Gear Hunting Defined???

I am new to the Tacoma family and going to pose, what I am sure will be the first, of my silly questions.

My wife has 2005 4 Runner and I know that is a bigger engine (4.7L v8), but the throttle response is much better than my 23' TRD OR 3.5L v6. The 4 Runner has much more direct reaction to pedal interaction. I am in Central VA and constantly on hilly roads. Whether ECT engaged or not, when Cruise Control is engaged, the Taco seems to drop in and out between 6th & 4th gears regularly, sometimes on longer, steeper runs I may even hit 3rd gear. Is this the "Gear Hunting" everyone speaks about. That does not happen as egregiously in the 4 Runner. Thanks in advance.

 

Yes

 

Yup

 

Welcome to owning a 3rd gen!

I too live in a hilly/mountainous region. I've found if before a hill to tip into the throttle a little harder and it'll downshift so you won't lose speed rather than it doing it mid hill and you lose momentum. Sucks, but you get used to it.

 

You'll get used to it. If it still bugs ya after a while, get a tune put on it.

 

According to the YouTuber Car Care Nut, it’s all about emissions. Toyota in their infinite wisdom believes that this set up will save fuel and Cut down on emissions.
I’m actually thinking about getting a pedal commander, my truck is brand new and I don’t want to put a tune on it yet.

 

Try "S" Mode? Tune? Part out?

I drive with ECT and "S" mode always on and it pretty much alleviates most of the Tacoma transmission quirks for me.

 

It’s because in a test they want the truck to go into 6th gear asap. On a flat smooth surface it doesn’t take much power to make the truck go 60mph. Having the rpm’s so low decreases emissions output while in a test setting. In the real world with hills and varying terrain it doesn’t work quite as well. When you start adding things like armor and bigger tires it only gets worse.

 

Yeah, that’s what you’re feeling. I dealt with it for a while then eventually had enough and got the KDMax tune and that made the truck drive like a whole new vehicle.

 

it's just the way it's designed

 

Don't waste your money. All a pedal commander does is press the pedal a little harder than you do. That's it. It's a digital brick tied to your foot. If you want to change the behavior of the truck, a tune is the only way to do so. Well, aside from changing the behavior of your left foot, that is.

 

I’m not an expert but drawing on some knowledge in the deepest recesses of my mind from my engineering days.. emissions and economy are not the same thing. Sure, economy is super important and what most owners care about, but you also have to worry about NOx, SOx, and hydrocarbon (from incomplete combustion) emissions just to name a few. There’s so much going on with the engine that it’s quite incredible it can all be controlled by a single pedal input (throttle position, fuel ratio, exhaust gas recirculating, spark timing, valve timing, etc.)
The throttle by wire system handles all this. It does a great job of doing what it’s designed for; unfortunately, the EPA forced Toyota engineers to sacrifice drivability for emissions/economy. ECU tunes are a great way of overcoming this, however.

Edit: Pedal Commander won’t solve your root problem. It just makes the car think you’ve pushed the pedal down further than you have, giving people the illusion that the car’s behavior has changed.

 

someone gets it!
Many think big bad Toyota got bored and mean one day, and designed the truck this way to torment it's owners. And before someone compares it to another model and/or brand, keep in mind old generations still in production won't get the re$ources for an engine redesign mid model, and an MFG's overall numbers are scaled, so high volume vehicles greatly affect their overall number.

 

Yup, we’re running super old engine designs, except for a few minor changes and although they are bullet proof, tried and true, they just weren’t built to produce the results the EPA demands. We have amazing trucks, they’re just neutered.

 

I just got a 2023 DCSB OR a couple months ago and feel your pain. Side streets and traffic up to 60-65MPH or so, the AT performs fine. No real complaints other than the engine doesn’t rev out very quickly. But get over 65 and into any inclines or hills and it is upshift, downshift, upshift, downshift. And with cruise control it is obnoxious. And the incline doesn’t have to be much to make it do it. I’ve started putting my foot into the go pedal more to get speed before inclines but it still shouldn't require it.

My wife’s 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee has the Pentastar 3.6L V6 with an 8 speed AT and it doesn’t have to downshift going over the same terrain at the same speeds and hardly requires any more throttle to maintain speed. And it only has 295HP w/ 260lb-ft of torque which is very comparable to the Tacoma. But they drive very, very different. Granted it is a truck compared to an SUV but still… the 3.5L in the Tacoma just doesn’t have the tuning “ooomph” to make it go.

And we actually had a 2017 Camry with the 3.5L V6 and the 6 speed AT before the Tacoma. So I know what the engine and trans are capable of. In the Camry that engine would rev quick and do 85+ without ever needing to downshift on slight hills or inclines to maintain speed.

As others have said, the Tacoma has just been neutered, for whatever reason, and as soon as I’ve got the time I’m getting it Overland Tailer tuned.

 

I think for one thing the 4runner has a 5 speed auto, and less overdrive than the 6 speed tacoma. I can tell you my 3.5 sr5 feels very similar up to 4th gear as my 2001 4.7 tundra to 4th.

 

Pedal Commander could actually make your problems seem worse by increasing the throttle position sensitivity thus, making the demand for power, and rpms... causing more or premature downshifting. get the KDMAX Pro9 tune. ski

 

Yep I did that today rolling around and it was definitely better. But if I wanted to do the shifting in town, I would have bought the S/T. I may just part it out!

 

Yep! All of this. Off topic... great profile pic.

 

Just what I needed... more overwatch from another federal department of our government.