Test Drove 2016 DCSB Limited

I know, the last thing this forum needs is another test drive review. We should consolidate all these into a single sticky thread.

I have been hanging out in SLC this week, so I swung by Mark Miller and those people have more 2016 Tacoma pickups on the lot than I've seen in all of southern California. I spoke with two sales people, Brady and Edin, both of whom were excellent.

The truck... Like others have stated, the interior in superb. Über quiet and far more refined than my 2013 DCSB. Fit and finish was all around on point. The navigation was more intuitive and easier to use than I anticipated. The JBL sound system paired without issue and sounded great. I too went through a "stupid loud" phase in my childhood, and while it wasn't stupid loud, it was more than loud enough, and sounded great even at higher volumes.

The tough point was the motor. Like others have said, it didn't ever feel aggressive like my 4.0 occasionally does. I think, upon reflection, that it's faster. The 4.0 got loud but never really went anywhere considering all the noise it made. The new motor and transmission are just too smooth. I tried a few attempts at more aggressive acceleration and was disappointed, until I looked down and saw I was doing 70 through town. Lol

All in all, it was an impressive enough upgrade that I'm now looking for a 7568.

 

This is the truck I drove.

 

I agree with your comments regarding the engine. I just test drove one here in Georgia and even expecting the "sluggishness" (for lack of a better term), I was up to 75 mph and riding the bumper of the person in front of me before I knew it. Definitely not letting that turn me away. Glad you had a good experience.

 

That is common on engines that rev higher and dont have a strong low end.

My car revs up to 8600rpm makes around 220whp/160wtq and you barely feel the pull but it traps over 98mph in the quarter mile.

 

Great thread. Thanks

 

Did you find the hickory colored interior complemented the white exterior? I am still undecided on the white verses the silver with the hickory leather.

 

So far, the super white exterior is the only color that I have seen in person that works with the hickory, which was surprisingly refined. The rest of the limited I've seen have been blue, and I loath the combination.

 

I test drove the mgm limited and the hickory looked very good. It's just a tad dark for me. Thanks.

 

Could you explain that a little further, please? Is that a good thing? I still get lost between liter size, HP, torque and which RPMs they peek at...when trying to figure out the overall power/performance of the engine.

 

This is the Chevy Colorado V6

• Horsepower: 305 @ 6800
• Torque: 269 @ 4000

And the same colorado with the diesel engine

• Horsepower: 181 @ 3400
• Torque: 369 @ 2000

**The rear axle is the same on both and I think that the transmission gear ratios too.

If you drive them both around town keeping the revs lower than 3,400rpm you will prefer the diesel because it will press you back into the seat harder than the V6. You will think that you are riding on a V8 compared to the the V6. Take them both for a quick acceleration contest and is very likely that the diesel colorado will jump on first but the V6 will quickly pass the diesel colorado. The strange thing is that the acceleration feeling on the V6 isn't as impressive as in the diesel engine because of the big difference in torque numbers. The diesel produces a LOT more sooner.

Something similar is happening to 2nd vs 3rd gen tacoma owner but at a lower degree. The difference isn't as much as in the Colorado.
4.0lt owner will feel that around town the 3.5lt feels gutless. The 4.0lt has more low end torque than the 3.5lt. Both when you push both to the limit the 3.5lt higher horsepower and reworked transmission will shine over the the 4.0lt setup.


This is something that is hard to explain. It might take a few test drives on different configuration to understand it.

 

Thank you, that makes sense.

The torque difference isn't all that much between the 2nd and 3rd gen, but I guess many people wanted more torque, not less.

One thing I find interesting, is that towing capacity is the same, off-road capability seems to have increase, the over truck size is larger, and overall weight is lower. So it's fair to say that the new truck does more on a smaller more efficient engine. Which, I guess, is exactly what the Toyota engineers wanted to do. Seems silly to call the new truck "wimpy" (like many are) when comparing it to a 2nd gen. What can the 2nd gen do that the 3rd gen can't, besides a tiny bit more push of the line, which the 3rd gen makes up for with more HP a few seconds later.

 

I'm going to Yuba tomorrow for a test drive, do they offer any discounts of msrp? Can you tell me more about the ride on the ltd?

 

If you're military that's a 1000 off also I don't know if this is everywhere but when I financed with Toyota they knocked off another 1000. They also discounted the truck 1800 off msrp before the rebates so definitely try to get all you can. The financing still got me in at a 3% rate which is pretty good imo.

 

The above price was with the internet manager without any haggling. In comparison to my 1993, Toyota pickup and my 01 diesel excursion, the limited felt light years ahead in comfort and response.