2020 Tacoma... 6 speed or auto

Apparently they have not yet built the configuration I inquired about...

2020 TRD Offroad 4x4 double cab short bed MT with only options being tech pkg and led headlights...it's not yet built, or so I'm being told. Lol

 

MT all the way. I have an 17 TRD Sport Access Cab with a 6MT and LOVE it!
I just don't understand why Toyota doesn't offer a DCLB with a manual trans option.

 

I have no real issues with my 6AT. It's an auto and does things an auto does. I disagree with it's choices at certain times, but I bought the thing. No real sense buying an auto and complaining too much about it.

Besides, 90% of the issues you hear about here can be addressed by using S5, or at least S mode. ECT gets most of the rest.

The double overdrive downshift to go thing gets most people here.

 

Went and drove a 2019 with manual transmission back to back with the 2020 with auto.... the manual feels great!

I noticed the steering on the 2020 felt different than the 2019... the models were exactly the same besides year model and trans. Both were double cab short bed Trd offroad 4x4.

Did they change something in the steering system for 2020?

The 2019 steering felt more connected with the road like a hydraulic power steering system. The 2020 felt a little more disconnected, but not entirely numb like most electric power steering I've driven.

Could the manual vs auto have an effect on steering? I wouldn't know how. Maybe it was the tire pressure. I don't think they had different tires, but could be wrong.

 

i did back before OV showed up and offered the MTs an alpha to try. i early adopted that after driving with the PC for a few months.

my '17 factory tune was so bad that i could barely get along with it and decided to sell if the PC didn't help. but it did help with the throttle boost that faked up a better power experience for throttle modulation. we had this challenge: drive at 10mph, 1k rpm, first gear. with those early ECU factory calibrations you could not do it.

the PC worked exactly as advertised. but i don't get along with bandaids, and honestly i can't hardly bear the thought of owning expensive hardware that is artificially muted by the manufacturer. the PC tries to get around this but cannot fix it by design.

all in all i would absolutely buy it again if i had no corrective option like OV. but no substitute for that.

 

Maybe it's me, but I think my 2019 MT OR 4x4 now has improved in throttle response over when it was new. Then again, maybe it was operator error & I just didn't push it enough. I started running premium gas at round 1200 miles and thought it was better. At around 2000 miles, I filled it with 87 octane and didn't notice a drop and, thus decided I didn't need to make any changes to the tuning. At 5,000 miles, I'm still happy with 87 octane on the stock tune. It has a few quirks at low rpm and I can still get hung out to dry if I'm in the wrong gear, but it runs like a champ when I need it to and grab the right gear. If you lean that way and don't have others or other constraints holding you back, get the MT, drive it on the harder side when you need power, & enjoy smoking a few boy racer civics along the way.

 

Thanks for the reply. Did the OV tune eliminate that flat spot around 3,000 ? The new ones seem to wake up suddenly right above 3,000.

 

After driving a few of the 2019 and 2020 manual trans I did notice being in one gear too high will definitely leave you with gutless acceleration, lol.

The motor seems to enjoy being around 3000 rpm and up, although I didn't get it up near redline. If I wanted to really gain any speed, I most certainly needed to downshift from whatever gear I was leisurely cruising in. No big deal as it downshifts smoothly.

I think I was going 30-35 when I downshifted into 2nd and it was super smooth. No drama. No excessive rpms. Overall, after driving several 6MT I feel it's one of the smoothest stick shifts I've ever driven....and I've owned/driven ALOT. Lol.

 

Oh also the LED headlights are the shit! HUGE difference vs the halogen projectors. Plus, the amber turn signal LEDs look super sweet, and the DRL LEDs look mean.

 

that boost around 3500rpm on the stock tune is the timing advance, which comes on switch-like. in the 2.0 versions, the OV tunes access the timing curves through table rewrites controlling ACIS differently than could be done in the 1.05 and previous versions. due to that, the 1.05 tunes do still have some amount fast timing ramp-up at times, but far less than stock. in 2.0, however, the power ramp starts much earlier and provides more power earlier & smoother. it's a better "stock" experience than i got with the stock truck by a stretch.

 

Is the 2.0 version still beta or it's finalized?

 

beta still but I'm not following closely regarding the AT tunes which may be happening first, not sure.

 

Tire pressure can effect a lot of things, handling, suspension, mpg, etc. No way they changed the steering rack, maybe a sway bar or bushings, perhaps. My guess is the different tire pressures and maybe tire brands.

 

Throttle response can be fixed with either OVTune or pedal commander/sprint booster on an MT. People rag the throttle scalars but they work well to get back into the powerband quicker, I've had one or the other on all my Toyotas.

 

Or you can find a used 2016-2017 SR Access Cab 5MT w/ 4WD

 

Not looking for access cab or long bed, but thanks for the suggestion. Was just curious about what truck configurations were built.

 

Maybe it was a difference in tire pressure. No low warning lights were on. And I'm pretty sure they both have the Wrangler tires with the Kevlar sidewall.

 

Tire pressure light only comes on if its low, guessing one of the trucks you drove had overinflated tires.

 

That's what I'm thinking at this point. I might prefer a few psi higher than whatever stock is. Not sure how it would affect tire wear, but this is a whole-nother conversation ha.

 

Back when I bought my 2015 it had a weird ride and then going around sharp turns stability control would kick on, started checking everything over only to find the Dealer had over 50psi in the tires!