2016 Tacoma 6th Gear at 30mph

I got that backwards. Good catch

 

It will down shift but not up shift past the selected gear.

 

You rock.

 

For those talking about lugging. Lugging means that the engine can't push the vehicle at the current rpm and will struggle or slow without an increase. This truck has enough HP to drive the truck on the level at 1100 RPM with little effort. That is not lugging, but just running at lower RPM for fuel economy. Think of your grandmas Lincoln with so much HP it would drive the car around at idle. Again, not lugging.

I have mild inclines on part of my route, and it still climbs them without slowing at 1100 RPM. A bit more incline and it shifts like it is supposed to.

Is there room to fine tune the tranny? Probably, but in general, it is working as intended. If you need more than ECT gives you, you probably need a different type of vehicle.

 

Thank you for this.

 

I drove the truck 110 miles home last night. On the climb out of the desert, about 50 miles with 1-4% grade, nearly all uphill, it sat in fifth at 2k rpm. It got around 17mpg going up that long, slow hill. After we hit the flat across the foothills, it got 25mpg for the rest of 60 miles home. The trip mpg read 21 at the end of the drive.

The truck shifts fine. It's a little loud in fourth on the highway, but it moves just fine. It is very easy for it to hold 1500 rpm in sixth on flat highway stretches. Even at 60mph it can maintain 6th gear in cruise control on flat highway portions.

 

Each experiment will have its unique data results as one variable is driver technique. (All other parameters being constant).
About all I can offer is to suggest becoming "dialed in to the vehicle ", that is; listen, watch, feel, and understand the machine. To me it's more than strap in and go.
Supposed to take delivery by the end of this month,and I'm stoked to learn what I can do with this truck and the way the manufacturer has designed it.

 

I wouldn't stand by a single letter that idiot puts out. He said not a single part was re used but it's pretty obvious a lot of stuff was re used, or at best slightly altered.

 

I did this last night driving home from dealer. It was a hilly and rolling drive. I set cruise to different speeds and waited to see what happened. It didn't stay in fourth or fifth when it didn't need to, like others have been saying. It quickly shifted to fifth and fourth when it needed to because the cruise control was on! That's the cruise control's job, to hold a constant speed no matter what conditions are faced

 

Was there a six speed manual transmission for the Toyota truck before this? Just wondering, because I don't know.

 

I've driven a fair number of new cars (rentals) and most cars with new 6-9 spd transmissions seem to downshift the moment you ask for any power. It's how all manufacturers are getting better mpg. It's the new norm.

 

If you look into the technology that went into this transmission you'll find it's smarter than most of the population. I know that doesn't help but I think a Toyota did their homework better than the average Internet guru. Just sayin.

 

Lugging is correct for my truck. You feel a slight bucking/hesitation and hear it in the motor. Took it to the dealer, had a master tech drive it. He described it as lugging and normal for a tacoma. It is like driving a manual in too high a gear. That's how he described it as well. Glad to hear yours does not have the issue.

 

That is not "normal" and should be addressed. It should not feel like driving a manual in too high a gear where you give it more gas and it does not accelerate. That is actual lugging and not what this tranny is doing in "normal" operation. Most complaints of lugging I have seen have been referring to the 1100 rpm while driving on more or less flat ground. This is fine and not stressing the engine.

Basically if you cannot accelerate (at all) in a given gear by giving it gas, it is lugging. Otherwise, not.

 

It will shift out of that mode into a better gear the more you step on the gas. If you just give a little more throttle, it just lugs. I don't think it should ever be in that state in the first place though.

 

Who cares if it shifts frequently or what gear it's in? It shifts fairly smooth and quietly all while obtaining optimum gas mileage. I can't see why it would bother anyone... Music up and eyes on the road!

 

Just one of the features of the AC60E/F. (from Toyota)

Artificial Intelligence-shift Control (AI-shift Control)

(1) AI-shift control selects optimal controls in accordance with “driving environment” and “driver’s
intention” based on the degree of accelerator opening, vehicle speed, brake signals, etc.
(2) Smooth driving and low fuel consumption have been achieved while driving normally. Strong and
linear feel of acceleration has been provided when accelerating. A direct feel of deceleration through
engine brake and high fuel efficiency have been realized when decelerating.
(3) Under road condition support control, the ECM identifies the throttle valve opening angle, accelerator
pedal opening angle and vehicle speed to determine whether the vehicle is being driven uphill or
downhill. Unnecessary upshift is restrained to automatically achieve optimal drive force at all times
while driving uphill. Downshift is automatically conducted to achieve optimal engine brake force,
while driving downhill.
(4) The driver’s intention support control is estimated based on the accelerator pedal operation and vehicle
condition, and a shift pattern that is well-suited to the driver is selected.
(5) Higher gear settings have been added for high speed gears (5th and 6th gears). In order to balance the
reduction of additional driving force and the improvement of fuel efficiency when driving at high
speeds, a high speed gear effective utilization control has been adopted.
(6) By calculating a maximum additional drive force to be generated at high speed gears in a real-time
manner, as well as determining the availability of high speed gears according to driving conditions
(running resistance, driver’s acceleration maneuvers), “balanced, improved fuel efficiency and driving
capability” have been achieved.


It's kinda like Towelie, best described here by a high ranking government agent (no, not really):

"Don't you see what towels like these are capable of?? You get out of the shower and dry yourself off... But then, the towel makes you drier and keeps on making you more dry... Can you imagine it? What it would be like to be way, way too dry? I'll tell you something: you don't want to know, and I don't know."

 

I think my transmission already has my figured out. I like low gears when I'm causing at one speed. If I put my foot down to accelerate, it down shifts for me.

It knows too much

 

I have the exact same 2 vehicles. Same deal. It's like 2 different worlds. Go drive a new highlander sometime. The 3.5V6 is amazingly smooth...

 

I have an 09 Highlander Sport AWD and could not agree more on what you said. Everytime I get to drive the Highlander (my wife's DD now, used to be a Rav4 which we traded in for the Taco) I always wished the Taco has the same smooth throttle response like the Highlander. Oh well, I just have to live with it I guess. I love the truck though even if it is not as smooth as the Highlander.