2017 vs 2020 how it drives.

So I just rented a 2020 TRD sport. While the dealer fixes a Timing chain cover oil leak for the 2nd time in 18 months. On my 2017 TRD Sport But that’s another story.
My question is. Why do this 2020’s ride so much nicer than the 2017? The engine feels better and also the transmission. Down to changing gears from drive to park or any other gear.

 

Updated ECU would be my guess.

 

There have been TSB updates for the ECUs. They can make a big difference. If yours was previously not done and they are ankle deep in the timing cover work, they should help you out with the 10min flash to get you updated.

If not, see my signature for doing it yourself.

 

Thanks for the reply. I had a couple of updates in the first 2 or 3 years I had the truck. I'll have to check what they are. I'll see if they'll do it. for now I'm hopping they cover this under warranty.

 

You're welcome.

Your factory ECU would have been 04B03. There were a few TSBs dropped in 2018. All had the same software to update you to 04B04. The details and TSBs are in the first post of the ECU Update thread.

If you pop open any of the TSBs for this, you will see that they are covered under the powertrain warranty (80k / 96mo).

 

I can tell you my 2020 v6 auto drives noticeably better than a buddies 2019 v6 auto trd. The entire package just performs more fluid with encountering different road conditions. It always seems to be in the right gear while his reacts slower bogging down at times.

 

How many miles on the 17? Easy to feel a 20' rides better than a clapped out 17'

 

I think the op was asking how it drives, not rides.

 

That new car smell.
I read your other thread, the mind is powerful, you want a new truck.

My 19 is same as my buddy's 20, as far as we can tell.

 

I went from a 17 OR automatic to a 20 Pro standard. I can't tell a much difference other than the Pro is much more fun to drive and a bit harder to enter with the 1" difference.

 

New car smell effect - it is a hallucinogenic.

 

My 2020 does feel a bit better than my 2017 did. It shifts smoothly, it'll hold gears when it should, but downshift quickly when needed. In my 2017, if I was passing on a 2 lane road, I would bump the shifter over to S-mode so that it would drop to 4th and then I would go. Otherwise, it could be slow to react sometimes. My 2020 does a good job of jumping to the correct gear based on throttle input. Not a huge, crazy difference, but rather a nice incremental improvement is how I see it.

I agree that new car smell is intoxicating. My Tundra still had that new car smell when I traded it, so not sure how much of an impact that had this time around. Maybe I'll re-evaluate in a year to see if there's a correlation between driving feel and new car smell lol.

 

My 2020 drives the same as my 2017, which is not a complaint. Where it feels better is the far superior adjust-ability of the power seat, and the ability to get tech with no sunroof.

 

Like shrooms to hippies!

 

In 2020 Toyota recalibrated the transmission logic.

 

Was it a loaner or a rental

 

Initially was a rental from the dealer. but later they made it a loaner while they fix mine.

 

31k

 

lol.. don't really want a new truck. I've had too many cars/trucks over the years and wanted to settle with this one. this is my 4th Tacoma but first new Tacoma. and like 5th or 6th new car/truck.