News, A Diesel is Coming

New Full Sized Silverado with 6.2L and 8 speed trans (2016-2017) are getting about 17 to 18 mpg combined according to fuelly and even better per driver reports/experiences, shifts much better than the taco (MUCH better low end) , pulls a ton more and loads of power. One of the guys here just traded his third gen for one and LOVES it @Threerun . Yeah it's a larger vehicle but you're able to do pretty much everything else you can do with the tacoma as far as what you describe for utility. For your money, just getting a lot more all-around I think.

 

yeah i didn't bother with the bullshit news source.. thought maybe there was something else credible regarding the Mazda.

 

The Knoxville TN "Daily Sun" (a Major Metropolitan area newspaper) is a bullshit news source? Wow ok....

 

Bullshit in the sense that they put out an article about Nissan, Mazda and a few others all showing pictures of cars that are on the foreign market. It's all SPECULATION.
Do a google search for any auto article from daily sun and there's no substance to their articles.

do a search under "news" and say you wanted to know about Frontier... "2018 nissan frontier dailysunknoxville"

Most of the articles are about the Tacoma and every single one of those articles mention a new Frontier. One article specifically talking about the Frontier says "it should be no later than 2017 or 2018".

The top three results talk about how the Frontier is a sales threat to the Tacoma and in the same sentence says Tacoma is unaffected by it, but the fourth article is talking about how old the Frontier is and needs to go.

The Frontier is old. We know that already
Tacoma has a great share of the market. We know this too.
Frontier sales have gone up, but don't affect Tacoma. Thank you captain obvious
New frontier should be no later than 2017 or 2018. Maybe 2019 or 2020, 2021? yea....

Half of their September article is recycled into their December article.

The point is, these articles are bullshit because they're all speculation and recycled. How is any of that credible?

 

I am looking for a truck that gets near 30 mpg hwy unloaded. Currently the Colorado and the Ram Ecodiesel are close, but like the Tacoma the payload is pretty low. I am finding Tradesman Ram's for around the $28K mark...financially that makes sense, but again the payload is dismal, IIRC it is around 1200 lbs. Looking for something in the 2000+ lbs range.

F150 is pretty close...supposedly the new 2.7 Ecoboost is going to get a 1-2 mpg gain, might put it in the 26-28 mpg hwy range (unloaded).

Super curious about the new 3.0 diesel in the F150...will have to wait and see what the numbers are like. If they offer it with their Heavy Duty payload package, probably have a winner...might be a bit expensive at first, but Ford heavily discounts their vehicle over time.

I test drove the 3rd gen Taco a couple few times...both the I4 and the V6, trying to force myself to like it...which you shouldn't have to force yourself to like a vehicle. Power has gone up over the years, but the torque isn't available low in the rpm range, mpg hasn't improved, and payload has gone down..while the prices have gone up. Not getting much truck for your money anymore.

The little Toyota truck used to be an economical option against the gas guzzling fullsizes years ago...but times have changed. Maybe with the market changing, it will light a fire under Toyota's ass, but I doubt it. Feel like they have given up on the US spec trucks, they feel like an afterthought.

 

All very true.

 

Isn't the BT-50 on the Ford Ranger platform?

http://www.drive.com.au/new-car-comparison/ford-ranger-v-mazda-bt50-20151209-gljceu.html

 

To be fair, the Mazda is a modified Ranger T6, based on the Global Ranger Platform, and looks nearly identical. I would have bought a Ranger, had it been available when I bought the Taco, but Ford didn't care about my sale. Also almost pulled the trigger on a 2.7L ecoboost F150, but chose the Taco, due to the reliability factor. Anything Turbo is going to cost more upfront, in the middle, and when you need to start fixing everything.

 

The only real new thing of the third gen was the interior (which I like by the way). New skins and parts bin Lexus car motor do not constitute an "all new" truck. GM is currently selling 2/3 the amount of mid size trucks as Toyota is right now and we still have at least 2 big players about to throw their hats in the race with new or updated trucks (Nissan and Ford). You can bet Ford isn't gonna do the bare minimum like Toyota did.
I would not be surprised if Toyota loses the mid-size crown in the next 5 years. I do not understand why Toyota was so complacent with their gen 3. They obviously knew the segment would heat up again. Classis example of resting on laurels.

 

Did like the new interior of the 3rd gen, everything else felt oh-hum and warmed over. Toyota is making it really hard for us long time loyalist.

If Chevy offered the diesel in the Work Truck model, Extra Cab 6' bed/manual trans...would have one sitting in the driveway by now. Seems like all the manufactures seem to miss a couple key components to make me want to part with my cash. So I just keep on fixing my old junk.

Can't seem to find anything I like better than my 1st Gen Taco, I joked with the salesman....can't I just get a new one of these with a diesel? That would be a darn near perfect platform for my wants and needs.

http://www.importperformanceusa.com/project/2004-expedition-tacoma-with-1kz/

 

Wonder what the new ranger is gonna look like...

 

How much more do you expect toyota to do? To be fair, the previous gen gm twins were terrible and that is why it got discontinued. Any update from the previous gen was going to be huge...didn't the old gen not even offer a v6? It was like a 5 cylinder or something.

 

I test drove a Canyon and sat in a Colorado. Didnt like how much the
Back of the two were raised compared to the front.

 

Could put some better suspension on the front to level it out. Need to remove chinstrap anyway if you plan to offroad one.

 

I'm pretty sure it is setup like that for payload capacities. So when you will up the bed the truck is more level and you don't get that bro lean or whatever people call it.

 

Yeah thats for sure. I could have cleaned the garbage off the streets with how low the plastic was.

 

Yeah that is what its for but its it looks pretty extreme compared to the tacoma.

 

That approach angle has been my biggest gripe with the Colorado...aside from the interior lacking a bit from the Tacoma. Otherwise I would have bought one. But you figure most guys here spend thousands modding their truck (often unnecessarily) to lift and put better tires & wheels. Wouldn't be all that much different with a Colorado. Of course the ZR2 will fix all the offroad capability issue. The heavy duty full size trucks are where the lift and suspension mods, I think, get quite a bit more expensive.

 

They weren't great...but there was a V8 available...

http://www.trucktrend.com/truck-reviews/163-0906-2009-chevrolet-colorado-v-8-test/

 

Little bit of lift cures the approach angle. Some bumper mods will make it even better. The new Tacoma's face isn't all that much better, think the only difference is that the Taco's come a little nose high from the factory already.