2018 TACOMA TRD OFF ROAD AUTOMATIC TRANSMISION

Not trying to minimize your issues, or justify the behavior of your transmission as you experience it, but you can resolve this by putting the truck into S4 when you know you are going through a hilly area.

 

I agree. I have the ShiftSense Pro which helps tremendously. I failed to use S mode that time. I travel that road several times a day and the transmission performs satisfactorily in S mode with the SSP. The SSP keeps the transmission in fifth so it pulls the hills with ease. Otherwise in normal mode (not S or with the SSP) it will go into sixth quickly, then downshift to fourth. This enables the truck to quickly regain speed, shift back to sixth, immediately lose speed which requires more throttle input, and another downshift to fourth. Repeat. There are several short, steep hills in that mile.

Oklahoma isn’t all flat. And the wind the last month.....

 

Owners manual suggests using ECT button for hills, may want to try it?

 

One thing I have noticed is how much quieter this power train is than the 4.0. With that in mind use a little patience when it lugs and you may be surprised that it is in fact gaining speed or that it is in fact maintaining what you need. My truck is commonly in the same gear as my FJ on the same hills I have been driving on for years. It just does it quieter in a less climactic manner.

 

Isn't the 3rd gen. Tacoma still leading the mid-sized truck sales? Seems to be fairly popular, if it's so bad why are so many selling? Said it before, I'll never understand anyone buying a new vehicle; then saying you don't like it? Doesn't make sense to me, but there's a simple solution; sell it, there are plenty of buyers.

 

I won't discount those who grow to hate a vehicle over time. I've done it before. Little things can add up on you to sour your experience and it greatly depends on what your expectations are going in. I don't blame people who blindly bought a Tacoma given its reputation - but I've learned over time not to blindly trust any brand - their allegiance is to shareholders an revenue.

Still loving my Tacoma in almost every respect though.

 

Here is my bottom line:

I don’t like the transmission shift points and I believe Toyota could remedy this issue by reprogramming the transmission.

I want a mid-size truck and the competition doesn’t draw me to their product.

I seriously thought I would jump on the new Ranger when it makes its debut but because of this forum I read about the issues Ford is having with turbocharged engines. Hmmmm. Not so interested.

I am keeping my Tacoma and going to enjoy it. After all I have driven 11,000 totally trouble free miles. And I expect many more.

BUT, if and when Toyota addresses this issue, I will be quick to have the service done or buy the new Tacoma that has been fixed. Toyota did remedy one of the two other issues I have with the Tacoma. They put leather in the 2018 TRD. Next, power seats please.

It says a lot when we will stick with a brand. I am driving my Tacoma unless you can show me the perfect truck.

 

I have a 2018 TRD off road and was happy with the way it drove during the test drive, which included interstate speeds, but the 20 some miles I put in wasn't enough to get a true feel how the truck drove in all conditions.

I should note that I was driving a 2000 Ranger with 3.0L V6 before I got the Off Road, and I always thought the engine was underpowered on that vehicle.

With driving the new truck in all conditions now, I do fine the shifting squirrelly. It isn't necessarily worse than my previous truck, but there is definitely a learning curve to modulation of the pedal to maintain an even speed. That is weird and I don't know that it has ever been an issue on any of my firm's work trucks (F150s, Silverados, Rams, Rangers, S10s) or SUVs.

That said, I have noticed with car rentals more recently that shifting can do the too slow/too fast thing as you push the gas pedal further forward. I have also talked to a new Volvo owner who is having the same issues with shifting on a new modal SUV, so the issue isn't confined to Toyota.

One thing I have yet to notice in any other vehicle I have driven, is the somewhat hard downshifting (engine braking feeling) between 3-2 and 2-1 when coasting to a stop. I should note I didn't notice this until driving the truck for a few weeks, as it is somewhat subtle, so it could be present in other newer vehicles. As best as I can tell, it might be due of the design of the torque converter, and that newer transmissions might keep the TC partially locked below 4th gear for fuel efficiency gains. I should note I have only the most foggiest understanding of how a transmission works so I could be wrong on this.

