About to pull the trigger on a 23 Offroad Manual transmission Tacoma tomorrow.

Half the threads turn into a manual vs auto argument.

 

MT Off Road is a great choice!

 

I definitely understand the appeal of the manual. I’ve owned a number of manual transmissions over the years, but I now live in a pretty congested city and driving a manual in traffic gets old fast. I’m just not into it anymore. With that said, my 23 AT did not hunt that much and it’s even less after my OTT tune. Either way, it’s a great truck and tuned with an intake is even better!

 

Never understood the manual in traffic gets old fast argument. I commuted for 20 years on the 405 from the San Fernando Valley to Torrance (30 miles). The 10 years with the manual were much more enjoyable. I think there are manual folks and then there are the true die-hard manual folks. I never found traffic too much for me whether in NYC, the hills of San Francisco, Chicago or LA. I lived in all those places with a manual and loved every minute of it. Traffic with an auto is quite boring for me.

 

auto vs manual aside I wish I bought the one with an extra 300 or so hp. The V6 is dog no matter what trans is stubbed into it.

 

^ This
Truly.
- I waited and went out of state to pick mine up. I was lucky - but I would be miserable in an automatic.

The manual gearbox is a joy to drive. I don't know how to drive any auto gearbox - it is stupid.


Don't think about it... go manual. Don't settle for the ugly date who is available, but falls short in your favorite qualities (whatever they may be!)



I hope my point comes across clearly...



I have no issues with the accumulator. It seems it varies by truck... I simply don't have the alleged symptoms - same with others.

Reverse is too high, but 2wd low mod takes care of that - so not an issue.

2lo mod is essential to enhance the offroad capability anyway. Can't live withthout it. It is beautiful. (It allows you to engage the low gear while staying in 2 wheel drive avoiding bind-up.)

Manual is it - there is no other option - really.

I'll give up my stick and three pedals only for 1 pedal driving. (EV that is... - already made the jump with our other car). There will be no automatics for me...


Search for the 'why manual' thread.

Many would like to go manual - no one goes the other way.

- I think there may have been one guy that wanted to switch his manual for an auto, but he was banned long ago.
Something to do with farm animals...


(That is a made-up story)

 

Automatic Manual Good luck.

 

It took me a month to find a dealer that would even try to get me a AC manual in Army Green, a 1k deposit and then a 5 month wait for the truck to be built and delivered.

It was 100% worth it. Get the manual!


.

 

In a span of 30 years I've owned 4 vehicles. All being automatic. 2 being tacomas. ('01, '16).
I'm an auto guy. Always drove them. Not switching now.
If you're a manual guy I'd fight for the manual.

 

The stick is a lot of fun in these trucks. If the Tacoma didn’t come in manual, I’d be in a Tundra

Worst case if you find you’ve made the wrong decision, swap it for the other one.

 

Either way - you can't go wrong, but like some others have said, the MT sets the Tacoma apart from its competitors. The Taco does not compete with the Gyp Gladiator- because the Gyp competes with the Fiat 500, especially in terms of quality.

 

Sounds like you enjoy a standard/manual transmission. There are advantages to both.

I do a lot of off road, lots of mud and river rocks. I own a horse farm, surrounded on 2 sides by a river. I’ve put just under 250k miles on my (automatic) truck. The auto is fine in and off road, and I have no doubt the standard will be fine as well. The driver will be the difference in either.

it seems clear you want the standard transmission…drive the extra miles... Heck I drive 120 miles (round trip)to my office 7 days a week… enjoy!

 

100 miles isn’t bad. I had to go to Chicago to find one.

 

My thought is that traffic sucks no matter if it’s an auto or manual. Personally, I find it slightly worse in the auto because you have to constantly hover the brake pedal due to creeping. It’s also annoying to me in traffic with an auto because one foot is so busy and the other just sits there. I dislike driving either in traffic, but I certainly don’t find the manual to be worse. So I agree, never understood the argument either.

 

I can say one thing for sure, everyone who has seen my truck would compliment it, then look inside and say "OH MY GOD IT'S A STICK!! THAT'S SO COOL!!" Never once heard anyone get excited over a vehicle being automatic. That doesn't matter to me as I only care about my enjoyment of my vehicles, but it also severely limits the amount of people who could even ask to borrow it and me have to say no to anyway.

 

I had a 2018 automatic that I traded for a 2020 Manual. The Manual is far better in this truck in my opinion. Like others mention there are a few small things that can make it better like the accumulator delete, and also the 2LO mod. Which is almost a nessatity if you have to back up trailers with with our tall revers gear.

For offroad if you like to spend money, look at the Northwest Fab Eco-Crawler. That double low range really makes the truck a beast in the rocks.

2Lo mod https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-2wd-low-range-for-the-3rd-gen-tacoma.614743/

Accumulator delete disk https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...sk-3rd-2nd-fj-and-tundra-and-giveaway.780564/

NWF Eco-Crawler
https://northwestfab.com/collections/eco-crawler
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-crawl-box-available.717218/

 

There is really no reason to do it like they did. I mean from a engineering or commercial aspect. Maybe they had a huge stock of those obsolete gears? But that was a real issue for me pulling a trailer and backing up.

 

I think the few areas where you could really like or dislike the manual or auto are: commuting traffic, if you have a bunch of stop and go, the manual *can* become tedious. Technical off-roading, the auto is just easier. Gear hunting…. The manual will eliminate some of that, particularly at highway speeds. Around town driving, the manual is just much more fun. Reverse, get the 2Lo mod and it solves that problem for both transmissions. Crawl control, I think you give that up with a manual, could be a positive. Check me on that fact though. Gearing is slightly better in the manual. Spouses or significant others tend to prefer riding shotgun in an auto. At least mine does. Shops and valets are running out of techs that can drive a manual… 10 years from now that’s going to be even worse. Just some comments to think about.

 

It’s an odd/unfortunate choice for sure. There are similar transmissions from Hiluxes that end up with 4.07 ratios for R, same gearset itself but the transmission reduction gears between the countershaft and output shaft are a slightly lower ratio. Still, for an engine like this, you really need something more like 6:1 or 7:1 for a good trailer backing reverse. Sadly you’ll never get that these days, that’s 1970s stuff lol.

 

You're aware there's a safety recall due to a wire in the steering column that may fail and disable driver side airbag? They are unable to transfer ownership until problem is resolved, at least here in Canada.

I bought '23 TRD Pro 6MT, 5 weeks ago and am still waiting for dealership to be able to transfer ownership.