Tacoma 2016 -17 transmission & power review

Tacoma 2016 -17 transmission & power review
I have now about 7K miles on my 2016 TRD OR. The first 6K miles were driven with the ECT off, only used when towing. For about 1K miles now I made the a modification to turn the ECT on by default when the vehicle is started. I also live in a hilly area with elevation changes of 2000', but I will travel into a flat valley twice a month for a 100 mile round trip.
So here are my observations:

The vehicle is under powered for everyday driving. The 6 speed transmission is shifting too often. Shifting is not smooth and leaves the driver being jerked forward and backwards.
Performance is sacrificed by Toyota's effort to save gas millage, I get 18 mpg. The vehicle tries to operate at about 1100-1200 RPM way below the power curve around 4500 RPM. What this means is when your coasting or asking little of the engine it is in a higher gear pushing the RPM down. Ask a little more and the transmission is downshifting to bring you into the 2000 RPM range. If you need more for the little hill or want to pass someone or just want a little more oomph, you shift one more time to get the engine to whine up about 2500 RPM. That's 3 shift points not including the first 3 gears to get you rolling. All this shifting leaves you feeling like you just gave your truck a workout and you have not really done anything tough.

So after the ECT modification life is a little better as I never drive at the low RPM any more. Now the truck operates in the 2000 RPM range and when I put my foot down I only get one shift point, 2 if I floor it. The other effect is now the engine will whine up quite a bit into the power torque range before shifting. This is more inline with previously owned vehicles.
Recently I bought a Nissan Maxima for my wife. 3.5Cu In, 300HP and 3500 LBS (about 700 lighter). This car with the same Cu In engine performs. Yes is it has 22 more horses and is a little lighter. My previous vehicle was a Nissan Xterra, lighter too with the same HP and it performed too. I also really appreciate the shiftless transmission (CVT) on the Maxima, wish the Tacoma used that technology.

I tow a Polaris RZR which is about 1600 lbs with the trailer and the Tacoma sucks in power. I am always shift down and in high RPM to make it go. The only good side is the trailer does not whip me around.

Pedal dynamics
There is a disconnect with the accelerator pedal and engine performance. With other vehicles I have owned, you move the pedal you get a noticed change in the sound of the engine as it works harder, not just a change in RPMs. With the Tacoma I have noticed when pulling a hill and moving the pedal a little there is no change. I have to apply considerable pressure to push the engine or should I say, the computer to decide I want more power to downshift for more power. I can say this happens at other points of acceleration.

I have found, I am shifting with my foot, changing the pressure on the pedal accelerator. This is new feeling for a light vehicle. Many moons ago I drove a 10 speed charter bus and managing the engine speed was part of double clutching.

The bottom line is, the Tacoma 3rd generation offers too little HP and the 6 speed transmission has too many gears and does not shift smoothly under load.

I know now you are saying I should have bought a Tundra. I almost did but wanted the smaller vehicle, just did not know how much I would have to give up in performance.

 

Too little power at the RPM range you are trying to operate in and too many gears?
If it only had some kind of work-around.

Have you tried using S4 or S5?
S-mode also cancels out Flex-lock(torque converter 1/2 lock). It contributes to the 'shiftiness'.

Hell, I drove my '07 5-speed auto in 4th 90% of the time.

If you're towing in D using both overdrive gears; well...

 

I don't know, man, I really enjoy driving mine. I've had quite a few Toyota trucks over the years and still have a 4th gen 4Runner with the 4.0 V6 and the new Tacoma is by far the sportiest and funnest to drive of all of them. I really do love my 4Runner, but compared to the Tacoma, it's just plain boring to drive. Yeah, it hits the powerband sooner and pulls just fine without having to hunt for gears even when climbing fairly decent grades, but it's like driving grandpas old Lincoln. There's just no excitement to be had when driving it. The Tacoma, on the other hand, is like driving a sports car compared to the 4R.

I've had my 3rd gen for almost a year now and am coming up on 9K miles. Once I stopped giving a crap about gas mileage and learned to be a little heavier footed on the go pedal, it was like night and day. This truck without ECT (I almost never use it, to the point I even forget I have it available) gets up and moves just fine if that's what you're after. It's all in the right foot if you want it to perform. Since I figured that out, I've been chirping the tires all over town. If you give it only slight throttle at takeoff it will feel like a slug, but if you give it about 25% from a dead stop it comes alive, no need to floor it and no need for ECT, just give it the gas. About six weeks ago I drove it over the Rockies from Colorado to Vegas and back hauling two full size dirt bikes and a bunch of gear/tools etc. and it performed great. No issues with power that I could complain about.

