2 SR5 and currently have an 08 single cab 4cyl for basic hauling. I think the hood looks bigger because I sit a little higher than in my 08. I'm only 5'6" so take that with a grain of salt. There are indention's in the roof lining to allow taller people a little more head room. Thought that was kinda cool.
The interior is modern compared to Gen2's but I think they are catching up with everyone else and seemed no better than the wife's 14 Sahara. I like the backup camera. Taking off, the truck had responsive steering and felt good. The interior was much quieter than previous models. No radio and did not hear much external noise at all. As stated, the truck is slightly sluggish taking off normally but will get up and go. Bout the same as the Sahara's V-6. Going up a grade it accelerated without effort and held speed without a problem. I think after the computer learns your driving habits and breaking in the V-6 it will be fine for most applications. I whipped a U-turn and the turn radius was very good. The ride was much better than my 08.
The SR5 had a keyed ignition so no push button start until you get into the TRD Sport or higher. Was hoping I could push its buttons... LOL. Hopefully my TRD Sport will show its ugly face in the next day or 2.
An observation is that the Salesmen have no earthly clue whats going on with the new Taco's. Most are surprised that they are showing up already and have the expectation that October or later was when they were coming out. The crowd here knows way more than any of those yahoo's.

 

I tried to say "throttle mapping" instead of throttle response since I think it's the way the accelerator pedal position is translated (mapped) to the throttle position (through whatever algorithm Toyota is using) that has really changed. I think a better term would have been "perceived throttle response" since that is how it feels to me even if that may not technically be the case.

I agree regarding the Prius modes.

 

What a fabulous review. Amazing color too, this is the color that I've seen the least of so far. Thank you.