Should i buy an MT Tacoma?

Agreed!

You maybe one of the lucky ones who has consistent throttle response with your truck. It is difficult to explain, however, with my truck second gear is too tall compared to how low first is, this causes a problem each time I have an incline and have to go from first to second. Similarly, reverse is too tall, and this is a common compliant with 6MT owners. Furthermore, if you look at the chart comparing HP/Torque on OVT, you can see the dramatic differences in stock tune versus OVT. OVT is much more linear for both HP/Torque and hence the compliments on driveability. Toyota should have done a much better job out of the gate on this one.

I have had, and still have few high performance European cars, and I never felt the need to change the stock tune. However, this I do. The clutch accumulator is example proof of how Toyota mucked this up for us 6MT owners. Before I did the ADM, I could smell the clutch burning on occasion, especially in reverse on an incline. Since ADM, the clutch feels like a clutch should, much softer, consistent and no more burning smell.

I would love a small turbo diesel with a 6MT, however, when you want a Taco you get a Taco, and they no make Taco with a small turbo diesel. So complaining is the only option left.

 

Definitely goes good in the snow!

 

Hard yes. I prefer a manual in snow.

 

Yeah I really don't understand how they selected the gearing. I mean I like the super short first, it's useful to be able to crawl along in gear both on the road in traffic or parking lots and on the trail cuz you don't need to flip flop in and out of low range so much if you just want to creep through a tight spot, and anyway I've gotten used to revving it further than I normally would in first if I need to stay in(or at least on the same continent as) the power band. But why does it need to have such a big gap? I mean 5th and 6th are pointlessly close to one another, keep 1st and 6th as they are and spread the other 4 more evenly up to a direct drive 5th. It'd be fantastic instead of alright. Or at a bare minimum make 6th a deeeep overdrive for flat or downhill interstate cruising and leave 5th as the normal highway gear. And why can't reverse be the same as first!? I have perfectly calibrated muscle memory to get going exactly how I want to in first gear, all that's out the window in reverse. Whatever in parking lots, but it's resulted in some stalls in spots I really did not want to stall on the trail. And you can go almost 30 in first, why could reverse possibly need a taller gear!? Ugh, overall I've been super happy with my taco and the manual in particular but it would be so much better with such small and logical changes to the gear spacing.

Ooh, I hadn't heard of that ADM thing, I'll have to look into it. I find myself doing a lot of 1000 point turns in sketchy spots because our trails and forest roads in the PNW can be pretty unpredictable(impassibly washed out, a massive tree that's fallen in the middle of the trail, straight up gets too narrow the list goes on) and I *always* smell some clutch. Plus I've definitely noticed some inconsistent engagement that I half thought was my imagination.

Even if Toyota follows the new trend of putting diesels in US market full/midsize trucks and develops a little diesel(or federalizes something they offer elsewhere in the Hilux or Land Cruiser or something) for the next gen Tundra and/or Tacoma there's no way it'll come paired to a manual, the sales simply won't justify the development. Honestly I'm not even holding my breath for a manual on the next-gen Taco when it comes, they only have a 5% take rate for manual 3rd gens. Man, between the dismal take rate on manual Tacomas and the new Defender it's looking like my 3rd gen and Range Rover Classic are here for the long haul, I love having a 3 pedal Toyota 4x4 and a solid-axle Land Rover in my life and those seem to be dead or dying breeds.

 

only had two vehicles my entire life (yeah I'm 50) an 84 xtracab and my current 99 taco and both were manuals. Maybe I'm getting crotchety in my old age but I hate driving it anymore around town, mainly because its a typical congested NJ suburb with lots of stop n go driving. Just plain sucks...up there in the Uper I'm sure a stick would be different experience and say YES.

 

Buy the M/T

 

Get a manual. Mine's a blast off-road and on the beach in the soft stuff. It's an absolute beat in 4LO and crazy capable. Clutch is light and super forgiving.

 

What is this trend of which you speak? Other than Chevy and Chrysler? They have to be a minuscule segment of the market anyway.

There is no taste for diesel in the US as long as regular petrol is cheaper. If Toyota could make money bringing in the HiLux, they would already have done it.

