6MT owners

4th gen 6MT owners- how do you like the transmission with the turbo? My local dealer has an SR 6MT DC marked down to 36K and thinking about a test drive.

 

I am enjoying mine. It's a different manual then I have ever driven before but after a week or so I got used to it. After about 1600km it started feeling alot better I found

 

Thinking about a test drive??? Take a test drive! The manual transmission is garbage but if you like MTs you'll buy it anyway because there are no other choices. See my tag. <<<

 

It's my first manual vehicle but it feels smooth. I had iMT and hill hold assist on the first few weeks but now they are more of a hindrance and actually make it more likely to stall once you get comfortable with the clutch.

The turbo hardly kicks in versus the automatic though, so take note of that. At low gears it is basically non existent, or when driving leisurely/not in a rush. It tends to kick in when accelerating from 3rd to 4th. It sounds sweet when it does.

1st to 2nd is the hardest shift to get down smoothly in this truck and I now just get into 2nd asap from 1st at a lower rpm because there is no point in revving high in first for a 2nd gear shift.

2nd gear starts even on the slightest incline stall me out. Maybe a skill issue but it's annoying when traffic opens up right before you come to a stop.

Reverse gear is very tense in this truck, I had it slip out of reverse once thinking it was in. When you release reverse the knob snaps back like it was under heavy tension. Not sure if this is normal for MTs but there it is.

Getting the hang of it now and had my first bumper to bumper today and it was okay. Under 300km so it could be break-in for the clutch but sometimes in parking lots or in stop and go if you have the creep with the clutch a lot you're start to smell something. We'll see if that continues past 1500kms.

 

Test drove mine on Monday, picking it up tomorrow. I found it worked really good. Clutch easy to feel, smooth shift. Comparable to my old '12 Xterra (wrecked 6 years ago).

 

The 6MT is great! It shifts smooth, gears are spaced well, and 100 mph comes up pretty quick when you're playing w the turbo in sport mode. Granted it is not a race car, but the Taco isn't slow anymore!

 

its gotta be quicker than the 02 5 speed 4 cylinder I used to own (and never should have sold). Still 40 grand for a base tacoma is nuts, i know if I test drive I'm gonna wanna sign papers!

 

This is the first truck I've had that you couldn't start out in second gear and you're absolutely right: Do not do it in this truck. Unless you're downhill in a hurricane in which case you should be fine.

I think the manual would be precisely 8700% better (I measured) if first was a little bit taller and second was a little bit shorter. But you adapt.

 

100% agree. 1st is basically a crawl forward gear, you can't even use it in a parking lot or garage. 2nd does a lot of heavy lifting in this struck, tied with 3rd gear.

 

Yeah I’m loving mine so far. I’m still playing with shift points a bit in the first three gears. I find if I shift around 2000-2100 rpm there’s noticeable rev hang and it lugs a bit. If I shift at 2500+ rpm then the rpm drops quicker and I can let the clutch out sooner for a quicker shift.
Looking forward to getting in on some rocky trails to test the crawl-ability of 1st gear.