2020 Tacoma, an unexpected improvement

Same. I wrecked my 2nd gen. And I’d been driving Tacoma’s for 25 years. So I just went and got another Tacoma. Test drove 3 or 4 and it felt different but fine. It wasn’t until after some weeks/months with the truck that I started to hate it.

 

Dude driving that truck at 80mph with a 20mph headwind just plain sucked.

 

I wonder if they really optimized the truck for 80mph. Talk about buying the wrong vehicle

 

I think maybe you don’t know anything about Tacoma’s, how the different generations drive, the target customer base, etc.

Toyota USA is headquartered in Texas. Half of the Tacoma’s are made in Texas. Texas is a huge market. And the speed limit in Texas is 75, 80 and 85.

It actually does need to work properly at Texas speeds. The 2nd gen certainly does.

 

should have seen the last 2nd gen owners face when he “tried” to go by me on the highway and did nothing but get a face full of exhaust fumes

my Texas truck works just fine in Texas speed limits and beyond

 

The issue isn’t the horsepower or top end speed. It’s the behavior once there. Cruise control at 75 or 80 sucks. At least it was for me.

 

I never use cruise control.... makes me wanna fall asleep

 

If you look at the bottom front edge/gap of the drivers door the panels are overlapping. Judging by little/no distortion on that panel I'd say the frame is pretty well toasted. Just my $.02

 

Driving my 2013 through Idaho and Utah on the way to Moab doing 80 mph on the interstate my MPG sucked, transmission was fine but terrible MPG. No big deal when your a tourist driving through the area but for locals doing that kind of speed every day that would get old fast.
No matter what the gen 80 mph is fast. Trucks meant to cruise comfortable at 60 mph.

 

First & foremost, glad you are OK. Good to hear that you are satisfied with your 2020.

I had a 2008 Prerunner 4.0 for 7 years & sold it only because I wanted 4WD. I bought my 2015 TRD O/R 4WD Certified Used on September 2018 after searching for about 7 months for a good 2015. Before that I test drove (2) new 2018 Tacoma 3.5's with Automatic transmissions. One was an SR5, the other a TRD Sport. I even test drove a 2018 Tundra SR5 but it's just too big for where I like to off-road & what I like to do with it. Otherwise I would've bought it. MPG's have never been a concern for me.

Well, as for the 2018s I did not like the way they felt during acceleration & they both hunted for gears almost constantly. They may have more HP than the 4.0's (& I know these are trucks, not sports cars) but they "felt" weak. I found out later that the trans learns your driving habits & it eventually feels better but I had already bought my '15 by then.

 

Of course not. But imo there’s a big difference in how the 2nd gen goes down the road at interstate speeds vs 3rd gen. I liked 2nd gen a lot better. It was acceptable. The 3rd gen was not, as far as I’m concerned. Just one opinion of many.

 

I just bought a 2017 a couple of weeks ago. I was given a loaner 2020 (DCSB V6 4x4 SR with tech package?) for a few days; So the dealer could complete the due bill.


The 2020 seems to have a smoother acceleration & shifting.


On the 2020, the pedal feels like it is actually connected to the engine.

(think before drive by wire)


The transmission shifts right

(Think 2nd gen or think Turbo400 even an AOD)

The transmission definitely holds the gears better.




On another thought....

Is Sport mode more for just telling the ECU to not go above a specific gear?


It seems like you need to shift way too early going from 1st to 2nd. Or any other gear.


I am thinking there might be some newbie engineers working at toyota that need a WAKE UP CALL and some ride-along / hands on training.

Hopefully Toyota will come up with an update.

 

So far so good. I put bigger tires on today an no gear hunting.

 

WHY JUST NOT LET US LOCK THE 6TH FUCKEN GEAR.

 

They have that option in a MT

 

Praying my car doesn’t suddenly start gear hunting like some have stated.

 

Since its the same motor and trans, they should be able to load the same tune into the existing third gens for better trans tune and throttle response.

 

Does the 2020 have a locking gas cap?

 

The brakes on the 2017 SR and the 2020 OR feel totally different. The 2017 felt softer and required more pedal to stop- even with new pads.

The 2020 needs less pedal pressure to stop.