DeMello's review of the 2016 Tacoma.

A honest review

Intro:
There has been so much talk about the new Tacoma, so many different opinions on it. I thought I'd voice the opinion of someone who drives all makes of Toyota's for a very long time who is a die hard fan of Toyota but also has no problem calling them out when they mess up or IMO go the wrong direction. I'm also not tied to Toyota, because they took special care of me or I'm responsible for showing it in a positive light because my magazine was given first crack at it. And while like a lot of you I do have a payment that makes me want to like it, I won't let that hold me back from being honest and trying to justify my purchase.

A little back ground : (skip this unless you want a history lesson)

I bought my first Tacoma in 1997, (pre-Demello offroad) a 1997 2wd taco that I lifted and loved. Great little truck, I only kept it a year then bought a 1999 Tacoma in 1998. Fully loaded 4wd extra cab TRD off road extra cab. It was my dream truck. Still very pre-Demello off road. Back then there was very little after market equipment for the truck. This was also before there were 100 forums for Toyota's. We had (off road.com) and Tacoma owners slowly migrated to (TTORA) on delphi. This was before most companies shops were started for Toyota's and Tacoma's. Some even considered the Tacoma a camry with big tires. I believe there was one company at the time who made sliders for the Tacoma (Bent up) and Downey off road made a billet spacer and a hacked together coil over. Those were the early days of trial and error. We hacked up leaf springs to make a rear lift and we could buy a spacer lift for 100.00 from Cornbread back east. We were all passionate about our Tacomas and had huge runs all across the country under the TTORA name. I started making my own sliders, because i wanted round ones. The bed bar was simply a place to mount my CB antenna and lights.

When the 2005 Tacoma came out toyota choose our annual TTORA take over in Lake Tahoe to show it to us first. Of course people were kinda anti it at first, it was bigger and looked completely different from what we were use to. It was then I learned to let new models grow on you. When Wyatt Scott bought one of the first ones, we had a crazy idea of cutting the suspension off and making into the first 2005 Solid axle swap. It was featured in the very first Toyota 4wd magazine. When I first saw the 2016 pictures come out, I too was not thrilled with the big front grill. But like the 2005 I let it grow. But I also knew it would be important for our company to pick one up and get ahead on making production parts for it. I could go on for days about the old times and where the Tacoma we have today came from but I just wanted to give a little feed back on where we've been. If you have any questions about the old days, please feel free to ask.

2016 Review:

Now, before I get into the review I want to make it clear, I was not a fan of the power plant in this new Tacoma from the day it was announced and i looked up the numbers. It's just not a step forward IMO it has more HP less torq and weighs more. I'm not sure where Toyota was going with that. I've heard the rumors of Cafe tieing their hands and if I really wanted to drive home the conspiracy theories that started with the government attack of Toyota in the way of gas pedal sticking right after the two big two bail outs, I'd say this is just another dark thrown down the road at Toyota but that's maybe a different discussion all together.

Back to the truck, I picked up the truck from Colin in Fort collins CO. They found me the exact truck I wanted and knowing Colin from a few events knew he wouldn't stick it to me with an over inflated dealer cost and or selling me something I didn't want. I choose to drive the truck home the 1000 plus miles instead of shipping it because I wanted to get a real feel for the truck. I really can't say enough good things about how that dealership and Colin helped me. If you are in the market for a Toyota, at the very least give him a call so he can get you a good price. http://www.pedersentoyota.com/ Ask for Colin, he does internet and fleet sales.

