1st long trip report. Used crawl control too

2019 Trd or4x4 dcsb. 1700 miles.

Took sandy the taco up to a camping spot of mine Friday for weekend. Went up easily. No slips in usual places on that trail. Had it in 4hi. Did a knarly trail to a now defunct NC wildlife gameland trail. Rutted and washed out road. Went up in 4lo. Like a tank. Nothing underneath touched. Amazing. Today, coming down from my site, decided to try crawl control. That hill usually requires 4lo with near constant brakes. Crawl control setting 1 and 2 made it easy. Love it! I am sold. Luckily. Lol. Cause it's mine now. As far as driving around on the blacktops, in mountains I used sport mode and used the manual downshift at times to save brakes and slow down. Going up hills it usually downshifted on its own. On a rare occasion it wouldn't so I would bump the lever back to the lower gear. These trucks are not slow. U just have to learn how to use them. In drive in mountains it can be slow, just use sport mode with ECT enabled and life is good. Got 20 mpg overall which includes alot of blue ridge parkway hills and driving. Not bad imho.

 

Right on man! Nice to read a positive review that reflects my enjoyment of my truck. They are a great adventure truck and Crawl Control is nice to have when things get steep. Be aware, it works in reverse too, which can save you bacon backing down something you didn’t make it all the way up.

 

just another update. took "sandy" back to the mountain this past 3 days weekend (4 me at least) and am quite happy. noticed a few things. Unless I am in the twisty mountain 2 lane roads, where you have 15mph turns then straight aways, being in drive is just fine with ect on. Actually it's just fine in those conditions as well now that i think back. I used sport mode some but the extra work isn't really required if you push your foot down.

going up the long 6 miles 4 lane to the blue ridge from north of wilkesboro nc, i really just used drive with ect on and it did fantastic. it revved kinda high, like near 4k as i remember for a couple minutes but i am cool with that as my xterra runs about 3500-3700 on the same stretch and she has the 4.0 v6. coming back donw the same stretch, steep, with runaway truck ramps every mile or so, i experimented and if i left it in drive, it would actually downshift to slow down IF i hit the brake beyond a certain speed while accelerating due to gravity. if i hit the gas after that it would upshift. neat. my xterra does that too, sometimes.

on the interstate once i got more in the flat areas, with some slight hills, i used cruise and it help 67mph just fine. quite happy.

 

Had virtually the same experience on some very twisty mountain roads last week when I went to fish the Gila. Love this truck. People just don’t bother to learn it then bitch because it doesn’t behave like their last passenger car.

 

exactly. i also noticed, that for interstate driving and most flat driving, driving in drive with no ect works just fine. i did put ect back on once i got into my area where it's 100F (was in 69F 3 hours earlier and 3700+ FT higher in elevation) and i needed better acceleration. I think just pushing the gas further would help, but i have gotten used to ect on. i don't think it makes much difference on the interstate while in cruise unless you are pulling some grades.

 

People spend too much time worrying about what the transmission is doing instead of just driving the truck. It's an automatic, stop worrying about what its doing or trade it in on a manual. The more I drive the truck the less I understand about all the transmission complaints I see on a daily basis here.

 

very true! i said the same thing to my gf this weekend. i have 3 rides and the taco is not my daily. so it's taking longer than normal for me to get used to her. but she's becoming one with me like the other 2 have done.

learning all the quirks etc on the vehicle.

 

I’ve always thought the same thing, but I honestly think it’s because the first third gens had honest problems. I think they’ve since fixed them with updates but the people who had the problems insist they all still do it, which isn’t true.

IMHO, That’s what causes all the strife on this site. Guys who have problems think the guys without the problems are lying and vice versa.

 

Misery loves company and no one likes to feel alone lol.

 

That or my Ol’ standby: People are assholes...

 

sport mode... hahaha, he said “sport mode”...

Nice to see someone enjoying the Tacoma features... please note, there is no sport mode. The S mode is a shift limiter, that’s all (it also ignores the learned shift points as well).

 

another trip report. went up to the mountains, this time, not bothering to use ect UNTIL i was in the hilly two lanes/twisties. She performed flawlessly. I used cruise alot at 67mph on the higway and once i got into the two lane hills, used ect with sport mode and she did fantastic. you have to learn these trucks in order to get the right feeling. she went when i wanted her to and stopped when i wanted her to. no complaints. Averaged 21mpg on most of the trip of 400 miles. that includes a couple 4x4 climbs in 1st gear at 5mph or so for a mile each trip.

very happy with Sandy.

 

Crawl control is “fun” but going through loose rock with some good sized boulders ...... I prefer using my feet to have all of the control.

 

Yup, agreed. The transmission is fine in this truck. In fact I like it.

 

Enjoy - bought mine new in Jan - I've now got 34K miles on it, lots of that in the dirt, water, mud, etc as well as lots of pavement driving. It has been a terrific little truck. I hope you enjoy yours as well - be safe.

 

Just wait till you learn how/get to use the locker.

 

Love the review! After you really learn how the truck drives its great, and in my opinion fun. I'm always utilizing S mode when i'm driving to get the best experience while throwing on the ECT for steep inclines. Glad you're enjoying it and i'm in the same thought as you

 

one man's sport mode is another man's "shift limiter". LOL... I prefer the shift limiter now that i think about it. LOL.

 

i honestly don't think i ever will BUT i am buying a place in the mountains that may be a test case this winter. LOL

 

i think we are running out of lube for this taco love fest. LOL.