3rd Gen Tacoma.....brainstorm thread

I have a rather long list. Most of it is for back to basics and the spirit of the Toyota Pickup/ HiLux. I owned a '94 Pickup for the past 2 years, and she is rotted to hell, has a V6 that makes less power then the 3TR and has open diffs, yet I can still make it further then most guys I know with Tacoma's.

1. MANUAL bloody transfer case. They are far more reliable and work faster then any POS electronic thing can. Also a proper Lo gear would be nice too. 4.7:1 low ratio would be beautiful.

2. Solidly built transmission. Steel case, 6 speeds, well geared for highway on 5th and 6th gear, and properly geared for offroading 1st-3rd.

3. Solid frame front to rear. Fully boxed, with proper drainage and excellent rust protection. Is it really too much to ask.

4. 15" steel wheels, with 31/10.50 stock, able to fit 33/10.5 with no modification.

5. Proper gearing. Allow people to chose between a "street" diff and an "offroad" diff. Maybe 3.73 for street, and a nice high 4.56 for the offroading diff.

6. Cut out as much of the interior nonesence as possible. Simple rugged well fitted dash panels, and minimul electronic crap in the cab. A single Din, single disc CD/MP3/AUX/IPod with 2 Coax speakers is more then enough. Back to minimul cup holders. I had 1 in the 94. It was a roll of duct tape.

7. 1KD Diesel, Turbo 4 Cyl, and 1GR V6. I am sure Toyota can make it happen. 3.0L 1KD makes as much power as a 3TR, yet makes as much torque as the 1GR. If Toyota cannot make a turbo large displacement 4 cylinder that makes V6 power I have lost any faith I had left. Lastly, the 1GR is tried and tested. Don't mess with what isn't broken. Dual VVT-i would be nice though.

8. If they are going to make an offroad trim, build it for offroaders. This pretty much means manual everything, water resistent interior, short wheelbase access cab, proper gearing, optional SFA, and 33" BFG A/T tires at the very least, Goodyear MT/R would be preferable.

Make a luxury model with sunroof, heated everything, electronic everything, by all means. I have nothing against that in a truck for those who wish to pay for it. However I want Toyota to start building a truck again. Not a car body on a truck frame. Back to basics if you will. If Toyota says a bare bones truck wont sell, they are insane. Look at the Wrangler.

 

A servicable transmission with a spin on filter would be pretty awesome also!

 

my wife's 2012 TDI Jetta is pretty sweet. A racecar? No. But, it puts down nearly as much torque as our trucks and i have zero issues with its acceleration.

 

I'll go ahead and say it.....if there's not an updated engine for the 3rd gen I probably wont be buying it. It's kidna sad that the power available doesn't reflect a higher MPG rating. Not only that but it's not possible to get hardly any power out of the engine without going FI.

I'll admit I'm quietly lusting over the new Ford Ecoboost V6 engines in the F150. I'm not saying that we need quite that much power but a 3.0L Turbo V6 would be PERFECT for the Tacoma. Something that makes great low end torque, decent mileage, and has some modification potential too!

 

I'll absolutely admit that I want more power for unjustifyable reasons.

And you're right it's fuel economy goes to shit when towing but the reality of it is that 90% of Tacoma owners will never tow a damn thing with the truck. Not only that, but the 10% of owners who DO tow something only tow a VERY small percentage of the trucks normal use miles. Basically saying yeah, I'd rather have better gas mileage for the majority of the miles driven than the small number of miles that I tow.

 

Heated mirrors

 

^^

 

This assumes the individual can afford (or has garage space) for two vehicles. I use the truck bed on a very regular basis. Nothing typically too heavy but stuff like wood, my bike, or moving things.

I'm not expecting the Tacoma to get 30+MPG but the full size trucks have an extra 1500lbs of curb weight on us and get similar mileage. Doesn't that seem pitiful?

 

This is absolutely the truth and you're a better Sir than most. I would say I fall into the category that "needs" a truck. I might be able to get away with a wagon or something but it would suck.

I agree there's a "price to pay" for full size trucks. But it honestly doesn't piss you off from an engineering perspective that your truck COULD get better fuel economy? The Tacoma is much lighter and a smaller engine. It's just shitty that the larger trucks get mileage that's even close to it's realm.

 

Disc rear brakes would be my vote. Though whipper and the OP's descussion had a lot of validity to it.

 

This irritates me to no end. I'm not complaining about MPG's but strictly from a feasibility standpoint, I hate that I don't have the power or size from a full sized but still have the same crappy fuel economy.

 

It'd just be nice to have rear brakes from the past 20 years instead of the past 100..lol. It would probably help the guys that tow a lot though, no?

 

There's nothing wrong with a drum brake design at all. They are perfectly adequate for the people who tow. When was the last time you saw an 18 wheeler with disc brakes?

 

Leather interior
The floor of an fj (plastic flooring)
6 speed manual double cab

 

You can't get a 6 speed manual double cab anymore?!?!

When did that happen?

 

Edit: Double cab long bed

I haven't seen any around here (dealerships)

 

Can't get the long bed and I believe around here they'd have to order the manual in a short bed also.

 

Actually, they are starting to come out with air disc brake for tractor/trailor set ups, but yes that is beside the point. I just think it would stop a bit better if it had 4 wheel disc. Drum are just a hassle to service IMO, and thats pretty much what it is.

 

He's right. There's a thread in the 2nd Gen section that's on the front page right now. Looks like it's only an option on the Off Road version.