I had thought this might be all due to CAFE requirements, but after spending some time with two new 2018 Chevy Colorados at work (that get better mileage at interstate speeds, shift smoothly and quietly, and have better thottle response and modulation), I am leaning more to towards thinking that the Manager at Toyota that oversaw the ECU programming is evil and the guy that runs OV Tune is a saint, and divine justice has been served and we are all suffering the fallout.

That all said, I still love the truck for all the other things it brings to the table and will roll with its shifting quirks and poor mileage over 70 MPH.

 

Coming from a manual transmission I like the felling when it downshifts and I get a little engine braking. It kinda makes up for the mushy brake pedal and shitty drum brakes.

As far as mileage goes, when my truck had less than 500 miles on it I averaged 20.6 on the display(20.8 hand calculated) on a 200+ mile freeway drive in OR/WA (real hills and wind) with the cruise set at 77mph 95% of the time. I got 18.5 in my wife's pentastar V6 Grand Cherokee on the same exact trip. To me anything over 20 in a truck at that speed is pretty good. What are you getting in the Colorados?

 

Shhh the adults are talking. Your buddy hates the AT transmission too.

 

But it doesn't maximize the fuel economy well. It's a marginal increase over a second gen. It shifts or holds gears because the programming is poor. That's why people are spending $800 on a garage OVTune to fix the shift points and achieving similar if not better mpg. Again, nobody is talking about a regear but you. You can say the transmission is working exactly as it was designed but would you have said that day 1? Because Toyota has had a transmission programming TSB to address some but not all issues.

Yes, unspectacular. Never made the argument that the third doesnt tow better than the second gen. That was introduced after your ambigous 4.0 is a dog post.

Glad we agree. FIN

 

60mph - 0mph the TRD Tacoma stops 10' sooner, 125' vs the 135' of a ZR2 Colorado gasser as tested by car and driver.
Must be those shitty drum brakes.

 

I know he does and that is his preference. At least he makes a sound argument and was smart enough to research and assess his potential investment previous to purchase.

Instead of coming here crying, kicking and screaming for lack of personal accountability or just plain idiocy.

 

Glad you arent part of the 3G customer base or else you might be here bitching and complaining about it..... Wait, you are already doing that... lol.

Dont even have direct experience with the truck, likely jealousy. Must be rough!

 

For the final time it shifts and holds gears because of how it's geared. 5th gear is a 0.69:1 and 6th is 0.58:1. This essentially makes the motor nearly idle at highway speed. Couple that with a motor that makes no power down low, and you get a truck that shifts a lot. It was designed to do that. No reprogramming is going to change gear ratios. And I knew this BEFORE I tried to buy one.

The result? I'm not on here mad at Toyota because I didn't do my homework.

Toyota didn't screw anything up or make junk. No amount of these kind of posts are going to change anything.

 

The 3rd gen is just a drivers training vehicle for the real disappointment, the 4th gen, front wheel drive, Quasimodo 3 cylinder with 10 speed automatic controled by a Shimano derailer.

 

Not jealousy, "smart enough to research and assess his potential investment previous to purchase" as you put it in the post just previous. A Tacoma is not an investment.

It shifts and holds gears because how its programmed. That's why people are buying shiftsense, ovtune etc.

 

If that’s the case, then I take it you just joined this thread because you enjoy complaining for the heck of it.

Your first post in here was aimed at faulting the transmission for you not liking its behavior.

If you didnt like the truck when you drove it, leave it at that. Plenty of people here love the new Tacoma and have absolutely no issues with it.

But hey... at least you were smart enough not to buy it. That has to be worth something.

FYI. Everything you buy is an investment. If you purchase something with the hopes of benefiting from it, thats an investment.

 

Just forget it.