Lots of complaints about the tranny but...

Have you ever actually driven a 2nd Gen?

I traded my 15' dbl cab TRD today for a 17' dbl cab trd sport and even though I have not taken delivery yet the test drive was leaps and bounds better than both my 13' and 15' taco. I live in Alberta and camp and snowboard a lot so a fair amount of my driving is in the mountains and without a doubt the transmission was not very friendly in my previous trucks.

I've been lurking around here for awhile reading about the 3rd gen and I do not like to buy first year new gen models which is why I waited to pull the trigger on a 17'. Taking into account the TSBs and such I would bet that if the 16 and 17 owners drove my 15 through the mountains they would beg to go back to their model.

Anyways I would like some honest feedback from previous 2nd gen owners to see an actual comparison. Should be picking mine up Friday, looking forward to contributing to the ongoing discussion.

Edit* Sorry if this should be moved into an ongoing thread, just wanted to throw my 2 cents out there.

 

I had a 07 trdor DC. It was a 6 spd manual 4.0
I now have a 17 trdor DC 6 spd manual 3.5. I think 17 drives so much better. The shifting is so smooth over the 07. Quieter over the 07. And a sunroof love that.

 

never had a truck before. Only complaint I have with this transmission is that it tries to go up hills in 4th, otherwise I get power down quickly and responsively, and it shifts smoothly. IDK what people are complaining about

 

I had a 2nd Gen 2013, and I'll tell you the tranny acts a lot differently. It shifts a lot more hunting for gears, even on small inclines. Other thing it does is shifts to higher gears much quicker unless ECT is pushed. At around 50kms you really need to get into the gas pedal if you want to go faster, light pressing results in what feels like a huge delay. Do I hate it, no, you just need to understand it and alter your driving style.

EDIT: BTW, welcome to TW.

EDIT, EDIT: Just noticed you have been here for a while, the 5 posts through me off.

 

Hmm Interesting, mine right now is drunk half the time with its shift points through big hills. My wife doesn't like that when she hits the gas going up hills it sounds like "a spaceship taking off". Even just driving around the city it sometimes feels like that.

I took the 17' on a highway for a test drive at about 110/kmh, shift points were night and day better compared to my 15.

 

Haha yea I am a big lurker, just like to read lots of information.

What is the whole ECT thing, I did not get a chance to try that out on the test drive.

 

Changes shift points so it holds gears longer. Kind of like a tow mode.

 

I have no issues with mine either. The quick shifts are fine with me when I'm stuck in traffic cause everyone around me is accelerating just as slowly and I like the higher MPG. When I have space I just push the pedal down further and it responds smoothly.

 

I lurked for almost 3 years as a guest, didn't bother to sign up, just viewed threads as a guest. I'm sure we are not alone.

 

I've driven my fathers in law 12 taco regularly, I loved primitive operation of the transmission, no guessing/hunting, just straight forward operation.
If I'm honest with myself, I'm a bit disappointed, but it's done

 

I was driving a 1990 4Runner V6 auto as my winter vehicle and the transmission on the 17 taco is sooooooo much better. The 90 4Runner would get stuck in 3rd on the highway killing the already terrible gas mileage haha or in the morning wouldn't get out of second for about 20 minutes of driving

 

You should drive my 1st gen. The 4 speed with 33" tires with no regear kinda sucks. To go up any kinda hill you either have to be going 50mph or 80mph. There's a huge gap in the gearing. With that said the 4 speed is bomb proof and I'm plan on keeping my truck for another 20 years so I'm cool with it. I only drive it about once a week. My daily driver is a 6 speed manual that absolutely kicks ass.

 

Yea I had 31.5" on mine. I think the 3rd gen auto and manual are both good for different reasons. I have a 02 RSX Type S and the 6 speed in that is just amazing but that's a car not a truck lol. My taco has the auto and I find it to be really good. As the_dau said it does like to go into 4th on hills and mine doesn't seem to always want to go into 6th on the highway unless I go to the "manual" mode lol but I'm beyond happy with it over all

 

I had 3 gen 2s and now have
a 17. So far i am quite happy. Yes it shifts more but that would be
expected with an extra od gear. The shifts on mine are butter smooth.