Mike Sweers on 2016 Tacoma

Just ran into these videos tonight. I'm sure a few people have seen them. Just want to collectively gather everyone's opinions. Sounds like they don't plan on making any changes to the 3rd gen Tacoma for about 5 years as they feel they already have the best in class pickup, and they engineered it to stand best in class for 5 years against the competition.

https://youtu.be/zDg-4cfdOgw

https://youtu.be/bd4Xj5nhjpQ

https://youtu.be/gbtaXEf3T8s

https://youtu.be/npqKx0BDEGc

https://youtu.be/wcoOPtIE3bw

 

Tell that boy to buy longer pants or leave the boots at home...

 

Some of the third gen guys need to take him up on his no vibes dinner offer, seriously, I'd be pissed.

 

I was trying to find on video him stating that, but to no avail. You know he's gonna say he was talking to the reporter and not to any Tacoma owners lol. I've had a few Toyotas and I've always been fond of the brand. That being said I've always purchased what I have wanted and sometimes I felt Toyota has fell short of what I was looking for, so I went another direction. I'm still undecided about the new Tacoma, as I haven't drove one yet, or really looked at them. But soon I will, and decide for myself if it's worthy or not for my liking. I think they are making a poor move if they feel they can leave the truck the way it is currently for 5 years and it won best of class every year. There also will be 2 new trucks into the segment soon, the new Ridgeline, and Frontier. Toyota got to see the twins before hand and it won't surprise me if GM makes some changes in another year or two. Plus I can't wait for the ranger, because you know ford will come out swinging. Also Jeep is suppose to be coming out with a truck soon as well. There is going to be a ton competition soon. More so than ever. Toyota is going to have to up the anti if they want to keep the title.

 

I think the funniest thing is how you hear and read so much about all the work the engineers went through to make the truck quiet, and yet so many of us have control arms that whistle and rear view mirrors that howl like a kazoo. I mean, really, I've never driven a vehicle that had such wind-generated noises. At least we now know how to quiet the control arms (no thanks to Toyota), but I don't know of a fix for the kazoo. At least it doesn't scare the crap out of me any more. I really have to wonder if this guy has been informed of either noise, and if any of his team got their asses chewed.

 

the kazoo plagues 2nd gen too, I have it on my 15.

 

When I bought my Taco in 08 I had been driving a Ranger. The increased cab noise was significant

 

Lol I thinking of this watching the one video as well. I'd love to hear his answers on some of the complaints on here. I can understand that with a quieter cab you might hear things not normally hear, but more of the noises in this forum seem to be exterior noises that they are trying to eliminate or cover up. Or ones they claimed the already fixed.

 

My '16 has the kazoo in certain situations, pretty loud, and unlike any car I've owned. I assumed it was the door seals. Is it believed to be the mirrors?

 

Seatbelt Mike! We missed you!

 

Seatbelt Mike is a tool.

 

I don't want to derail, but look through some of the "wind noise" "howl" threads. There is one issue that turned out to be door seals for a couple of people. Toyota made some adjustments and took care of it for them. I think it was just buried by the control arm posts. You will have to dig though. It's been a while. Probably search "door seal" in those threads.

 

It appears he said it off-camera.

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2015/01/24

 

Smart guy.

 

Holy hell. It makes you wonder if they did any testing at all to the 3rd gen prior to releasing it. Or if they intentionally hid its issues and lied to sell the truck.

I've never seen a Toyota with this many first year issues in under 10k miles. Toyota botched this truck big time.

 

In the video where he talks about the Atkinson cycle, he mentions that when the engine is in Atkinson mode, it naturally looses torque.

In the Prius they make up for the loss of torque through use of the electric motor. But in the Tacoma, they do so with gearing through the transmission.

If that's the case, could this be the reason why the Taco feels sluggish at certain points and hence the delay in downshifting?

 

They don't have the Title anymore. They have lost every head to head comparision between Taco & Colorado (Car & Driver, MT, Consumer Reports). Really don't think they care as long as people keep buying it?

 

Well that's the true measure. It doesn't matter what the car magazines say or what their opinions are, at the end of the day, does the vehicle sell? Besides, I think a lot of these car magazines tend to be biased.

Toyota still outsold the GM twins in 2015, and they did so with the 2nd gen Tacoma which was an aged design.

But competition is good for the consumer and it will keep these companies moving forward.

 

Competition is the only thing we can count on for Toyota to make a better truck. The only way Toyota will change if its Tacoma stops selling.

 

True but they would have more sales if they won all those comparisons.