4th Gen Manual Trans and the automatic e-brake off roading?

I have a manual TRD Off-Road arriving at my dealership in June/July. I was reading this article:

https://gearjunkie.com/motors/truck/2024-toyota-tacoma-trd-off-road-manual-review

And it basically trashes the manual transmission especially for off-roading largely due to the absence of a manual e-brake or handbrake as we call them where I'm from (New Zealand). In my previous manual 4x4's I've always had a manual handbrake and it comes in handy for really steep hill starts. Yes I understand you can do a steep hill start without using the handbrake/e-brake at all but on a really steep hill it's not ideal.

I know these trucks have the hill-start assist control (HAC), but that article says the auto e-brake won't engage on really steep inclines. So will the HAC even work if the incline is too steep? And what the hell are you supposed to do if that's where you need to stop and get out to look at something or whatever but the e-brake won't come on?

Anyone here with a manual trans 4th gen who does a fair bit of off-roading with steep inclines? How are you finding it with no manual handbrake?

Few other questions for the manual drivers:

1. Does the gearstick flex like the author of that article says it does?
2. Is the gearbox really temperamental changing from 1st to 2nd and crunches/grinds if you don't get the revs right?
3. I've read first gear in the manuals is so low that you end up holding up cars behind you in the time it takes to go through 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear to get up to speed. Any truth to that?

I would have test driven one to figure most of this out but none of the dealers in my area have manuals on the lot.

 

I had a manual 3rd gen that I off roaded a lot. I can’t remember using the parking brake at all. The author stopped on a hill for a photo for the article, you probably won’t be doing that. It sounded like he should have used clutch start cancel to start after the photo.

1. Does the gearstick flex like the author of that article says it does? >> No.
2. Is the gearbox really temperamental changing from 1st to 2nd and crunches/grinds if you don't get the revs right? >> No. Upshifts are fine. Rev matched downshifts can be tricky to get perfectly due to throttle by wire, but it doesn’t act odd if you aren’t perfect. If you want to be perfect, use iMT and then you simply press the clutch and shift and it automatically adds throttle. I assume the press car may have been abused as even auto journalists these days can’t drive sticks.

1. I've read first gear in the manuals is so low that you end up holding up cars behind you in the time it takes to go through 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear to get up to speed. Any truth to that? >> First is a short gear but you get used to it.

Comparing 3rd to 4th gen’s:
Third gen is an excellent car to learn how to drive stick. Anyone can drive it fairly smoothly. The fourth gen should not be your first manual. It is fairly easy to drive smoothly, but you have to work at it and need some time to get used to it. They did lower the redline and that plus the low end torque make it drive a bit like a diesel.

I think the author was complaining about a sound that occurs if you don’t quickly remove all throttle when shifting (which you always do, right?). Well, it took me a while to get this right and be smooth AND avoid an unpleasant noise between gears.

I’m at 3k miles now and like it, but I’ve only owned one car that wasn’t manual and it was an EV. If you care what some auto journalist says, maybe you aren’t confident in your manual experience.

 

That article was an essay from a person who doesn't know how to drive a truck with a manual, explaining how he couldn't drive a truck with a manual, and blaming it on the truck.

-edit-

For the OP:

1. No
2. No (more on this in a moment)
3. No

This Tacoma's manual is admittedly different than the previous trucks - and I've owned one of each gen, to include one before they got named "Tacoma". Those drove like an average/mediocre car transmission. This one drives like a truck, and by that I mean a 60s-90s or so F-series pickup. 1st is low, really close to but not quite a "granny low". The spread between 1st and 2nd is a little wide.

If you drive it like a truck, shifting around 3k RPM or so, it shifts easy. If you try to drive it like a sports car or slam the shifts, it'll punish you if you don't know what you're doing - especially the 1st to 2nd shift. You're also abusing the clutch if you drive it like that.

1st gear is running about 15mph at 3k rpm. You only need it from a dead stop. The only reason you would spend any time in 1st is if you had a heavy trailer and needed to climb an incline from a stop, or a similar set of circumstances.

