3rd Gen 2022 Tacoma 2.7 - don't believe the hype

Thanks for your post. I’ve been waiting on my 23 SR Dcab 2wd 2.7. Your post pretty much matches my driving and requirements. I drove an 08 Ranger 2wd, 2.3 auto. Loved it and it did fine town or highway, with that experience I figured the 2.7 would be fine for me.

 

It seems a lot of folks complain about the shifting of the auto, why not just put it into manual shifting? I haven’t had mine out on a road trip yet, will be heading to NM next month will play with it then. I’ve had no problems yet on interstates up to 80ish staying in the 2k rpm area. I’m not accelerating it hard though. Still in the break in mode. My 2005 2.7 pre runner (manual) did struggle 80 to 85mph fighting a headwind, nowadays I have slowed down a bit and enjoy the ride. It would be cool to have light speed warp drive capable vehicle. I see myself as a happy dung beetle, just happy to get my ball of s$#@ down the road.

 

I got my 16 Taco AC/LB the same day I blew up my 99'Ford Ranger. I had two options a 15' grey one or a 16' blue with a color matched cap. Dogging it while test driving it seemed OK. After driving it on the highway for a while I started looking for more performance (if your not doing 70 around here you are impeding traffic). After reading everything I could I decided to get the LCE long tube header. Just my luck they did a small production run of them again and $700 later it was in the truck. A little bit better performance but nothing over the top. Next step was the KDMAX tune, THAT made a huge difference in drive-ability, at least for the 1st 4 gears. The truck will still hunt for gears on inclines so I think there is more that can be done with the tune but I guess they only have one tune for the 2.7 at the moment. I'd like to have a little more throttle available before before it shifts down even in S6. That said I regularly get 400 miles out of a tank of gas so I'm not complaining. 67 MPH at ~1750 RPM seems to be the sweet spot for fuel economy and not getting run over.

One thing I did notice is that the auto tranny will "learn" your driving habits. For a week straight I would shift out of D into S6 (take your foot off the gas slap the stick twice) @ ~65MPH on a down hill and just ease back into the throttle. After that week I was able to leave it in D and it would mostly shift into 6th on it's own, before it wouldn't. That said tire pressure and wind have a significant impact on the truck's cruizing mode.

Cheers,

Doc

 

Perfection. Well done!

 

I understand what you're saying, but ironically, I moved 80 65lb bags of reddimix, 20 at a time, as well as a bunch of 94lb concrete bags, 90 yards of crush and navi jack 1/2 to 3/4 yard at a time depending on the loader, as well as about 150 90lb Allen blocks, a concrete mixer, and whatever else goes into building and landscaping a house. 20 bags is not much more than GVWR, and handling is not bad if you install airbag suspension. The payload on the 4cylinders is actually more than the 6 cylinder.

 

It's tight even in an access cab, but can be done. We did this 9 hour trip once with 3 of us in a regular cab Ranger/Mazda B2300. Never again!

 

I sold my 04 Mazda to a friend, he's still driving it everyday. I agree, very simple, very solid, and I think the RC cab ones looked great, but absolutely useless with a family. Could fit 3 people in a pinch. Pinch being the key word. Too bad they didn't make the 4 cylinder in a 4x4.

 

I’ve had my SR 2.7 2wd D cab since Monday. Got a whopping 60 miles on it, mostly in town. Hope to get some road miles this weekend. So far I’m impressed with the “Little Engine That Could”. We’ll see how things go.

 

"This truck barely does what I expect of it" is such a glowing endorsement. Imma see if I can find my old 2.7L and buy it back.

 

Check out OTT tune I have an LCE header as well which definitely helped with my little bit bigger tires 265/75/16 and topper weight. I have a 21 which is not tuneable at the moment but when it is I will be getting an OTT tune by the sounds of it you may want to check it out as well might fix some of the staying in gear under load

 

ironic how you got rid of an F150 Lariat V8 for a Tacoma SR 2.7, and I just got rid of my Tacoma SR 2.7 for a F150 Lariat V8 lol.
Did your F150 happen to be a blue supercab with gray interior?

The 2.7 is as turn key as it gets in 2022. The schedule only calls for oil changes every 10k(or less) and spark plugs at 120k due to emission law. Rest of it is repair as needed. How many engines are like this these days?

That MF was slow tho. After 2 years and 20k miles of ownership I will say it's worth to get the V6. The motor can be indestructible but what's that matter if you didn't enjoy your 15 years of ownership? You only live once. A couple of parts here n there isn't worth 15 years of struggling to maintain speed up a grade.

If my transmission line didn't rot out and run the transmission dry I would've kept this truck for another 10 years. It's simple, which is great. But too many things were wrong with it and the transmission was the final straw. Especially considering the truck can't tow enough for my needs, and the 2.7 is too underpowered for plowing my 2 small lots. Just wasn't worth the repair costs anymore.

 

Yesterday, two weeks after delivery of my SR I got to take it on a little highway jaunt, 90 miles round-trip. The per-tank MPG readout after fillup and on the return 45miles was a little over 24mpg, that with the cruise set on 65mph and a fairly level drive. Has approximately 270miles on it. I'm pleased, it's comfortable. I'm going to change the oil and filter at 1000miles. If I feel up to it I might just change it myself. Gonna use Toyota oil and filter from the dealer. Yeah, I know but just feel better, especially purchasing the filter from the dealer. I'll take her in at either 5000 miles or around April 28, 2023, whichever comes first for the service at the dealer and pay to have it changed again at 5000. I'm 65 and I really would like this to be my last vehicle. I've had a bunch, most of the mainstream vehicles. There are good points to most of them.
You know, there is somebody out there that is in love with his Yugo and somebody that has had nothing but issues with his Rolls.

 

i love my 2.7L. plenty of low end torque and fast enough for me. runs best on 91 though. you will suffer on 87.

 

The 2.7 egine is not high compression. What benefit does 91 have, apart from possibly having no ethanol. Toyota recommends 87 octane.

 

runs with more advanced ignition timing on my truck. runs a lot better. ecu retards timing with 87 on my truck with a noticeable drop in performance.

 

I understand a knock sensor retarding timing in a higher compression engine designed to run high octane fuel, but how would the engine ecu know to advance timing?
How would the engine detect higher octane?
In addition, higher octane fuel has fewer btu's per gallon, so assuming you are getting complete combustion with 87, you'd be getting less power with a higher octane number fuel.
Of course do as you please, but YMMV, as they say.

 

the ecu is constantly trying to advance the timing until it detects knock. and toyota recommends 87 or better. not 87 only.

 

I loved my 2.7 2007 5MT

I bought a 2020 Corolla as a daily, but I think I want to get a 2.7 Tacoma instead.

my Corolla is a 6MT, so a manual 2.7 would be great if I can find one.



I only see 2nd gens in my area that are 2.7 MT though.


Did they make 3rd gems that are 5MT

 

2016 and 2017 MY.

 

True, it does advance timing, but does the few degrees advance make up for the decrease in btu's?
Be an interesting clinical test.