Manual...anyone?

I had the same thought. There is definitely one less cup holder in the console because of the P-Brake. I bet it will take me a year to stop reaching for the under dash pull out P-brake....I have owned Toyota's for 20 years and every one had the old style t-pull handle, including my 2009.

 

I like the new handbrake. Always hated those under dash ones.

 

My 85 - Hilux, 94 Pickup, 12 Tacoma, and 13 Tacoma all have had Pull Style hand brakes. It's it will definitely be the biggest change these vehicles have ever seen. Perhaps that's why Toyota is dubbing the 3'rd gen an "all new / full redesign"

 

I test drove a mt taco. I floored it from first gear - pretty good power. I daily drive a titan (380 ft lb torque ) so I'm used to tge acceleration of a v8 but the taco was not slow by any means. Clutch feels great and overall a smooth transmission. The dealership wants msrp and it has the tech package so its expensive. They basically have the advantage though, no other manual taco in arizona.

I tried everything to get them below sticker price but they wouldn't budge even when i showed them an email of their manager promising me a discounted price. Total dicks. I even went as far as saying i was hoping to purchase one in November so i wouldn't mind the waiting game -salesman leaned back and said "oh i doubt they'll even have any left on the lot by November ".

 

Thankyou!!! I was hoping this was the case. I can't wait to get my hands on one.
I am glad this thread has stayed alive long enough for a couple people to actually drive them. I hope a few more can drive them soon also and post a review before this thread dies a slow death at the bottom of TW forums. I'd be really interested to hear the opinions of a Gen2 V6 owner on the comparison. I hope that any future reviews of the Gen3 manual are as positive as yours.

 

Yeah, it was fun driving it. Really kills me that i can't stomach the price. Enjoy it if you get the manual.

 

Let me start off by describing my current Tacoma which is a 2008 V6 SR5 4x4 access cab manual transmission with 130,000 miles and 100% stock. I test drove a 2016 V6 sport 4x4 double cab with the short box and manual transmission. I'm not going into the style that's just personal preference. I can only comment on changes noticed from my model since I haven't driven a 2015 to see if some of my cons may have been improved in the newer models of gen 2. The 2016 transmission shifts noticeably smoother than mine more car like, you don't feel the gears catching like the gen 2. The throttle-clutch management has been improved. Any one that's driven mostly manual transmission vehicles will find the gen 2 frustrating in how smooth you can be with the throttle-clutch. The 2016 clutch is soft pedal wise but most are soft when new, so time will tell if this changes. Now for the engine it idles slightly smoother and when cruising it's a little smoother as judging in the vibration felt in the gas pedal. Now for the bad, the low end torque is a lot less and it's not delay in the drive by wire throttle, its the engine just has a lot less torque until the rpm is up. The engine is smooth revving probably because there's no torque behind it and at the top of rpm range it feels fine. To give a comparison I generally run 2000 rpm or above when cruising this engine has no torque at 2000 rpm and coming off the line it's really noticeable. Now interior cab noise is dramatically reduced so you can be running a lot higher rpm and you don't sense it, and you will need to keep it revved up. The lack of low end torque was bad enough that I changed my 2016 purchase plan. The ride-suspension is noticeably better than mine and I didn't feel any of the driveline vibrations that I had to solve on mine and I have stock ride height and tires/wheels. I did notice the tailgate feature which has some mechanism that slows the drop when released which is nice. I question whether this adds resistance when raising it also giving you the sensation the tailgate is heavier which it may or may not be. The 2016 has a lot of pros probably mostly pros but I would encourage anyone with a gen 2 manual now to drive one before ordering. Just my .02 though.

 

Thanks for this great review. Sounds like you are a good person to compare the gen3 and gen2. It would appear that the low end tourqe is the biggest issue with this 2016. I am used to driving a 2009 2.7 Mt Tacoma. So I have to believe that there will be more tq/hp down low than I currently have. I will let everyone know the comparison when I get to drive one.

 

If only TRD has not given up on superchargers A blower with DI would surely produce nice torque lower in the RPM range.

 

So I test drove a 2016 manual today.

Engine slightly anemic, needs to be reved, but revs fairly happily. Would quite suck with an auto. Transmission was nice, quite precise. Longish throws, but that's a truck. But overall everything felt very natural and in the right place: pedals, including clutch, the shifter, etc. Gotta downshift on highway for passing power, but hey, that's part of the reason of driving a manual (although I gotta say my modified and boosted Subby does not really need to be downshifted from 6th for passing power on highway... power corrupts).

One thing of concern: there was a troubling whistling in 5th & 6th gear. More info here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/test-drove-2016-dcsb-o-r-mt-whistling-in-5th-6th.393573/

 

Yeah... that's going to take some getting used to. I'm certainly used to the t-pull with my '98.

 

I just put in my order for an Access Cab Sport 4X4 with the 6spd manual. They had a silver one allocated already to be built on 10/12. They are going to try to change the color to Quicksand and delete the premium tech package for me before it gets built. I didn't get to drive one with a manual, but I did drive a Sport DCSB with an auto. I was very impressed overall-more so than expected. You have to get on the throttle a bit to get the RPMs into the power band as others have said. It will move though once you gun it. The suspension was definitely a bit more "truck-like" than my 2015 Canyon, but not in a bad way. No word on final price yet until Toyota accepts the build and we know if they are going to force any options on me. The DCSB auto was priced at $1600 under MSRP, so I expect to get a reasonably good price on mine when its time to negotiate. Durango Toyota in Colorado BTW.