Any word on new info?

In January of 2004 the Tacoma's 4.0L V6 had already been used for 2 model years in the 4Runner as well as 5 (?) years as the base model engine in the Tundra. There was nothing new there.

 

Can't believe they haven't released anything for NYIAS. This should be a big deal. Some details should be coming this week at least...

 

I hope so, I'm torn between waiting for the new Tacoma or getting a used 2012+ Tundra.

 

Good one.

You are right. The chnages are more evolutionary then revolutionary but still. People who weren't that concerned with off road went in droves to the full size as they were shown to ride and handle better and really have similar gas mileage in many of their smaller motors and not cost much more. The Tacoma for all practical purposes is competing agaist the full size truck they lag way behind in. A new Taco can do much to bridge the gap. You aren't getting you and I to buy a new one right off perhaps, but you may get the next "small truck" that realy is more Eco then the f150 and handled and rides as well. Earth shattering ? How about a 2.7 with 325 hp on an all aluminum body ? Mid size trucks don't take sales away from full size, partly because they are so behind the times. A Ford Ranger modeled after the f150 would make even the most diehard a Toyota fan at least try one out.

 

Yeah which is what the problem with 2016 design is. 2gen Tacoma was very good bridge between full size and small off road truck.
It was not doing either perfectly but probably as close to it as possible. What really needed was to get better engine option or upgrade to current one with more towing, payload. Not to become car like. What it looks like Toyota went completely opposite to what 2gen was and went to make more car like, including smaller engine.
Which makes 2016 over sized, more underpowered vehicle than what 2 gen was.
Hence they should have either shrink current truck and put that 3.5 L in it or keep the same way and upgrade frame and engine to get more towing and payload with the same size.
What they did, can be described as stuffing moped motor into Peterbilt and claiming its New and improved and very very futuristic. Crap why do that, they could have put turbo on 2.7 and made that an option.
Would be better choice than 3.5 L
Would have more power too.
Didn't somebody got like 700 HP out of that 2.7 ?

 

It's coming out as soon as they find the "remedy" for the leaf springs.

 

I was thinking the exact same thing. What could possibly go wrong there?

 

Just because they put a smaller engine in it doesn't mean it has less power. If you look at the course of history with automakers going from larger to smaller engine, the smaller ones almost always have more power and better gas mileage. We haven't heard anything about the new engine yet so making this assumption is incorrect on your part. I would be willing to bet that the new engine, even though it is smaller, will have better HP, torque and gas mileage.

 

Where are our flying cars!? Dammit!

That is my major gripe about the Tacomas, mileage and power. It is real hard not to look at the other brand's fullsizes since mpg is nearly the same, plus you get so much more truck.

What is keeping me in a Tacoma is, available manual transmission...plus Toyota has treated well over these last 25 years of owning them. Hard to trust anything else. That and I like the physical size of it, 95% of the time...don't really need a full size truck anymore. So I put up with mediocre mileage and power because I like the platform over-all. If the Ranger was available...I dunno...might jump to Ford.

Now that turboed 2.7 would be exciting in the Tacoma chassis. Ford isn't getting the mileage they claimed in the F150. Aluminum is cool, but Audi has been doing it for awhile now...plus in the construction side of the industry, aluminum bodies have been fairly common quite a while now. Funny how many people slam Ford for having a soda can for a body....ahh...we had a Mack Tri-Axle dump with an aluminum dump body...you can beat the crap out of those. I am sure the F150 will be fine.

 

I've been watching for news pretty closely, myself. I drive 100 miles round trip to work everyday so fuel mileage is important to me, and when they first announced the improved fuel econ, I was stoked. Now with every passing day and no new info, I'm losing interest.

The perfect solution would be to have a fuel efficient car to commute with and a tacoma for everything else, but alas I don't have the garage space for 3 vehicles (2 for me 1 for her).

 

Does a second small car NEED to be garaged? Why not just get a second small car for commuting? My brother does near 50 mpg average in Seattle commuting in his 2002 Golf TDi 5-door. Great little car with the 5 speed.

The 3rd gen wont get that much better mpg than the 2nd gen. It'll be right there with the Colorado mpgs. You can go on the forum to see what people are getting on them.

 

When I had to commute 200 miles per day I got VW Tdi. At 50 MPG from factory (60 if you know how to drive) TDi pays for itself up very quickly.

 

I'm completely fine with it being outside. Problem is we don't have anywhere to park it outside. Our neighborhood has a shared drive behind the houses and our garages are on the rear. If I park my car outside of our garage it will partially block the rest of the drive that the neighbors use to get to their house. Also, homeowners assoc rules say I can't park in street in front of house .

Yep, that would be perfect to drive back and forth to work! I could probably hold out on the tacoma for a couple more years if I could find a 5 speed tdi wagon. Or any high mpg wagon, really.

 

Which brings us back to Toyota sucking for not bringing Diesel.
Diesel is way better choice for a vehicle that size. Fuel efficiency and Towing capacity all bundled in one.

 

Too bad Toyota no longer has the Corolla in the wagon configuration. I like sport wagons over sedans, but after owning one late model VW, I swore I would never do it again.

There is the Venza, but the mileage isn't all that great.

^^^This^^^ I do like one do-it-all vehicle. Having a multiples is kind of a pain. We had 4 there for a awhile. Kind of a pain.

I do want to check out the diesel Colorado when it comes out. Though no available manual trans, is a mark against it...and I wonder if you can get the diesel in the WT package?