Also, I haven't had the tranny TSB done yet, and to be honest, I'm not sure I'm going to have it done, as I'm very satisfied with how my truck drives and shifts. Even the hanging downshifts while in cruise control seem to have lessened considerably as I've put more miles on the truck and that was the only issue I had that made me want to have the TSB done. I do admit it can be a little bit shift happy at times, but I'm so used to it now that I don't even think about it anymore. I know I'm in the minority on TW in that I'm overall very pleased with the performance of the 3rd gen and that there are a lot of others on this forum who feel as you do. I guess I'm just willing and able to accept the truck for what it is, rather than how I think it should be. But that's me. If I didn't like the truck, I can assure you I'd have ditched it by now for something else, but I truly love my truck and at this point probably wouldn't change a thing about it. I've chosen to accept and appreciate it for what it is and leave the bitching and complaining to others. It sounds to me like you might want to find yourself another truck.

 

I agree with OP's assessment. Nailed it.

 

I should add, the 6 speed seems to be designed to keep the RPM lower and hence, less immediate HP. My old 5 speed was nicer in this regards. Yes the I could manually shift, and keep it from going to the 6 gear but that will not fix shift points unless I shift each gear, then I should have bought a manual transmission.

 

Man, I'll say it again.....I wish I could understand what you guys are experiencing with your trucks!

My 2017 TRD OR LB is perfect.

Perfect power, perfect shifts and perfect gearing.

Could it be faster? I guess, but it's never left me wanting more speed.

I traded my Ram 6.4 liter for this Taco so it's not like I've never driven a big motor truck.

Oh, and my Taco pulls my 12 foot enclosed Trailer with 2 Harleys just fine.

I just don't get it

 

My truck does the same thing as the OP's...

Except I got right at 25 mpg today so I'm satisfied 2 transmission updates later.

It's still not perfect by a long-shot but the shifting is improved overall.

 

The only time I got 25 MPG is on a road trip, flat land, freeway driving and cruse control for about 150 miles.
Oh, did I say drafting the 18 Wheeler!!

 

You wish it had a CVT? That's blasphemy. Never speak of this again.

 

Mid-size trucks are getting totally screwed by the EPA. Heavy duty full size trucks are exempt from MPG ratings and car companies put better efficiency tech in their light duty full size trucks because they sell more and offer high profit margins. The end result is mid-size trucks have to play by passenger car rules while other trucks get good power and good MPG.
That being said, the 3.5 leaves a lot to be desired unless you are driving the 6 speed manual with beefier rear-end diff. My 2013 gets 16 city/19 highway (observed and Scangauge-calculate). I can drive around all day under 2500 RPM if need be. My gen 1 3.4 5 speed manual was a lot funner to drive but I needed 4 doors and the long bed. Some people are really liking their gen 3 and that is great but I do see the issues with the gen 3 engine/tranny combo.

 

I thought the same thing too. But after a 1000 miles on my RZR off road and having Nissan Rouge and now the Maxima all with a CVT, I have learned it has some real advantages.

 

I love my 17.

 

No, you don't. We use Nissan Altimas as company cars. We run a large fleet of hundreds of them, so my sample size is pretty relevant. CVT burnout is all too common in hot temperatures and around 100k miles.

When that happens it's a $5k replacement of the transmission since there are no repairs. Since the price of an Altima new is around $20k, a four year old one with high miles and a bad CVT could very well be scrapped.

Can you imagine that unreliable CVT POS in a truck? I'd never buy one. They are great when the car is new, but a ticking bomb after the warranty runs out.

 

AMEN!! I can't imagine a CVT in a truck.

OP, you should have bought a manual. I'm always in the gear I want because I selected it and the RPMs are always where I expect them to be.

 

Doctor diagnosed me as CVT intolerant after a week with a Rouge as a rental.

Many Nissan, Subaru, and Honda products are no-longer conceivable "next-cars" for me. It's like watching the death of the manual trans all over again.

 

Part of me died when Subaru stopped making the hatchback WRX. The rest of me died when they started offering a CVT in the WRX.

 

I drive a F-150 at work. Its a v6 and obviously a larger truck than my Tacoma. I don't know the horsepower on the Ford but I would venture to guess its pretty close to the Tacoma. The Ford blows away my wimpy ass Tacoma hands down. Now I've owned a 2011 OR and a 2015 sport both seemed to have more get up and go with less horses in their v6 platforms. Im just at a loss on how to get the sluggish as feel of this truck to leave. Do we need a damn supercharger for this thing to feel like it can pass a sentra?

 

The Rouge was a gutless wonder, traded it in. But not because of the CVT, just under powered.

 

Yes, supercharger!!! A fiend put one on a Tundra, OMG.

 

I never seen so many reviews for a vehicle after its been out for over a year.