Are the 3rd gen 6mt trucks fun to drive compared to other manuals?

Your only options for a NEW manual truck are the Tacoma and the Gladiator. The Gladiator isn’t even a truck in my opinion. But that’s an argument for a different thread and a different day. Buy the Tacoma while you still can. Model Year 2023 is most likely the end of the road for a manual Tacoma.

 

Update: After reading all the replies on this thread, I pulled the trigger and ordered a 2022 TRD Off Road 6mt! Build date is on June 15th, delivery will take 3-5 weeks. I am extremely grateful to those who left their input. See you on the trails!

 

Been driving manuals my entire life, have two sports cars in manual and of course the Tacoma does not compare to those....but I also have a 2001, 1st gen Tacoma in manual. Honestly the 1st gen manual is way more fun to drive. Throttle response is way better on the 1st gen, clutch is better, throws are better and it seems just as quick. I got a new Tacoma as it is one of the last manual pickups to ever be made....but the throttle response and the clutch are pretty terrible. All that said I'd still rather the manual over an automatic.

 

You described it perfectly...rev hang especially is horrible

 

Relatedly and FWIW… I had first gen manual 4cyl Tacoma and loved it. Fantastic little truck and *fun* to drive.

The manual 2nd gen 6cyl I had felt clunky and *not fun*. I didn’t last long in it before going to a 2nd gen automatic.

When they got heavier and torque-y-er there was a compromise. That said, I LOVED my 2nd gen automatics. 3rd gen not so much.

 

Honestly I don’t find the shifter loose at all in this truck. Personally though, a short throw super tight shifter feels unnatural to me anyways in a truck, so I find the Tacoma shifter to be a really nice middle ground between too loose and super long throws to super tight and short throws.

The poor feedback from the clutch is pretty much there in any modern manual and can be fixed by deleting the accumulator. The bad throttle response can be fixed with a tune, Toyota really lamely pads the throttle to give terrible response. My truck was very meh when I got it (but I’d still choose it over the auto), but now with the OTT tune it’s way better, and throttle is instant. Deleting the accumulator is in the near future once I have the time to mess with it.

my only real complaints are the gearing spacing and the gearing itself. 1st to 2nd is a huge jump, I hate how tall 2nd gear is. I also hate how tall reverse is, but the 2LO mod helps you out for the times when you actually need a deep reverse. 1st as is is about perfect and I’d happily leave it alone.

if I could have it my way….1st would stay where it is, 2nd and 3rd would move closer to 1st, current 4th (1:1) would become 5th and they’d stick a gear between the new 5th and the adjusted lower 3rd. 6th would stay as is and current 5th would be deleted. Sometimes I have a use for 5th gear but overall it is by far my least used gear. 4th to 6th is a perfectly acceptable gap (1:1 to 0.71:1) and would have been fine deleting 5th and inserting a lower ratio between some of the other gears.

all that said, it’s a solid truck and enjoyable to drive. I don’t agree that the only manuals that are enjoyable are fast or whatever. No doubt fast manuals are fun, but automatics are boring in any application. Given the choice, I don’t care what the vehicle is I’ll still choose the manual. Just because it’s a truck doesn’t mean I need to automatically choose the auto just because other manuals are faster or more fun. That’s like saying I shouldn’t have a hamburger because steak exists.

 

I will never understand the rev hang complaints that Tacoma, Jeep, and Frontier owners all complain about. I’ve owned manuals of all three and all of them the rpm start to fall immediately when I press the clutch. The only time I feel like I’m waiting on the rpm to fall is from 1st to 2nd when I wind 1st way out to 5-6k rpm. Which of course I’m waiting because I have to let it fall 3000 rpm to match the revs for 2nd, which isn’t a quick process. That isn’t programmed rev hang though.

Can someone give an example of
the rev hang they have an issue with? A video would be fantastic. Seriously amongst all these vehicles I have not experienced it or at least haven’t caught onto it if I have and I’m curious what people are so frustrated with. I’m not naive to automotive at all so I just want to see what I’m not catching onto here.

I guess what I’m getting at is I would attribute any of the slow rev returning to idle would be due to the heavy flywheels these trucks use which keeps momentum going longer and slows the engines ability to return to stock. But I’ve only driven modern trucks in the last few years, no cars with lighter flywheels. As for the trucks, I would actually think the slower return to idle rpm would be more beneficial for downshifting. Hell, I already find the engine rpm’s drop too quick when I bill the throttle for a downshift. I have to move/shift really quickly or else the rpm is already too low again by the time I let the clutch out.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mm6SSeLivqE

 

I saw that but I guess what is considered to be rev hang, I thought to be due to heavy truck flywheels. It’s probably a bit of both really. However either way, when winding out 1st gear I don’t think the rpm will ever fall so fast that it’ll be unnoticeable when you wind it out and have to let the rpm fall 3000 just to match up. But yes, if you just straight up ignore the rev hang and drop the clutch whenever it will never be a good driving experience.