Initial impressions were wow, Toyota really hit the nail on the head with the interior, the years of boring and plain interiors were long gone. In it's place was an interior more commonly found in a nicely loaded sedan. I couldn't help but make comparisons in my head of the 1999 tacoma I had and the 2016. Things like the gauge cluster, I thought i was hot shit in 1999 to have a digital odometer. Now I have the equivalent of a small iphone screen there, with a ton of windows i haven't fully explored yet. In 1999 the hvac system was still very similar to what's it's been since the late 1970's. Simple slide left and right levers with a little drag to them as you could feel it engage the different air cycles. Now I had fancy knobs that read on a digital read out on the dash with dual climate control. My mirrors in my 99 were not even power these new mirrors are not only power but have defrosters and collisions warning to let you know someone is in your blind spot. While I had power windows in my 99 an auto up and down on the two fronts were something only a lexus would have at the time. The biggest improvement to me was the blue dash lights! Thank god, I liked the green of the old days and hated the Orange and red. Blue is pleasing and the little unicorn in me was very happy to see that.
The seats although at the time my 99 were bucket and the fanciest thing I had ever had my poor butt sit on they later became hated dreaded necessities of driving my beloved truck. My first impressions of the 2016 seats with seat heaters was "oh great more uncomfortable Tacoma seats". But after over 1000 mile drive I did in one day, I can honestly say they aren't bad at all. They will be getting a leather treatment from Katskin because I'm old and I like nice things under me
If I really had to nit pick about the interior I'd sight there is no garage door opener button? WTF? I have heated mirrors but I can't open my garage door? This kinda brought me back to my 99 tacoma not having a clock from the factory and near impossible to add it to that. That and the fact that it has all these fancy features but yet the seats are still manual. Which I normally wouldn't complain about but this is a 40k truck I kinda think it should have all that.

The next thing in my early review of this truck, which I plan to keep following up with was the power. Now I had really dreaded this engine. We have a 2015 4runner at the shop and while I absolutely love every aspect of that vehicle. I despise the engine in it. It reminds me of the old 3.slow that Toyota made back in the day. To keep things into perspective we do have a 2013 fire breathing 600HP Tundra that i drive regularly so my seat of the pants feeling may be a little skewed. But even after driving the 4runner for a week I do get use to it's lack of power. The second I try to merge on the freeway I'm reminded that despite the super low 4:88 gears and gas pedal being pushed through the floor it makes my girl friends Honda minivan feel like a Corvette. So when Toyota announced a 3.5 in the Tacoma I cringed. I was really hoping, but knew they wouldn't, put a small v8 in there.
All that being said, I was actually pleasantly surprised with the Tacoma's power. I had a good 1000 plus miles to drive up and down mountains, long straight a ways and a little traffic in stop and go. Taking off if you really get on it, it will get up and move pretty quick. The noticeable lack of torq still disappoints me. And it clearly shifts like a tweeker on a 4 day bender in the moutains when climbing. So much so that I just put it in either cruise control because it was getting annoying feeling the change rattle through the gas pedal and lurching in and out or I'd just put in manual and leave it in a gear. There were a couple times it felt like when I was merging a little bit sluggish, but I will (for now) assume it was me building that up in my head. I think the biggest and most pleasant surprise was the MPG with this new engine. I drove mountains and long stretches hitting 75-80 most of the way and I still maintained a 20mpg average. In the mountains it dropped to 14-15. It was weird for me to be in a toyota and not have to stop for gas every 200 miles. I was getting 350-400 miles per tank. I look forward to seeing how this new engine does with low gears and big tires. I know it will never be a v8 tow monster but I don't think it's too much to ask a mid size truck that tops 40k to get you to your location with some dirt bikes in the bed and a mild lift with out feeling like you need to play the "little engine that could" sound track as you go up the hills.

Over all:

About half way through the trip I was actually pretty happy with the truck, no it's not a bigger and better engine than the 4.0 it replaced IMO. But it's still good as of right now, we will see once we lift this beast and put some camping gear in the back if I still hold the same opinion.

I also think back to the early days of Toyota, we didn't care that the little 4 banger was gutless and you had to use all 4 of your 5 gears to get you up most mountain passes, the truck more than made up for it in other ways, maybe that's what this Toyota is. The golden age of Toyota chasing those higher torq numbers of the American competitors is over and they are returning back to their roots. Offering a some cool features like crawl control and in dash displays that I'm still pretty excited about (call me a nerd). I will check back in once we lift this new truck and give some more honest feed back as it gets older and more used.

For the time being, I'm happy to be back in a Tacoma. It's familiar territory and I can't wait to get this thing on the trails. Who wants to go wheelin?

Please feel free to leave your feed back of the truck or call me out on why mine sucks.

