Manual Transmission to Auto

hey, thought I'd mention something...

on Saturday my wife and i had about 20 minutes to kill and we were sitting in a parking lot, so i asked if she wanted to drive it. she's a MT driver but has never driven the truck. she did really good with it.

but the funny part is that at one point she put it in 3rd, started from a stop and lugged around the lot for about a minute, and the f*cker ran, never died, just keep lugging, only 3rd, never 1 or 2. kinda crazy... mentioning this cus that question about low speed in 3rda couple weeks ago. giving lots of credit to OV Tune for this one..

 

I did the same thing the other day too. When I was messing with reverse I could keep it down to around 500 rpm and it didn't care. Makes reverse much more usable.

 

I came from a 2010 AT Tacoma sport. To me I don't see a big difference. Maybe I have a lemon, but the gearing is fine in my truck for my style of driving. I never understood why people need to use the ECT all the time especially when not towing.
I chose the AT because it suits my needs and to me is still fun to drive. I also like the truck just doing what is suppose to do without me having to do it for the truck.
I also get that people get their trucks according to their needs and even locations. For me MT didn't do anything special that an AT could do. I came from a MT Xterra before buying my AT 2nd gen Tacoma. That's was the last MT car I told myself I was going to buy unless is a sports car.
Anyways everyone has their reasons. Is the same truck, you just putting more work to drive with one than with the other.

 

I have a 4.3 rear end and OD ratios of 0.85 and 0.73. You have a 3.9 rear end and OD ratios of 0.69 and 0.55. They drive COMPLETELY different.

 

I have to admit, I love the fact I have a MT Taco, but there're days where I fucking hate it to be honest, especially where I'm not physically sync so to speak with the truck and I put it in 1st let out the clutch either too slow or too fast and the truck wants to act like a fucking wild bronco, oooh man that really grinds my gears! But there are the days where I'm on the interstate and I'll drop it from 6th to 4th even 3rd, and let it whine and she'll fly, and it puts a big smile across my face. It's really a love hate relationship, but the good thing is my wife has a auto jeep wrangler so I kinda get the best of both worlds.

 

The only time I ever use 3rd Gear on the interstate would be maybe an On or Off Ramp, otherwise I just stay in 6th, might drop to 5th if there is a steep hill.

 

That's insane. I put it in 3rd at 5mph on accident once and my truck bucked like a wild bull. Never doing that again!

 

My wife did that too when she first drove it. She didn't feel that it needed to bump a bit further towards her to get 1st, but she started off in 3rd several times until we figured out what she was doing. Never stalled it, and it just chooched along just fine (no OV Tune here).

 

Yes but they both will get you there. Which is my point

 

So will a bicycle if your only concern is only going A to B. But I'm not hooking my bike onto a trailer.

Or an automatic transmission for that matter.

 

Lol a bike? I'm not arguing. Bro If you are happy with your MT, that's cool. I'm not criticizing you or putting down the manual transmission. I have my reasons for getting an AT just like you got your reasons to getting a MT.
Just curious, why wouldn't you tow within AT?

 

I appreciate you asking. You certainly CAN tow with an AT, but I didn't like doing it.

I've got a 6x12 flat-nosed enclosed trailer. It's never more than 2000lbs, and the speed limit on the interstate is 75mph.

In my 2011, 5th was always just a little too high. So I'd stick it 4th... well 4th was just a little too low. I hated running 75mph at 32K rpm. The motor was screaming. I'd try to slow down to 60 or 65, but having a semi blow by was always intimidating. What I really wanted was another gear...

The 3rd gen MT gives me that with 5th at 0.85. I can keep up with traffic WITHOUT listening to a screaming motor. The AT in these trucks has OD gears so high that I'd be back in the same boat, running in 4th at 70 or 75.

When empty, I can tow my trailer in 6th. I don't have to worry about burning up a transmission, listening to a screaming motor, or getting run over on the Kansas Turnpike.

 

I see. 75mph freeways damn. In Hawaii, that's something we could only dream off.

 

I’ll second this. I’ve towed with both a 16 auto and 17 manual. Towing with the manual is MUCH better. Plus I’ll get 15-18 mpg with the manual vs 10-12 with the auto.

 

That's about where I was sitting too.

 

You'd drive off Oahu before you even got up to speed!

I didn't realize you were in Hawaii... your experience will be TOTALLY different. Yesterday we had 25mph wind sustained out of the south with gusts up to 40. This is what makes AT Tacos around here hunt for a gear.

 

Yes exactly, Oahu is small. Speed is not a big issue here, but traffic is. I used to hate driving my manual Xterra in traffic. Other places like Big Island might benefit from a manual but in Honolulu I rather have the AT since I'm always in traffic and also there's a lot of hills

 

Whew, I thought that was something shameful only I did. I guess I'm not insa....
oh crap..your screen name...

 

It CAN be done, but beware teaching your wife anything! No matter how bad she is you ALWAYS say: "You're doing great, honey!"--even if, and let's be totally clear on this, even if it means replacing the clutch later...

My wife rows gears like a champ (I thought of several ways I wasn't going to feel comfortable saying that). She doesn't LOVE driving it all the time, which works out great for me!

 

Enjoy your ability to actually control your vehicle. MT for me, 48 years old. We'll probably be having this discussion about actually driving vs self-driving cars in 30 years.

I can see the lemming arguments already. "OMG, do you know how many people die each year from people actually driving their own cars!"