From Canyon Denali to Tacoma... Impressions?

Lane departure was the first thing I immediately disabled, that's a pretty big nuisance. Being able to pull up all your cameras while parking is super cool... if only the display wasn't kinda junky.

 

Well played, sir.

 

Welcome! Good discussion. About MPG.. I read a great piece awhile back about why Tacoma and Tundra get dismal mileage. It’s corporate average fuel economy (CAFE standards) at work. Toyota sells so many efficient vehicles that they don’t have to use any complicated gimmicks to get better numbers from the trucks. GM and Ford need to get better mileage from pickups because they make up a bulk of sales.

If that’s the truth it sure makes sense.

 

I imagine that's got to be factor.

I'm new to Toyotas so my hunches are meaningless, but my conversation with the sales people at the dealer led me to think that Toyota doesn't like to dink around with formulas that work, and instead of finding novel ways to eek out some more MPG, they keep shooting fuel in there to keep these engines alive longer.

My experience in roadracing motorcycles (more Japanese manufacturers) is that lean mixes can mean motor-go-boom if that mix isn't precisely controlled and adjusted for conditions. First thing we do is spray ALL the gas. My 600cc (0.6 L) Yamaha gets about 18mpg at race pace. it would get about 50mpg on the street in factory trim. Point being, if you err on the side of more gas, you're likely to build in a more lenient operating window and therefore presumably extend longevity.

Is that the plan? No idea. I'm totally on a limb, but the logic seems stable.

 

Good thinking.

 

Interesting perspectives. I also looked at the GMC but didn’t find it head and shoulders above the Tacoma in terms of fit & finish, I would have actually given that nod to the Ranger. I was actually coming from a 2016 Mercedes, too - so I stepped into the Tacoma ready for all those “rough edges”.

for me, I’d always wanted one, knew what I’d be giving up in terms of features and was totally ready for it. I happen to think Tacoma is hands down the best looking mid size truck, but recognize that’s completely subjective. No worries for me, hope everyone finds their dream truck.

Welcome, also hello from Cincinnati too!

 

Badass TRD Pro!!

Exactly. 20 years ago I'd want to argue about it. Nowadays I want everyone to find their slice of contentment, whatever that looks like.

Funny you said that - the Ranger came up a couple times. I'm actually a bit of a Ford fan. Had three Fords in my life, and they all went 120-150k without a lot of issues. None were perfect but none bled me dry either.

I've seen a couple of the new Rangers around town and I just can't get excited about them. I tried, I really did. I was ready to make that move. In fairness, I probably should have at least driven one. Again... I didn't intend to buy the Tacoma when I did -- the math made it impossible to say no.

For those who say the fit/finish on GMC/Chevys isn't anything to write home about, you may be right. I had that Denali trim and I don't know how much they change in there. It could be very little and I paid for some badges. But that might be the distinction that is coloring my perception.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome!

 

Quick update -- I had the rustproofing and paint/leather protection package done at the dealer, and they were also supposed to fix my whistling side mirror.

Spoiler alert - they did not. They added "felt" to the inside of the mirror cover and claimed that fixed the noise issue but it definitely did not.

I will have to up my game. In the broad scheme of things this isn't a huge deal, but a brand new $43,000 truck shouldn't be whistling dixie north of 40mph and do it loud enough to hear over wind noise.

Frustrating. Kind of like a splinter you can't reach.