 

I have a 2021 manual shift Tacoma. My basis for comparison is my 2000 Ford Ranger with manual shift, which I have been driving since it was new.

The two transmissions are both good. There's a slight difference in that the gears are more closely spaced on the Tacoma (it is, after all, a 6-speed rather than a 5-speed). I find that, as a practical matter, I have to shift out of 1st sooner on the Tacoma. The rest is about the same. (The location of Reverse is of course different.)

 

The Tacoma is the first manual truck I've ever owned. I came from manual cars and it is a huge adjustment. I saw someone above me describe it as clunky and this is a fitting description. It drives much better now that I have an AAL and 5100's on the top setting to stiffen things up a bit. Other upgrades like running Red Line MT-90 transmission oil is a must do in my opinion. I will also be buying the Core short shifter when money allows (Short arm things)!. But would this make me buy an automatic? Absolutely not! I love having as much control as possible and the truck is a blast to drive.

 

On a manual trans? Why would they do that? An automatic yes.

 

Have never owned an automatic Toyota any thing. No accumulator mod. No issues how ever they can take the electric transfer case and shove it. My wife can drive my truck without complaints and she tops out at 5 feet. You just have to be just slightly smarter than the transmission.

 

I can drive my truck for 8 hours straight and not get tired of it. That’s how much I love driving it. ADM and tune make it so much more fun, although IMHO not necessary. My biggest complaint about the accumulator, was that I could never rev match properly.

If you do any kind of towing, 2WD low mod is a must for a 3rd gen tacoma.

I hope to keep this truck for 20+ years.

 

These transmissions are not cable, the shifter bolts on top of the tailhousing and uses shift rods to actuate the shift forks. I had my shifter assembly out and installed a URD shortshifter within 2 months of ownership. There is definitely no cables. And the clutch is hydraulic, so no cable there either.

 

I have to say that I didn't like the OEM shift knob one bit. Here's the one I got from Core-Shifters:

 

I’m waiting for the new ranger to come out as a consideration to replace my manual Tacoma. I really dislike it. Came from a 4.0L manual ranger prior to the Tacoma and had no issues with that transmission except for the lack of a sixth gear.

It’s zippy and can be fun if you really wind it out but I stopped doing that after about the first week of ownership.

Second gear is terrible. It provides no low end torque. It’s the main reason I don’t want to drive this truck anymore. If I’m going under about 7mph I can’t roll a stop sign or decelerate in traffic and speed back up while staying in second. If I try I can push the pedal to the floor and nothing, or it bucks. It’s really annoying to have to downshift to first in traffic. My ranger had plenty to give even if you were barely moving.

Aside from that the revs are way too high cruising in sixth. I’ll typically be in sixth as low as 40mph.

edit to add - I do this camping trip every summer where I need to drive 10 miles up a dirt logging road. Second gear sucks so bad that I have to drive almost the entire road in first gear with the rpm’s screaming the whole time. Try to get into second and it just bogs. The ranger just charged up in second gear without a care.

 

It's not the truck every so often I take off in 2nd from a stand still.

 

yeah I’ll start in second on a slight downhill. It is the truck in my opinion. The only way to remedy the lack of torque in second at low speed is to feather the clutch and give extra gas to make up for the gearing. Might seem fine if you’re used to it but it didn’t need to be that way and other transmissions aren’t geared like that.

 

Im a gold-star manual driver or manual transmission elitist. whichever you consider it, been driving stick my whole life. 8 cars, 17 motorcycles, osha certified for a forklift, but never a pickup truck until the tacoma.

I wasnt aware ranger came in stick too. i dont think i would have picked it, but at the time of purchase i though my only other new manual offroad option was the jeep.

I would call the tacoma 6mt trans average at best. Between its long throw, lame throttle response, and notchy feel you can induce bucking pretty easily.
I do like the long throw for off-roading and night driving, the shifter is easy to find and row when you need it.
I get misses in R now and then, truck senses it and goes into rear camera but i can feel the shifter is not fully seated/engaged and i do the good o'l 1st-2nd-1st-R dance pattern. Works every time.

Did you try a tune? I have the same distain for 1st and 2nd. 1st is short as hell and im either wound up to 4/5K or shifting at 10mph just to make a left turn at a light.
Offroad i cant carry enough speed to not bog and stall in 2nd, but im typically screaming in 1st.

Overland v7 tune helped a bunch, its "almost" a brand new engine.

6MT in the tacoma is a life saver vs the automatic variant. With a tune it gets a whole lot better but arguably still does not feel natural. With an agressive tune the throttle range gets shoved to the top of the pedal response, so flooring it from 1/2 or 3/4 pedal yields no extra "throttle".
I like that Toyota gave you a sunglasses holder in place of the multicrawl conrol panel. arguably youd use the sunglasses holder more frequently on a daily basis . Clutch cancel button i finally used on the trails for its intended 4L use case and it was pretty amazing.
Interesting that 6MT also "forces" some trim options, like no JBL, different cupholder/pocket, and normal key.