2019 Tacoma limited disappointment

Cruise on at 80, no wind, 6th gear, tires properly inflated, no load, driver only, 500 miles on the odometer.

Small overpass, kicks down to 4th (~4K RPM).

Crest overpass, still in 4th.

Going DOWN the overpass, STILL in 4th.

Return to flat ground, STILL in 4th!

I had to turn off cruise to get the thing to upshift! Is this what $40K buys? Who WOULDN'T be disappointed by this?!

 

I'll try it, it can't make things worse.

What advantage does higher octane pump gas provide in a stock Tacoma?

Obviously, if you tune a motor for oxygenated, high octane race fuel, you'll make more power, but short of that, I don't know what the advantage would be.

 

Fact is I like my truck only thing is I don't like it on the highway. I can only hope that Toyota is reading these posts and realizing this is a real issue and do something about it. If OV tune can get it right then Toyota should also be able to and I shouldn't have to pay 600 dollars on top of the 40,000 to get it to drive right.

 

Less pre-detonation/pinging.

 

True. But if Toyota tuned Tacoma like OVtune it wouldn’t be able to print competitive MPG numbers on the window sticker.

If Tacoma MPG numbers got any lower, might as well buy a Tundra...or a Ram.

 

My truck usually does better than the window sticker, this week's fill up was 22.3 MPG.

 

I haven’t been able to break 20.2 MPG yet. But I’m only at 1,600 miles at the moment.

 

Mine has gotten worst the more miles I put on it but that’s because I am using the petal a little harder lol! Still average 21-23mpg city/hwy.

 

Is that 21-23 KILOMETERS per gallon?!

How do you achieve that?!

I'm 100' above sea level in Houston... no reason I shouldn't be getting numbers like that... but I'm seeing 17.5 highway, and I drive conservatively, coasting and off the gas when I can be.

 

21-25mpg.

 

Nope
10.2L/100km
To
10.6L/100km
When I really baby it I’ve seen 9.2L/100km

I can get bad if I stomp on it everywhere I go. But I drive it nice as I wanna have this truck for many many years to come

 

Here is my fill up from the other day:
394.5 miles
17.674 Gallons
22.32 hand calculated MPG which also pretty much matches up with the 22.2 in the display.

 

I complained earlier about how the previous owner probably drove like an old lady... since then I took it on a 2,260 mile trip to northern Utah and back. My wife and I drove through the mountains to Bryce Canyon and also Zion.

Since coming back from that trip, my truck is doing much better with the take offs and such.

I still use the "S"tick option, so it seldom gets to go into 5th or 6th. But at least it now actually feels like you are moving when pressing down the gas petal!

 

Actually we drivers seem to have to learn to adjust our patience and tolerance levels.. 30k in on my 2018 and the only thing that has improved its shift points was putting tires with a 33.5 inch diameter. Still shifts like shit but Toyota sent me a msg the other day that there is finally an ECU update that is apparently related to transmission complaints..

 

Can we see a screenshot of this message, mine goes back to service Thursday morning..

 

My take on the 2018 OR auto trans is a bit different . I don’t believe it’s garbage, only Toyota’s idea of how it should be programmed is not right. @OVTune has remedied this to a huge degree with 1.05 and will likely succeed in getting it to shift 100% properly with the next release of the software.

To satisfy any longing I might have for a manual I find that @OVTune’s gear lock works well when I’m towing my travel trailer.

 

The SSP has made a big difference in drivability but still have the throttle lag sometimes. What about the pedal commander. Anyone have any experience with them. Are they worth 300 bucks.

 

Running 93 and hit around 18,000 on the odometer. Truck just gets better and better.

 

I feel like it's a love hate. If I'm towing and especially around hills the shifting gets annoying especially if using cruise control, but when flat, I love watching it go into 6th and try to maximize mpg

OV tune is tempting though...

 

Will OV Tune pass California smog tests?