My review of the 6 speed manual trans.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/at...nfo-sheet-2014_toyota_tacoma_product_info.pdf


After reading this I'm convinced that I'd rather have the 5 speed manual from the 4 cyl trucks than the 6 speed I have in my 6 cyl. Look at those gear ratios! 1st is a little bit taller so it's more useful and 5th gear is slightly taller than 6th in the 6 cyl! How does that make sense? My impression of my 6 speed is it's really only a 5 speed with two 3rd gears. Kinda like the gears are 1, 2, 3, 3 1/2, 4, 5. Or if you want to break it down even further since 1st is so low: L, 1, 2, 3, 3 1/2, 4. Functionally this truck is a 4 speed.

That being said I love having a manual transmission and much prefer it over the 2013 Tacoma automatic I had. My truck is still new with about 8,000 miles and I haven't yet encountered any of the common problems people have with the manual transmission in these trucks.

Thanks to user LuckyCharms for posting the info in the link above.

 

Yeah, unloaded the gearing sucks.

However, driving the truck loaded through the mountains... I love, love, love this transmission.

Can't have it all, I guess.

 

i was thinking the same thing. the hill going up to mammoth that 3rd and 1/2 gear is crucial. same with any mountain towing since i live in the mountains.

 

I'm planning a road trip with the family for early June, the majority of it from Mount Whitney to Lake Tahoe. We're staying south of Mammoth for three nights then in S Lake Tahoe for the rest. I bought a really neat map from Imus that shows all of the dirt roads. I plan on just driving up every dirt road around us, do you have any specific recommendations? We want to see mountain lakes and whatever kind of off the paved road views we can find. My son is turning 8 and I want to show him some proper mountains. Any help is appreciated.

http://www.imusgeographics.com/smartlist_73/sierra-nevada-map

 

Yup. I just went yesterday from Nevada to Denver hauling a travel trailer, and the gearing is nice. 3rd, 4th, 5th, nice transitions. The dropdown to 2nd climbing Vail and Eisenhower is a jolt, though . . .

That gate into 4th gear I miss it sometimes, is it just me? For some reason once in a while I have a hard time hitting 4th. Must be nerves . . . . .

 

i actually live just outside of san bernardino.. so when i head up that way i take 395 past lone pine and mono into mammoth. you really cant go wrong anywhere up there.. but since ive only made the trip a few times i cant say i was anything but overwhelmed being just transplanted from the swamps of the east coast!


i LOVE that map though. you might get some ideas from dirtopia.com though. they break down offroad trails by state and region and im sure youll find something scenic between whitney and tahoe! 395 is a gorgeous drive once you get up past death valley. sorry i couldnt be more help and dont forget to take pictures and share with the rest of us! who knows, i might take the wife up the same trails when i get home.

 

I really hate the rev hang on this thing.

 

The best solution to the unloaded gearing in our 6 speeds that I've found is 285's. It smoothed everything out for me. Its like Toyota meant for us to throw on bigger tires. Reverse is still a little high though. The 4.0 is torqy enough to still not be a dog with the bigger tires pulling or hauling.

 

ill keep that in mind, thanks

 

When relating to transmissions, it's important to understand the current paradigm in multi-gear transmission development, mostly stuff truckers have dealt with in one way or another for generations. It's not just a control thing anymore, or manual verses automatic. Now manufacturers and drivers are dealing with efficiency, fuel mileage and the challenges of EPA ratings. For example, a modern multi-speed automatic in light throttle applications upshifts quickly through the gears, keeping engine speed low and minimizing fuel use. A modern multi-speed manual gives you the same tools, but the driver makes the decisions. I know several 6-speed manual drivers that routinely skip gears in light throttle, low speed driving (like bumper to bumper traffic). The gear spacing on the 5-speed manual in my old 1st gen Tacoma was fine, but didn't give as much fine tuning ability as the current 6-speed in my brother-in-laws 2nd gen. With the current 6-speed manual (and automatics with 6 or more gears) you can fine tune engine speed for pretty much any conditions of load and road speed to maximize mileage and efficiency. All of this gets more important in the future as manufacturers struggle to get better EPA ratings, especially with manuals that they have less control over. In my opinion, the tools keep getting better (more gears in all transmissions) and we just need to keep educating ourselves as it's more than just comparing gear ratios. My enjoyment of both the manuals and automatics just grows with the technology. (I just worry the reliability won't keep up. Hope I'm wrong.)

 

I'll add this to the list of reasons I need 285s when it comes time for new tires and the wife starts asking questions

I haven't done much towing with it since most of my towing is done during warmer weather months. Maybe after that I'll change my mind about the ratios since most of my towing is done hailing 4 wheelers through the mountains of nh and vt.

 

I test drove a couple of 6 speeds when I was hunting. I've always had a clutch, but I also drive through a bunch of stoplights to and from work. I ended up going with the auto because the gearing on the 6 speeds annoyed me for stoplight-to stoplight. I was either constantly shifting or I was revving the nuts off it.
I ended up going with the slushbox, and I actually don't mind it that much. I miss the clutch when I'm offroading it, but for the day-to-day the auto's easier to live with.

 

Amen

 

Take into account the final drive ratios of the 6 cyl and 4 cyl.

6 cyl is 3.73

4 cyl is 4.10

That means there is a -8.8% in the final drive ratios (better acceleration for the 4cyl)

Looking at a side by side comparison

6cyl/4cyl
(+acceleration/-longer gear ratio)
1: 4.17 / 3.95 +5.3%
2: 2.19 / 2.06 +6%
3: 1.49 / 1.44 +3%
4: 1.19 / 1.00 +16%
5: 1.00 / 0.81 +19%
6: 0.85 (+ 5% versus 5th gear for 4cyl)

Drive ratios
3.73/4.10
(Gear ratio * final drive ratio)
1: 15.55 / 16.19 -4%
2: 8.16 / 8.44 -3%
3: 5.55 / 5.9 -6%
4: 4.43 / 4.1 +8%
5: 3.73 / 3.32 +11%
6: 3.17 (-5% versus 5th gear in 4cyl)


I think the 6 speed is perfect for the truck, and having driven both the 4cyl 5spd and 6cyl 6spd, I'd take the 6cyl any day. You can see the differences are so small to begin with, and that final drive ratio makes a huge difference.

 

That's all Greek to me.
My tests were entirely based on the "seat-of-the-pants" Dynamometer test of taking a test drive on my route to work.

 

I compiled all those numbers from my butt dyno. It's accurate to a 100th of a percent...

 

Damn, your butt dyno's a lot more accurate than mine. Mine's usually only good for about a 5MPH margin of error at lower speeds, with the error rate increasing dramatically as speeds increase.

 

Actually, I wouldn't mind having an auto for towing. You can manually shift them up/down and it's quicker than with a manual. The problem with an auto to me is the upshifting is automatic, that's to say if you put it in "2" it doesn't start out in 2nd gear, it starts out in 1st gear then goes to 2nd gear. Same thing if you put the auto into "3" or "4", it doesn't start out in 3rd gear or 4th gear it starts out in 1st gear then works up into 3rd or 4th.

As someone said above, you can't have it all . . . . . .

 

This is the big thing for me, screws up everything.
Next truck will still be a manual, but what a difference could be made if Toyota fixed this.

 

I would even consider getting a nicer sounding slightly louder exhaust, lets say TRD for the argument sake, but with the rev hang now amplified, everyone would think I can't drive.