Manual vs Automatic

Yeah... if you have a TRD, on your dash hit the Apps button and select the Eco setting.
It will show you MPGs over time

 

I have an off-road, I'll look into it next time I drive thanks!

 

Yeah you should have it! It shows average MPG per minute over about the last 30 minutes. You can really see how you drive changes the way the truck drinks!

 

Besides the Entune Eco there is an instant MPG Bar that you can select in the gauge cluster, its kinda cool.

 

I have the mpg bar in my cluster

 

So I've had my Manual Third gen for about a month now. I traded in my third gen AT for the manual and so far no complaints.
My MPG is actually slightly better in the MT, and it doesn't require me shifting from 6th when cursing at 70.

It's still fairly new so the trans isn't broke in but it does seem a little clunky at times when shifting.

Off-roading I feel it's probably a 50/50 trade off. There is no crawl control or MTS in the manual, but you can rock a manual out of a tight spot where as an auto you can't. Crawl control was neat but never really used it.

Disadvantage is no smart key. You get accustom to those features and with having a 3 year old it's not always easy to have a free hand. That part I do miss.

 

I miscalculated the weight of some soil I hauled with a trailer. Thought I was only pulling 3500 lbs, but later found out I was hauling 7k lbs! I remember how disappointed I was - thinking then that I was only pulling 3500lbs. After I figured out the mistake I made, I was pretty impressed, although it did kind of suck off the line. I believe the tow rating is 6500 for the OR w tow package?

Anyway I was cruising at I think 65. Don't remember which gear though. This was about a year back now. I did get my clutch a little hot when the tongue bottomed out backing it into the driveway.

Also, I can get up to 24-25 mpg highway by shifting conservatively and cruising btwn 60-65. Huge difference in mpg in those 5 mph.

 

Try the Ford / Motorcraft XT-M5 trans oil. I just put it in my tranny last week and it's waaay smoother shifting.

 

I’ve had my new TRD Off Road for about a week now. I’d forgotten what a blast MT is. I still have an automatic 2nd Gen Taco, and we had a 4Runner before that. I haven’t owned a MT in over 20 years and this thing puts a grin on my face every time I drive it. I can’t wait to take it to the mountains.

As a side note, I have a set of 255/85/16’s on order and from what I hear the tall skinny tires will work really nice with this super low gearing on the MT. Does that sound accurate?

 

Just picked up a MT TRD Pro on a whim yesterday. Love this thing. Haven't had a MT since my 2009 Access cab (2 tacos ago, this is my 5th ) and man o man have they improved the trans. An absolute blast to drive. Gonna go try and bury it in some Florida sand this weekend.

 

Have had my 18 M/T for about a month. Getting close to 1k miles so it's just now breaking in. Early shifting was notchy but that's going away and the shifts are smooth. I do get hung up trying to get into first sometimes. A quick shuffle to second and back to first fixes that.

I hate reverse. It's just a pain to get in and out of quickly.

The clutch is ok. Feedback is vague and it seems to grab midway but you can't always tell. When it's cold outside it's slow to operate. I try to let it sit idling at first for about 5 minutes and pump the clutch pedal to help circulate fluid. There's an assist spring that someone took out and said it felt better but i'm concerned that in the cold the clutch won't come back.

I'm also still having a hard time with timing shifts to 5th. The rpm's drop too quickly most of the time but randomly get rev hang which completely throws off my timing. I've learned to just blip the throttle during the shift before engagement to bring the rpm's where the should be.

Honestly, I'd like a true short shifter from someone like B&M or something. I'm not messing with URD's design. I don't trust it. I don't want shorter race car like shifts, but better feedback and engagement. Oh and the stock and TRD shift knobs are ugly and uncomfortable. A sprint booster would likely help throttle sensitivity and possibly removing the clutch assist spring.

 

Been a manual driver for decades from all the reasons discussed in this thread. I am pulling the trigger on a new Tacoma anytime now and am on the fence. In the past few years I've had a couple of injuries that forced me into automatics. Mainly an injured right shoulder. All okay now. Also, sometimes I just get tired of shifting if I'm in a rush and in traffic. From what I read here, the ECT button combined with S4 or S5 plus the transmission's learning over time solves the hunting. I did test drive two autos recently and founding the hunting at 80-85mph to be ridiculous. Even in ECT mode. I'm in New Mexico and tested on a hilly interstate with winds. I didn't know about the S modes. Still, I'm torn but leaning towards the manual.

 

Very similar situation, and the deciding factor was simple math, how many years do I plan on keeping the truck, and how old would I be towards the end of that time?

The other factor was my wife has always flat out refused to learn to drive stick.

In the back of mind, I figured this might present a problem at some future date.

After owning the truck a few months, my brother in law rolled up one day in a pristine old MT Frontier- his father's truck that his dad couldn't drive after a back injury. Yeah, glad I got the AT, it's not a bad ride.

 

Thanks for that. I just drove to the gym in my manual wrangler. An injury on my left foot flared up as I stepped on the clutch. That might be the deciding factor…

 

I'm 75 and the AT over the MT is a BIG deciding factor.

 

Reverse was almost impossible for awhile on my truck, it would take 5 or 6 tries before it would finally go in but it eventually loosened up and now it usually goes in the first try.
I hardly ever use 5th gear, usually shift from 4th to 6th and the truck seems to like it as did my prior 2nd Gens.

 

I’ve owned several manual transmission vehicles and many automatics. I’ve always enjoyed the manuals. They were usually second or third vehicles and only sometimes used for commuting.

The nice thing about the Tacoma automatic is that you can pick your RPM’s and MPH’s in S mode while also keeping it from hunting between gears. If you want, you can row it back and forth, similar to a manual, but of course without the clutch.

My automatic is performing well these days and after 7 months, there’s less clunking and surging with it.

 

I swapped from an automatic second gen TRD sport to a manual second gen TRD O/R a few years back and have no regrets. I hated how indecisive the automatic was or overly aggressive it could be while on cruise control. The manual is more fun to drive and the computer (me!) always knows exactly which gear I want. It's been great for towing. It's a bit clunky and can sometimes be annoying but overall I'm happy I have it.

 

No they don’t. 3.92. Have a 2017 AC MT parked in my garage right now about to get pulled for 4.88s because 3.92 + 265/76/16 KOs = Uncomfortable struggle.. going 285/75/16 here soon and 4.88 is 1000000% required.

V6 though has 4.30 factory and could handle 33s fine between gearing and v6 power (I almost want to trade in) but I have a piece of history they don’t make anymore.

Soo true! Ironically enough I’ve had plenty of “close calls” in the Mercedes I owned (auto) because I’d literally almost fall asleep or able to do millions of other things than focus on the road. With all my MT vehicles, not one close call and always feel safer and more alert like you do.

 

You know what's fun is driving a vehicle which has a Reverse manual valve body transmission !!!!!