Automatic Tune vs Trade for Manual

I traded my auto for manual long ago and never looked back.

@duplicateg - I found in my old Auto the sport shift thing pointless, the only time I used it was to limit below 4th in the mountains and rev the nutts off the engine. I was hoping that the OV tune gear lock feature would help, but I was told this wasn't available for my truck so never got to try it.

While more than 90% of my cars have been manuals, I'm not a purist, I'm just from the UK so driving a manual was just the norm. While the manual in these trucks isn't perfect at least you're in control, the auto gearbox and gearing in these Tacomas is terrible. My wife's Audi SQ5 with ZF 8HP transmission is sublime, that's never left me missing rowing my own.

 

I'll jump on this thread instead of starting "yet another mt v auto". The truck I ordered is due in a couple of weeks, a double cab sb or with an automatic. Browsing online I found the exact same truck 100 miles from me with a manual transmission at a similar price. The only automatic I've ever owned is my f150, everything else has been a manual. Heck, my TJ rock crawler with 160k still has the original clutch. How are long term mechanical problems stacking up between the auto and mt? Getting leary and buyers rmorese before even getting the truck lol. It only took $100 to hold my truck so no big deal on going a different route.

 

@Microtus - My truck is only a 2020 and has around 40,000km (~25k in miles) so is still in it's infancy. Mechanically I have had an issue with the clutch, around 10k km back it was creaking like mad, it wasn't just the noise, the throw of the clutch got pretty 'notchy', almost like an old cable clutch system where the cable was on the last legs. It went back into the dealership and the clutch pedal assembly was taken apart and reassembled and lubed. As good as new, actually better!

I am watching this issue over time, there are some threads on this where people are stating the issue comes back, I believe people have had success in getting the assembly replaced, or perhaps there are recalls in the US? (not up here in Canada for me).

Above everything already mentioned in this thread, one downside I would say for the manual would be if you're in a cold climate. I'm up in Calgary Alberta, we're 'serious cold' for more than half the year. My truck lives outside, the clutch gets super stiff when we're in the -20C to -35C temps.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the input. The coldest it has been since I've lived here is -36F. I haven't noticed clutch issues with my honda or jeep clutches in the cold. It might be a toyota thing, I don't know. The manual transmission tacomas were off my radar due to rarity, so I never spent much time looking at info on them.

 

The MTs have been just as, if not more, reliable than the ATs. If you're on the fence and you like stick shifters, pull the trigger on the MT. It'll be easier to swap it back out for an AT if you're wrong down the road than the other way around.... and there have been plenty of guys on here that swapped from AT to MT after giving the AT a shot.

 

See post 33

 

that stiff clutch thing happens, but it's not a big deal at all. We get basically the same weather as the UP and it's not been an issue. After the truck warms up for 5min it's gone. Some guys have tried a different fluid in the clutch reservoir and that seems to have eased the problem.

 

I just finished another road trip with the ‘new’ truck having a manual transmission. Can only recommend those buying a Tacoma should seriously consider the manual over the automatic. Steep hill? Hold the gear and go. Flat? Throw it in 6th and cruise to save mpg. Down hill? Throw it in 6th or N and your laughing. Great power band throughout each gear and more fun to drive

 

For me it was a very easy decision, either MT taco or no taco.

 

Congrats man! These trucks are very fun rowing gears through mountain passes.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

I like my MT. It's a 2014 OR six speed manual.It has the diff-locker and A-Trac. I've had to use both and they got me out after getting stuck in 4L. The 2014 has the 4.0L motor and has lots of low end torque. I've rarely gotten it over 3.5K RPM. I feel the gearing in and out of 4WD is perfect. I think I might want an AT if I was doing some extreme rock crawling, but I'm not so I'm really happy with the MT. Kinda sucks in stop-&-go traffic, but I try to avoid that.

In icy / slippery conditions it's nice knowing the truck stays in the gear you've chosen. Going down grades the 4.0L has a lot of compression so less braking. I have 114K miles and still well over 50% on the front brakes, more on the rear.

 

Get the manual!

 

The Manual Transmission Renaissance Fueled by Young Drivers - WSJ

 

Have you done the accumulator delete yet?

 

This is a bit old and OP probably doesn’t care anymore but I can give some good insight on this.

I’ve been driving for 20-30 years. Until my Tacoma they have all been manuals. Most of them the built in various ways (rock crawlers/high HP/etc.). I hate automatics. 100%. Never owned one, never wanted to.

When I got my Tacoma I was forced to get an automatic. I wanted an off road access cab (Canadians keep your mouth shut!). I didn’t like it but whatever. I’d learn to love it. I hoped. I didn’t.

This was before tunes so I had tried a shift sense which improved it a bit as well as a pedal commander which also helped. Still wasn’t perfect though.

Tunes came out. Immediately got one the day they came out. Much better. Still sucked though. I was jealous of some built rock crawler dudes that could manually shift their autos…

Then came gear lock with the tunes. Success. I finally had something close to a manual. You don’t have a clutch obviously and you shift like a dog box instead of moving the shifter around. Honestly is borderline the same as having a manual just without the clutch. Good enough for me.

So if you really hate your auto and like a manual, this is a good solution.

Sorry for the length. Wanted to give some detail instead of just “Tune good. Get it”.

 

I have not yet. Was hoping to try out a Manual with one completed before pulling the trigger

 

Thanks for the insight man

 

I would recommend. You'll have a much more predictable engagement point.

 

See when I read that, it does sound leggit and something I would consider preferable. But in all honesty, I dono if I would be able to tell the difference in the clutch with my limited experience. Gotta make a friend with the mod completed

 

Auto with OTT tune is a great improvement