The author mentions having to run the truck at 4k rpm to get any power in 1st. That's not even remotely the case.

I don't know what kind of incline he was on for the e-brake to not engage. I've never had that happen, and I live in an area (Ozark plateau) with steep hills that the parking pawl on an automatic will barely hold. If he was on something steeper than that, he shouldn't have been stopped.

The truck has a brake hold button and function, but the manual also has a 3-second brake hold to keep you from rolling backwards that's always active. That's another reason I think the author doesn't know what he's talking about (or doing). That 3-seconds is plenty of time to get the clutch engaging and the truck moving forward. I think the brake-hold switch just carries over from the auto, and it's a convenience for people in the Starbucks drive through who can't be bothered to keep a foot on the brake pedal.

If you're expecting lightning quick "snickety-snick" shifting, you're going to be really disappointed. If you're expecting it to drive like a truck that can do some work, it'll be fine.

 

1. When in gear, the gearshift lever does buck around a LOT when on washboard roads, moreso than my 3G Tacoma.
2. The delta between ratio of the 1st and 2nd gears is much bigger than on 3G. It's not "temperamental" but you do need to account for it with your shifting method.
3. Yes. At a stoplight, I often find the car behind me will have to back off when we take off (driving normally) since I have to wait so long for the RPMs to drop between 1st and 2nd for a smooth shift. It's also difficult to take off fast from a dead stop unless you're willing to slip the clutch a lot when engaging 2nd after 1st. 1st gear is so short and the redline is so low that you hit redline too early, at what seems like 30mph which is nuts. But, once you're moving, this turbo engine is a joy to drive.

For the last 20 years, I have owned only manual transmission trucks and cars. I am sad to see the manual handbrake disappear in the 4G, but so far it has not been a critical element with some mild offroading. Fingers crossed that the lack of a handbrake does not prove to be a disaster for offroading.

 

I think it's partially because so many current cars have heavy tip-in with their throttle and typically are turbo with 8-10 gears...so everyone just zooms off, not necessarily intentionally, and that's not to mention electric cars.

OTT said in another thread they can help reduce the rev hang quite a bit, which makes 1-2 shifts in modern manual cars harder- that will be on my list of things to do when I pick up a 6-spd 4th gen.

Also, does anyone know if the 4th gen comes with that accumulator that slows the release of the clutch? I know there are delete options for that on the 3rd gen, and having owned a lot of manual BMW's I have done that as well (called clutch delay valve in that world).

 

Don’t know how the 3rd gen compares to the 4th gen but this happens to me a lot and it’s irritating as F. I live in a semi urban area that 30 plus years ago was rural and people are up your ass if you don’t take off from stoplights like you’re at a drag strip.
edit: deleted original comment to clean up quote

 

lots of frustration with being able to choose your own gears..

 

I did an accumulator delete on my 3G Taco and didn't notice any real improvement or change under any circumstances, except that the pedal returned to the top a little faster when it was below freezing. I don't think I would bother with it on my 4G.

 

It's amusing to watching them in the rear view mirror freaking out, it really shows off some people's psyche.

 

There is no accumulator on the 4th gen.

 

It doesn’t really feel like a manual driving experience if you have a drive by wire throttle instead of the old school cable.

add to that the lack of a hand brake, I wouldn’t be interested in the manual transmission on these trucks since 2005

 

The only negative I see in the manual is the lack of a cable e-brake. For that matter I don’t like all these new vehicles with the electric e-brake. Reason being if you have no electrical power you have no e-brake . That’s the only down side, just need to know how to drive a manual.

 

How often do you lose electrical power and your hydraulic brakes simultaneously? What is that scenario?

 

Breaks down. You have no power. You can’t push it because the electric brake is engaged and you cannot disengage. Just an example

 

Seems like an insanely unlikely edge case that you break down and have power to set the brake but not to release it. And the tow guy will have a jump box if you need to get it released to get on the flatbed.

alternately, just turn off the automatic brake

 

Thanks for posting this information. I've got the part (I think it's a Honda stainless hose) to do the accumulator delete but I've delayed the job because I really haven't had any issues with the clutch/shifting/etc. .