Down shift feels like a engine break?

Living on top of a hill with some long 10+% grades and driving down it every day I appreciate the engine braking that both my Taco and my Mazda 3 do.. less brake wear and it doesn't hurt a thing to be at 4500 rpm... its not like it is redlining or anything.. calm down people and stop constantly complaining about what you have and enjoy it.

 

My complaint is that it does it when I don't want it to. One small grades, if I just tap the brake for a second, it downshifts and damn near stops me. Then it won't upshift until I really step on the gas again (like pedal to the metal). So I end up driving down the hill in a gear lower than I want to be and giving it gas when I should be coasting. I've owned quite a few vehicle (driven even more than I've owned) and never had a vehicle act like the Taco. It's strange and I'll never get used to it. I should have bought the manual and this wouldn't be a problem.

 

Push into neutral and then back into Drive

 

every time I come to a stop at a light, around 10mph, the engine kicks in hard and jolts the truck foward, if you're not steady on the pedal the feeling is more obvious...I don't think it's really dangerous, but it's abrupt.

 

My '12 does this, but its pretty subtle. When I first got the truck, it kind of was wonky to me. But, not I don't notice anymore. It feels like just normal down shifting of the auto trans.

 

yes the Tacoma is heavy on engine braking, one of the things that makes it
one of the best stopping small pickups

this matters a lot when you have a load, like, you have a truck right and haul loads, right ?

don't like it ? here is a trick....shift to N for 1 sec then back to D...it will release the engine
braking and now you'll coast faster down hills and it won't engine brake nearly as hard