What's the chatter on the 2018's?

I am a naturally skeptical person, and have harboured a thought that the 2018 Tacomas will have a different, larger displacement, engine; and this I believe is why there is an almost unprecedented silence concerning the 2018 models (I read in one online article Toyota had stated "early 2018" as an introductory date for the 2018 Taco. This sort of enforces my gut feeling--and no doubt I could be way off base--because to announce a better engine for '18 now would devastate sales of any remaining 2017s.

Though I do not own a 2017 I have now driven three or four, mostly my neighbor's (more about that in a bit), and IMHO the 3.5 l faux Atiknison cycle engine is not a "truck" engine and has no business being installed in a real truck. If Toyota was to make a unit body "truck" like the Ridgeline it would be just about right.

Re: my neighbor. A couple Saturdays back he borrowed my '09 for a trip to Lowes while I re-torqued the rear carrier fasteners on his truck. when we talked later that day he commented on how much more low-end grunt my truck had compared to his '17; we spoke about the higher revving nature of the 3.5 and how Toyota traded low-end torque for the higher HP that certainly filled the marketing department with glee.

Well this last Wednesday he turns up in my driveway with a very nice, clean 2015 DCSB TRD-OR with just 34k miles--traded the '17 for it! I do not know how the financials worked out, none of my business. It obviously was for him worth it...

 

So the 5.0L V8 Coyote motor in the mustang and the F150, is that a car engine or a truck engine? The 3.6L engine in the Colorado, and the Traverse, and the Cadiallac SRX, is that a truck engine, crossover, or car engine?

I get your point, but an engine is an application of power. Don't tell me you wouldn't want a car engine in your truck if that engine was a LS engine from a Corvette.

*EDIT* My Toyota truck isn't a real truck. A 3/4 Ton Diesel is a real truck. This is a fun, offroad, smaller (but still could be a lot smaller..) truck. I do truck-like things, such as towing, hauling, and camping, but I don't constantly pull RVs, car haulers, or carry 2000 lbs loads every day. Why would I? I bought a Tacoma. I want to go have fun with it.

 

I suspect major mechanical changes for 2018. If it were a continuation of the 2016/7's dealers would be putting in 2018 orders now and have info on the models.

 

Dude cmon. I would bet everything against it. There is no justification for Toyota to do such a thing. Beside that you talk about the 3.5 not being a "real truck" engine...since when is a Tacoma a "real truck" anyway? Be real man. It's a V6 mini truck that's better at off-roading than doing any "real truck" work. At least in today's world. It has more power than even the "realest" of trucks a few decades ago.

 

I do not know the specifics of the engines you listed, however I do know the original Ford modular V8s quite intimately and know for a fact that the engines used in Mustangs had very different performance spec that when used in pickups and taxicabs. Different heads, camshafts, pistons, tuning, etc.

In Mustangs alone there were different cams and tunes for the engines to be paired with automatic v. manual transmissions--the former emphasized low end torque and a wider powerband, the latter sacrificed low end torque for narrow and higher peak output.

Similarly Ford's modular engines used in their trucks were designed and tuned to emphasize low-end torque, as have been "truck" engines for many many years.

That the Tacoma is a little truck does not make it any less a real truck...

 

I say Zero chance of a new engine for 2018, they possibly could change the tuning to produce more power though.

 

Just happened to be this last Wednesday right?

Bullshit. Never happened. Your a bullshit artist.

PS. Go make your daily obsessive check for frame rust.

 

I love the new powertrain dillusion fantasies in here. We are 2 years into this platform, it's toyota not ford, the 3.5 is here for awhile like it or not. Toyota has no reason to switch things up besides colors, safety sense, or some other small thing, the trucks have no problem selling in current form.

 

I'm in San Antonio close to the Taco factory and a friend of mine who works in management there says they are preparing to install diesel engines in the Tacoma. I'm not certain if that means 2018 or later... I might have held out if I had known... Now a diesel electric hybrid would be really sweet...

 

I have some sweet beach front property here in Arizona for sale too...

 

I would bet (and hope), if there is a major change it is the automatic transmission. Chevy changed the AT in the third year of the cycle for the Colorado and it was a huge improvement. I also hope the are retooling to fix the howling diff and poorly designed body mounts. I am more than ready for a new Taco, but I'm not feeling it with the 2017.

 

It was done for cost savings, they are using the 3.5 in many platforms across the board.

 

Funny, I lived in NH in the late 60s (Keene and Spofford), and though it's been a while I could have sworn that things happened on Wednesdays there--even in the winter.

However it is true. He had been very disappointed with the '17, especially after he took it to their place in Clayton GA. week before last and drove it around in the mountains. He previously had an '05 access cab he bought new...

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P.S. Not a speck of rust on my "Florida car" '09, not something we worry about here. I lived "up North" for 45 years, been here almost 27, and do miss crisp clean air; Florida has a musty smell that you get used to after a while. I also sort of miss having four seasons, we have just 2-1/2--six months of Nice (mid-October to mid-April) followed by two and a half months of OK (mid-April through June), then two and a half months of Friggin' HOT (July through Mid-September) followed by one more month of OK (mid-September through mid-October),

I do not miss shoveling and scraping one bit--if 2-1/2 months of Friggin' HOT is the price I must pay then so be it.

 

Exactly why they won't be putting any other V6 in it anytime soon.

 

Toyota didn't have an issue dropping the 6 speed in the Highlander for an 8 speed after just 3 years.

 

But not an engine change. The 3.5 is here to stay. That 8 speed was another parts bin transmission shared across other platforms, so yes in theory we could get the same 8 speed but a betting man would say otherwise.

 

I wouldnt completely rule out a new AT but id say its highly unlikely. Wasn't the current AT new for the 3rd gen taco?

 

Yep! Exactly, return on investment. Despite what you hear here, the trucks are selling and many have no issues, why would Toyota up and change things? And that high resale everyone loves, well you don't want constant changes like powertrain if you want to keep it.

 

The transmission in the Highlander is transverse. It wouldn't work in the Tacoma.