If you like your torque low as apparently many people do, it would be a great idea, but 0-60 in 11 seconds? That doesn’t go over so well in this market.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/mt-accumulator-delete-mod-adm-and-bs-thread.568303/

 

What did the op do?

anyone knows?

 

I have never owned a vehicle with an automatic transmission, and I won't be starting now. Having said that I wouldn't recommend that you get your first MT experience in the snow. It takes experience and finesse to drive an MT expertly, much less in snow, and that experience is gained over years, not days.

If your driving conditions suck you may want to stick with what you know. Maybe get a second vehicle with an MT and use it in good WX while you gain experience.

 

^ snow isn’t /that/ dramatic — of course, i’ve been driving on it since before i had a license

 

I would much rather drive in snow with a MT.

 

I'm with you in general on the whole forbidden fruit thing with the Hilux, I think that the Tacoma's a much better product for the American market in general. I do think that if it wasn't for the Chicken Tax the Hilux and Tacoma would still be the same, as the nameless USDM Toyota Pickup was actually the same as the Hilux up until whatever you call the late 80s/early 90s generation pickup that matched the 2nd Gen 4Runner. Fact is it's almost impossible to make any money with a 25% tariff when you need to compete with domestic brands that don't have a tariff. Because of the popularity and relative cheapness of half ton and HD trucks here anyone who regularly needs a lot of payload and towing capacity will probably buy a full size anyway, so the softer suspension and more compliant chassis are way better for what people actually use midsize trucks for here.

I bet we see a diesel in the next generation though. It's hard to find real take rate stats, but I think the Colorado/Canyon must have a healthy take rate as they're adding a 3 liter diesel for the Silverado this year which never would've happened if it flopped in the Canyonado. The Ram has a diesel, the Grand Cherokee has a diesel, the Wrangler's getting a diesel next year. The F150 even has a 3 liter diesel now alongside the Ecoboosts, and some diesel Ranger test mules have been spotted in the States. I've heard most Duramax Colorado owners see an overall average around or above 25 MPG which is a significant bump from the 20ish most of us get. Also, diesels are slower on the spec sheet but you know how everyone here always whines about how you need to wind out the 3.5 and that the 4.0 feels more powerful(despite being less powerful)? Yeah, the 3.5 makes peak torque at 4800 and peak power at 6000, the 4.0 makes peak torque at around 4000 and peak power at around 5000. The diesel Colorado hits peak torque 2000 and peak power at 3400. If peak torque 800 RPM higher or lower is that noticeable how do you think it'll feel a further 2,000 rpm lower? I know I'm not afraid to rev it out(you're not hurting it, if anything it's better for it than lugging all the time) but it's relatively rare I hit peak torque let alone peak power, but you're always in the powerband of a modern turbodiesel so it'll almost always feel faster except in the most aggressive of on-ramp sprints. I'd bet that even if a diesel was a full 2 seconds slower to 60 most people would think it feels faster because the power is so much more accessible.

 

Amen brother. I travel international frequently and drove the Toyota Fortuner (SUV related to the Hilux) with a 2.8L CRD for a few days this past summer. From a driveability perspective, I would love to have that engine with better sorted gear ratios in the next gen Taco.

 

Honestly I just drive a metric shit ton and the 5 mpg gain would seriously add up for me. I have 56,000 miles on my Taco that I bought new in December ‘17. Not to mention another 5k on a (now sold)E36 BMW and 10k on my Range Rover Classic since buying the Tacoma. 20 vs 25 mpg doesn’t really sound huge but that would seriously add up for me.

Also INB4 the inevitable Range Rover comment. Rovers have their foibles but all the old school BOF solid axles Rovers are solid if you take care of them(all-aluminum engines are easy to destroy if the cooling system is neglected). I used to have a 2nd gen 4Runner of nearly the exact same mileage and age of my Rover, both been on a tow truck exactly once and believe it or not it was an engineering fault in the 4runner(they didn’t reinforce the clutch pedal mounting enough. Unless you get someone to weld some reinforcements into the pedal box the clutch pedal simply tears off the mount at some point.) while the Rover was 100% on me. Clogged fuel filter, literally looked over a decade old when I changed it, just never really took a look at it before it suddenly started dying under load what seemed like(and was) fuel starvation

 

RRC FTW

 

No. If they were better than automatic transmissions everyone would buy them.