 

True story from around 2011, I got a phone call from Paul Walker, he loved his Tacoma, he had it at a shop near his house (installing suspension). He had heard that we were the Local Toyota experts (blowing smoke up my Arss I'm sure. He also said he was a fan of our work.) He was going back and forth on the Tundra and the Tacoma which one to build. He asked what would I do. I said honestly? He said yes, I said money no object, I would take a Tacoma frame, box it like a 4runner, drop the 5.7 drive train from a tundra in it and have the best of both worlds. He loved that idea and I expected a phone call from him, but that never came ...

 

Solid Review from a highly respected and trusted source IMO. Thank you for doing this sir.

 

Nice words, @JDEMELLO. I remember being around TTORA with my '99 (that I still have) when you got your start.

Regarding power, I think this engine will surprise folks. If you compare test data, the Taco is faster than the GM twins in acceleration tests, and about even in acceleration while towing. I am excited to drive an MT and see how it feels.

Appreciate the post.

 

My short test drive had me feeling the truck felt gutless. Very smooth but acceleration was worse than my 2002. To be fair, I did not go heavy on the throttle. Even with my 2002 3.4L I get the feeling that the rear wheels are spitting out a lot of torque. Getting that torque in the higher bands still seems weird for a truck. I agree that Toyota doesn't care about specs. They care about quality. Sounds like a 3500 lb trailer will probably be too much for this Tacoma to pull easily over I-70. I may pin my hopes on the next-gen Tundra instead.

 

excellent post! thank you...

 

When I first took off it felt the same to me. But I've been driving it around town and it seems to have been slightly better. On the down side I have started to notice a rough idle. Not sure if that's normal or not.

 

I'd say this truck feels similar to the 1999 when i first drove it. I'm sure it's faster but it feels about the same. The problem is we've had the 2005-2015 to compare to as well as other engines. But again when I drove the 2005 in 2005 it felt gutless then Wyatt brought it back after it's first oil change and 5000 miles and it was like it woke up. I love those years trucks. I was really tempted to get a 2012 but waited because I knew this was coming.

 

This is an excellent review.
sticky worthy!

Ps
I had me some cornbreads back in the day too

 

Kind of hopeful people feel the engine perk-up when its truly broken in. Lol. Sounds like a lot of people feel its a bit slow, but also I guess the 6AT doesn't like to rev. If it's true that Toyota is working on fixing up the auto then that will help as well

 

You folks have to try sport mode and shift at around 4 to 5k rpms with ect on... The engine really goes when pushed a little...

 

Good review
How about the Tacoma with power four way seats, so I can adjust the seat height?

 

Toyota really hit the nail on the head with the interior, the years of boring and plain interiors were long gone.

Agreed!

It was weird for me to be in a toyota and not have to stop for gas every 200 miles. I was getting 350-400 miles per tank.

Other owners have also commented when I asked about their MPG!

"I also think back to the early days of Toyota, we didn't care that the little 4 banger was gutless and you had to use all 4 of your 5 gears to get you up most mountain passes, the truck more than made up for it in other ways, maybe that's what this Toyota is. The golden age of Toyota chasing those higher torq numbers of the American competitors is over and they are returning back to their roots."

Turbo charged engines are starting to filter into vehicles 0n the lexus side and we will soon see turbo charged toyota models.

Any one looking forward to a turbo charged tacoma in the next generation trucks?

 

1300 miles in and I can definitely feel the difference in take off power. That or I changed my driving habits with the truck over the past couple months. Either way it feels night and day from the first week. Awesome review and background story!

Han, have you heard any word on TRD parts for the '16 Taco? Cat backs, grill , CAIs or even cabin comforts such as shift knobs, ect. Crown PD said possibly May/June of '16, but I hope they have the goods out a bit quicker.

 

Not yet, I will update when they arrive.

 

How does it compare to a stock supercharged 3.4l with similar hp? I want to pull the trigger but I have a boat to pull along with a heavy fish box filled with ice and brine.

 

very much so! I was pretty surprised how this thing took off and just
kept going the first time I slammed down the pedal, I thought, holy shit this
engine has allot of power!!

 

Very nice right up. Thank you for taking the time do this.

 

No, it's not faster than a 305 HP Colorado. See Car and Driver test results:
Colorado 0-60 7.6 sec Taco 8.1 sec
1/4 mile 15.9 16.2

 

it's much faster than the Colorado