Will 4th Gen have Auto start-stop feature?

So far we haven't changed a start stop starter, we've talked to other dealers where the cycle ran out and you just reset it and carry on.

The bigger pain of stop start has been the expensive oem 12v battery. It's always AGM and typically 400$ for highlanders and such.

You can disable stop start and change the battery type to lead acid with highlander, so hopefully tacoma gives this option.

 

I hated the idea of it, but I’ve driven a dozen or so rental cars of various brands with it and it works like a charm, pretty much instantaneously every time. I couldn’t really think of any reasons to hate it anymore. On or off, most people’s driving habits won’t be affected at all by it. The only time I could see it really needing to be disabled is rock crawling, and most rock crawlers are going to be in something other than a Tacoma. For daily driving or average off-roading, fire roads, crossing the creek at the deer lease, etc.. it’s just not something that will be a big deal.

When you have to meet emissions standards and your customers want better mileage but also want big tires, decent ground clearance, and plenty of torque, and definitely do not want an aero- shaped Ridgeline-looking truck, you have to squeeze out every mpg and lower the emissions wherever you can from other areas. The little things add up. So they gave us auto start/stop and an air dam, and whatever other little things they could. But they also made those things easy to remove or disable.

 

I would be shocked if it is not auto disabled in 4 lo. Wranglers are like that where it stays on in 4H but off in 4L.

 

If I'm interpreting the owner's manual correctly MTs are either blessed without this or you can't turn it off. I hope it is the former.

I think Honda manual Civics include it.

 

You say it seems to save fuel but how can you tell unless you've compared the same exact driving style, speed & idle time with & without the start/stop feature? Not arguing with you, just stating that it's difficult to compare both scenarios.

I'm hoping that can be done with Techstream as well.

That is correct. It is. So if we disable that little annoyance then the starter should last a very long time. I assume the battery is stronger as well.

One thing I'll say is that every single new design or generation of vehicle is always advertised to get better MPG's than the previous models but they all fall short. Yeah they improve but not by as much as they are advertised to do so.

Personally I couldn't care less about MPG's. Every video I've searched up on a 4th gen has been related to:
How does it perform?
Does it gear-hunt?
Is the peak torque at a lower RPM range?
Does it have & can I bypass auto start/stop?
Is it a little more comfortable?
Is there a basic TRD O/R model available?
History of the engine. Yes, it's new to Tacoma but not to Lexus.

 

Wink, wink. More like this is a "replace your alternator often" thing.

 

I wonder how well it works in high summer heat…

 

Some of you folks are really showing your lack of understanding of the start/stop technology that has been around for well over 40 years and mainstream for the last 10+ years. Does it save fuel....yes. There have been many studies out there and the general consensus is that as long as the engine is off for 7 or more seconds then you do save fuel. There are also a lot of conditions that have to be met in order for it to work. Will it wear out your starter or alternator.....highly doubtful. Will it cause a shorter lifespan of your battery? Maybe. If you have to replace your battery then buy one with a good warranty incase you have to replace it again. The Jeep Wrangler JLU has 2 batteries. Both mine failed within a year. Was it from the start stop system or just shit OEM batteries? Who knows but neither replacement has failed in 4+ years.

 

Well over 40 years?! Wow! What 1980s cars had this feature?

Looks like I am one of those you mentioned. I admit I wasn't aware of how it worked in different situations and the side effects like "power outlets may be temporarily unusable" & "the steering wheel may temporarily feel heavy" & everything else mentioned in what you posted.

Now that I understand it more not only do I STILL not want this but I can't help but ask WHO would even want this? If MPG's are that much of an issue then buy something else. Sorry but that's my opinion. We want to have our cake and eat it too.

 

Absolutely no one.

 

It's a total non-issue imo. Everytime I start up my work Ford I hit the autostop disable button. Second nature and literally takes less than a second. Do I have a good reason for even doing this? Not really. People who are too bothered by it to press a button everytime can probably install a hardware or software override to permanently disable it.

As for the hybrids, well autostop/start goes with the territory there. Has there ever been a hybrid that didn't have it?

 

Good points. It really is as simple as pressing a button and will become second nature. I agree.

 

Thankfully my hybrid has a button labeled, “SPORT”.

 

Does that button produce a hood skewp?

 

'Synergy Drive' Toyota hybrids start the ICE with a motor generator unit and traction battery. Super heavy duty. Regular ICE vehicles, the starter and battery and possibly the alternator should be beefed up for sure. In my Corolla Cross, the start/stop I find annoying, but as noted, push a button and it's banished. You can also avoid the start/stop by having a gentle brake pressure when stopped. The dash pops up a 'brake harder to activate' message.

 

What is it that people hate about it? I haven’t found it to have any effect at all on my driving experience one way or the other.

 

It's been compared:

(Timestamped)
https://youtu.be/dFImHhNwbJo?si=DFwcEZ76KgvvKvT2&t=320

 

I did the same thing in my Highlander. As long as you don't do a heavy press of the pedal at a stop the car wont turn off, which is really nice considering GM products (and likely others) shut off the second you get to 0 regardless. I'm glad Toyota hasn't changed this because I wouldn't say start-stop is completely useless. There are lights around me that can take 3-5 minutes to turn. In those instances I would let the Highlander turn off. However, I do wish the button would be on/off all the time without needing to mod it, kind of like the old-school ECT buttons.

 

If it’s anything like the 3rd gen tundra, you will not be able to disable it via tech stream.

The only mods I did with my tundra with tech stream is…

Disable seatbelt chime
Adjust the AC to go a couple degrees lower
Go from 3 turn signal blinks to 5 blinks

 

I did not know that. Thanks for the video. It's a small difference in MPG's but a difference nonetheless. I'm sure over time it adds up. Still not something I care for but at least I have a better understanding of it.

I wonder if it will still be as simple as this to disable. I disabled the seatbelt chime AND the door-open-with-key-on-accessory chime all at once. I also covered up the TPM bulb behind the gauge cluster face on my previous truck ('08 Prerunner) when the TPM sensors started to fail. I will do the same with my '15 if I keep it long enough to have a TPMS issue. I also did the SAIS pump delete & ABS OFF (all nannies off for the TRD O/R models).