How It Works: 2016 Toyota Tacoma's 'Atkinson' Cycle

ya it needs a new front end. So does the hilux.

 

Looks like a Colorado to me. So, is GM ripping off VW to compete?

 

I like the look of the Colorado honestly. I am disappointed in the fact that they continually advertise truck of the year, which to me is a false title considering them not even testing the truck yet. Secondly, it's ad page vs the Tacoma is cheap and misleading, the only real advantage it has on the Tacoma is 500 lbs more payload IIRC and 25 or 26 MPG. They also advertise their diesel MPG numbers with their base gas powered price. But I guess that's modern advertising. Secondly, as much as I dig the exterior, the interior is very off to me and almost car like. As far as engineering and dependability, blah blah, that's left to brand loyalty.

I see trucks as having their own souls so I feel bad for the little guy. Poor parenting.

 

Transision from Atkinson mode to normal should be quick and with out notice since its all in VVTi. Especially in first 30 000 miles of usage. After that, my guess is some people are going to have problems some people will not.
Those VVTi screens get pretty dirty and almost nobody cleans them.
There is no way Its going to get 5 MPG across border. Highway maybe 3-4 MPG better and City may improve by 1-2. Its easy calculation you get 7% improvement in Direct Injection at best, and maybe 3 % in Atkinson (that will vary but I don't know many people who drive trucks mostly on empty under 55MPH ,or idle a lot with no load .
So 10% improvement would give 23 MPG Highway and 19 MPG in the city. So Combined 21 MPG vs current 19 with 4.0.
So for truck doing 10 000 miles a year that will come to 50 less gallons per year at $3 per gallon its $150 per year saving.
In the meantime Passenger car engine, with passenger transmission, and small SUV transfer case. Now two sets of injectors to deal with,, and engine that is prone to carbon buildup.
Add to that all the other problems 2gr has and this whole thing is not worth from truck owner perspective.
In 2004 Toyota came out with numbers and that did not hurt sales of 1Gen trucks at all. Why would it now?
I dont know if its going to kill off anything. Toyota made massive flop with Tundra which was exact same "redesign" except engine. But if they put 3.5L on Tundra I think Ford and GM would simply explode from laughing.
If you can't tow crap with new truck or haul any load not many people will buy it.

 

Why do you think the new Tacoma will not be able to tow or haul more than the current? They're not stupid, they wouldn't spend years of time and X amount of money on R&D for a truck that isn't worth buying. The entire drivetrain will be tuned for truck use. Also, if this new simulated Atkinson cycle yields 3% fuel mileage increase, why would they use it? Surely it's more than that. Also, I don't think Toyota would put out a 23 MPG truck when the competitors are doing more. The frame is lighter, too, and with that air dam/tailgate spoiler combo you have already added a couple of MPGs city and highway before the engine is even brought into it.

 

My FX4 work truck came with a huge under panel air blade like the new Tacoma shows. Anyhow I had it in for a month and half of off roading then it met its end. MPG on highway was 17mpg. This was on flat highway on cruise and at 70mph. Fast forward to no air blade underneath guess what??... Same exact mpg. So... That said I have no belief in the Tacomas large under air blade doing much of anything if any at all in regards to mileage improvement.

 

Hmmm interesting.

 

Under blade =/= air dam. I don't really get Ford's underblade thing. You can google search and find the benefits of an air dam. If Toyota thought it wouldn't do anything they wouldn't put it on.

Did you test with a scangauge or ultragauge, or is this pen and pencil at the pump?
This guy does pretty accurate testing and claims his worked. Of course this is much more than 3rd gen's air dam and a hell of a lot more than Ford's. Not bashing your post or Ford just sharing.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/new-members/329390-first-tacoma.html

 

I have a fuel log as its a work truck and I put on 5-6k miles per month minimum and I'm currently at 30k on truck so it's pretty accurate account?

I drive whatever they give me when lease is up. I've had a taste of almost every truck on market for last 25 years.

 

I didn't say it wasn't accurate, I asked what your methods were. I said this other guy was accurate not to compare you to each other but to give you credibility with my link. I'm not calling you out.

Just showing you some more air dam data and that most air dams are very dissimilar to Ford's.

 

That sounds realistic to me. I read the Atkinson cycle is 10-12 percent more efficient, and being part time your numbers sound pretty good.

5mpg was a hopeful figure for sure.. just for illustration since obviously we have no info on what the reality is.

The transmission update should help as well and who knows what the "new rearend" will do or is.

The 2014 tundra wasn't really any more than the update to the Tacoma for 2012. Still 90 percent the same as 2007 up tundra.

 

American steel, salt on roads.. and less than perfect treatment to prevent rust..

at least they stood behind it.. could have been like GM and said F your rusted chevy..

 

Yes no worrys I'm aware you were not calling me out. To clarify I am simply writing down mileage and gallon / litres etc each and every fuel up. My comparisons have always been when I'm doing an exact terrain trip which is usually every two weeks I have one to always compare to. The only thing that has changed my mileage has been octane.

 

Aside from all that, a mileage log is smart. I used to keep one for my older cars, only because I was looking for trends in the engine. If mileage drops, I'd have notes that explained it or an idea on what to look for.

 

I plan on using something like that. In the old days, it was "tiny spiral notebook."

 

So would I. I imagine a German engineered pickup could be very very good.

I've always liked the TDI Jetta Sportwagens.

 

It's very good. I tracked my Outback's mileage from day one. Never did with the truck, just kind of got lazy.

 

I dont know about Chevy, but rotting frame issue is not as much American steel as is crappy paint job on the frame. Crappy because thats a new Toyota process. Even 4runners made in Japan are having the same issues with frames and those frames are not made in US.

 

Definitely more the process than the steel, but I think the steel plays a part too. The problem got worse from pre-95 to post-95 when they changed the steel, at the same time they went away from fully boxed frames to partially boxed frames.

 

That was a good read. That was also the first I heard about a new rear diff, not that I've been following the 2016 updates that closely.