Four years in a Tacoma, a frustrating experience

This combined with chicken tax and regulations against small turbo diesel trucks.

Electrification will get us there… eventually. Give it another decade.

 

Who knows, I may yet supercharge this thing. It’s about the same or less cost than getting a new truck.

 

Personally, I think EV are a niche market that is impossible to implement at the current scale of ICE. I certainly don't think it will happen in the next decade.

 

I suspect we’re going to see an explosion of mild hybrid technologies in the next decade, for better or worse.

 

If you follow the WEF their wet dream is NOBODY will own a car in 20 years.

 

The gas mileage on the 3.5 isnt great either, and it’s also gutless. Clearly there is more to the picture than we see there.

Rest of your analysis sounds about right to me though, there is a ton of pressure from regulations. I do think there are other reasons ford gave up on sedans though, beyond mpg.

 

You lost me on the primary issue. Quit trying to stick 6’ plus people in little trucks. They make full size trucks for your kind.

 

I agree, and honestly, hybrids are the next logical step when chasing fuel economy. Pushing for EVs is putting the cart before the horse.

 

It was a compact truck that morphed into a porky midsize truck. I'm 5'-11" and my wife is 5'-4". With the adjustable powered drivers seat we can both find comfortable seating positions. Midsized trucks will always be compromises. Emissions are the number one consideration these days. Engineers are doing all sorts of tricks to get lower emissions and better MPG's.

Yes, this truck is not for everyone. Sounds like you have outgrown it and need a full size. Our Tacoma still meets our needs. Good luck with your new direction.

 

I can appreciate the seat issue - I worked with a friend who wanted a Mustang really bad - that is all he talked about. I went with him when he took it for a test drive. He hated the seats - I didn't get it. Mustangs are not my thing but the seats seemed fine to me but it was a show stopper for him.

As for the Taco I'm 6'1" and guess I have a long torso as I have 32" inseam but I have power seats so have a nice comfortable seat position. No sunroof so I sit up high without hitting my head but I have to lower my head to see the traffic lights if I am first in line as well - it's not enough to bother me though.

 

I love my Tacoma, but to be totally honest i consider it more like a 4WD Camry with a huge trunk. With that tonneau and electric lock on the tailgate, it's good for hauling stuff on long trips.

i don't care that much about fuel economy because I owned Tundras from 2001-2020.

I'm 5' 10" and sit with the seat reclined to reduce pressure on my lower back. I found that using the Quick Fix rear seat risers made the seating position much better.

The only two things I'm not a fan of are the "loose" steering compared to the Tundra and the paper thin front rotors that develop a shake on hard braking.

I don't worry about trade in value as I keep my vehicles until the wheels are ready to fall of. I got 231K out of my '06 Tundra and expect to get at least 200K out of the Tacoma.

There are no perfect vehicles, but the reliability of Toyota is a big plus.

 

Not sure how you can say that....today we have some of the most powerful and high performance engines ever. Detroit has smog legal 700hp+ on pump gas...small V6s will run circles around big blocks of the late '70s and '80s.

 

It's not great economy or power, but it's "good enough" because it squeaks by the regs and the previous generations created enough of a cult following to have a mildly lackluster generation mixed in. I would have much preferred the 4Runner powertrain to have stuck around in it, just for the smoothness in comparison, but I like the 3rd gen well enough. I did lots of research and knew the flaws when I married her.

 

The latest from Detroit makes 1025hp on E85.

 

What current naturally aspirated 6 cylinder is producing high performance and good economy while also being at the perceived Toyota reliability level?

 

the 3.5L.....in anything other than a Tacoma lol

 

The 3.5 in the Camry does really well actually.

 

I tolerate the things I don't like because the overall package works well for me. Life is full of tradeoffs and this truck is no different. You just gotta find the tradeoffs you can live with.

Good luck with your next truck or maybe the next gen Tacoma

 

Pretty similar on performance here. The hit to economy isn't from the engine, it's the aerodynamics of the body that kills it.

 

100%, probably parasitic loss in the driveline as well.