Manual transmission Fan Club and BS thread (All Generations Welcome)

That is exactly it, but the offroad bug bit me with my last bike. I needed to keep that capability. I don't get out as much as I want, but it is damn satisfying when I do.

The Taco has lower limits, but still quick and fun enough.

 

I was trying to explain this to a sports-car obsessed friend of mine. He couldn't get how a truck could be fun to drive. Gonna have to let him take it up the local mountain switchback road and learn him up

 

My truck slowed me down a lot. I don't "off road" but I do take it on dirt, gravel and snow. I mainly got it so I can haul stuff, which I have done quite a few times already.

I still have my other car to drive (when I dig her out of the garage) if I want to throw something around.

 

Haha! So true. Everyone dreams of Porsches and Ferraris, but it is not what brings fun to everyday driving. Those on a typical road is similar to a Range Rover that never leaves the pavement.

 

yeah i know, how would a truck be fun to drive vs. a car?

negative camber, soft tires, compliant suspension, good brakes, strong acceleration, quick response and weight shifting: this is what you get with a car that makes it unlike a truck.

take all that away and you are left with a big block of cheese on wheels and your driving skills. so, it becomes 100% about the latter, your skills. not everyone takes that challenge or calls it fun.

ok back to my broken foot.

 

I disagree. I think we're quickly approaching the point where the manual transmission has so little demand that dealers don't want to stock them and where people don't even really consider them because anyone selling one is 95% of the time getting it from another dealership. It's becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong but I think the 4th gen will have something based on the AA80/AA81 8-speed and no manual option. It's likely not worth the tooling cost when a chunk of those MT owners will still buy the AT option because Toyota.

 

been eye balling M2's and the new Supra when the MT releases.

then i realize i will still have more fun tossing the Taco.

damn that sounds like some jailhouse term.

 

I REFUSE!

 

That is entirely possible. I know that my Taco was sitting on the lot for a while and I had two others to choose from at another local dealer. But, MTs seem to be popular enough around here that dealers don't mind taking a chance on one or two.

There was no mention of transmissions in @Carmaker1 's posts. It might not be a bad question to ask.

I can say that I have never been content in any AT that I have ever driven, so my options are limited should the worst happen.

 

Broken foot!? How'd I miss that?
I'm sorry dude. That blows

 

enthusiasts' futures probably include building your own. i keep hoping to promise this truck to my boy when the time comes but i'm just not in control of all the things between now and then. we'll likely find in the next few years that manufacturers realize the small enthusiast MT-seeking market will [ironically] see premium and pay premium for a MT. they'll probably be marketed as performance. we're talking about the mindset and sensibilities of the coming generation, not ours. it will be different and hard to wrap your head around just like all the trends.

 

I have an early 2018 I bought in May and it was literally the only OR within a few hundred miles at the time. It was the only choice I had unless I wanted to special order (which mine was... an order that fell through).

I will take an MT over AT every day but as I start towards this married life thing, it's looking like this will be my last. She hates wheeling my truck with the stick.

 

i haven't talked so damn much since my last foot injury keeping me from driving. i need to shut up all the philosophizing wth am i even talking about.

 

LOL!

 

thanks for that, xrays showed a bad sprain, super deep in the ankle, with bone bruising. luckily no evident break, but still a good 3 weeks in the boot he says.

 

My tacoma's nearly as fun as my MX5 NC club was, especially driving spiritedly on bad side roads.
Tons of full throttle/momentum conservation, being able to reach handling limits at much lower speeds and never running out of suspension travel is a blast!

 

yes! you got it!

 

I drive like an old man with my tacoma and I've gotten more tickets already than any of the cars I had

 

My wife always wanted a pickup or jeep. She used to go wheeling with her friend growing up. They put the jeep on its side at least twice from the stories she used to tell. I thought that she would be fighting with me to drive the Taco. She hates it and only drove it once. Not liking the heavy reverse spring, hood line, and ride with the sway bar (pre-delete). Of course, she wasn't in it long enough to get used to it.

No big deal since I hate driving her Forester because of the CVT.

It works out, since the interior of the Taco is not the trash bin that the Forest is. That is on both the wife and kids. WTF.

 

I like the supra but if it came down to it I think I'd end up with a Toyota 86 (FRS) with a manual or a Lexus RC.