Manual...anyone?

You sure ypu had 4LO actually engaged ?

 

@DVexile summed up the reasons why a manual has more holding power than an auto very well.

Tell me this if an auto can control vehicle speed so well why has Toyota used DAC and Crawl control to help it slow itself down while offroad? I believe there is a reason that the manuals do not get these feature.....they don't need them.

 

I just like driving a manual, just a personal preference. Sucks in stop and go traffic.

 

I've had both on an OR model. While I agree the manual is naturally better at holding speed due to direct connection, I think the real reason manuals don't have DAC is that in a situation where you're trying to slow speeds, you're not using gas..... it would chance stalling you out. ATRAC you're typically in the gas a little. DAC you're hovering the brakes.

Auto in 4lo is good enough plus it allows you to rely on DAC but keep your shifter in D not L

 

We all have our preference in transmissions. I guess that is good because it has thus far kept Toyota building both. Im sure i would never convince the die hard auto guys that a manny is better and vice versa. Drive what you like and I'll drive what I like.

The bottom line is I really want to order a truck and there are no 2016 manuals to test drive. Oh well. Hopefully someone will drive one soon and post some first impressions.

 

I dislike that you are incorrectly using the word hate. No one here has threatened genocide on the automatic transmission. Some of us have expressed our preference for a manual transmission because it is a more fun driving experience. There is no need for you to be defensive about your preference because a few of us have a different preference. I personally prefer a manual transmission because I feel like I have more control and am able to do more with it. That and it is more fun to drive.

You must be really really really old. Only kidding.

 

IDK why Toyota is putting those systems into the Offroad , you didn't answer my question , and the manuals don't get those systems because they simply wouldn't work with a manual tranny

 

I'm 47

 

Yes. It was in 4 lo. My post count on this site does not reflect my life experience when it come to back country driving . A life bumming around the Great Basin and a career as a wildlife biologist = understanding of how to engage 4-lo in many makes of vehicle. With that said, I wish they would bring back a manual T-case....

 

I don't care about post counts , you just hadn't answered my question , lots of people have issues with engaging 4LO in the Tacoma , it wasn't a personal attack

 

Not taken that way at all. Cheers!

 

I too prefer manual. Unfortunately my 30 minute commute to downtown leaves me stuck in stop and go rush hour for about 15 minutes on the way home. 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year, that's the reason I don't have a manual anymore.

If it weren't my daily driver, I'd likely get a manual.

 

And this is exactly the mindset why manuals are on the way out.
I like manuals, but.... (traffic/wife/wasn't on the lot).

Never understood the traffic argument, never will. I guess some people don't really know how to drive manuals, if it bothers them in traffic.

 

I owned a sporty manual for 5 years (Eclipse), and while it was great fun, it got tiring in rush hour. However, I did like being able to stay in a lower gear in traffic, and using engine braking rather than having to actually brake. Until someone ruins your coast by cutting in front of you


So you're right, not the strongest argument out there. Seeing as how I commute in summer months on my motorcycle

 

I sit in about 45 min to an hour of stop and go a day, never getting past second gear . I only question my choice to get a manual about once a month.
I will most likely make the same mistake with my next truck and get an MT.

 

Another reason they are on the way out is that they actually don't have many benefits any more besides the lower acquisition and maintenance costs. In many vehicles the autos actually get better EPA mileage ratings, which in the fight for CAFE averages is a strong motivation for makers to either stop offering them or reduce the fraction of their fleet equipped with them. Add in the fact that a variety of traction control schemes work better with an auto than a manual and there is more than one mark against the manuals. Even back in 2007 it was very hard to get my civic ordered with a manual. Interestingly there are still plenty of manuals in Europe. I'd be curious how much of that is driver preference and how much of that is a difference in side effects from regulations.

I've driven manuals all my life, though I have vehicles with autos also (including my Tacoma), and one of the issues is that everyone else in traffic has an auto and the way they drive can be very annoying if you drive a manual even if you "know how to drive" said manual transmission. If I had spent a bullet for every person that comes to a complete stop for a few seconds a good two car lengths from the vehicle ahead of them and then crawls ahead at 0.5 MPH to where they should have stopped in the first place then I'd need a second job just to pay for ammunition.

I don't like manuals in traffic but it isn't the end of the world. I avoid traffic and any situation that would put me in traffic regularly so I'm fine with a manual when I'm in traffic. But if somehow I was cursed to be in traffic every day I think I'd prefer the auto. If you do extensive driving in traffic the lower maintenance costs of a manual can become fictional pretty quickly if you are replacing clutch and synchros early in the life of the vehicle...

Anyway, as already stated different strokes for different folks. I used to be dyed in the wool manual driver, now I really don't care much one way or the other.

 

You bring a very good point. Auto actually appears harder to drive nicely in traffic for an average person. I say that, because in countries where manuals dominate "average persons" drive them, too, and yet such behaviors rare. Another one is slow reaction time and the resulting extra distance when pulling from a traffic light stop. Drives me nuts (distractions, phones add to it, but they are not the only issues).

With a manual it's much easier to perfectly synchronize with the car in front of you and yet be in control and slow down/stop if needed without rear-ending the car in front of you. With a slushbox I feel less in control not having engine braking power and having the torque converter in the way.

Fine. The problem is, soon you (and me) won't have a choice.

 

I don't mind driving manual in traffic at all. It's not a big deal.