Honest feedback after 50K miles on my 2018 Tacoma OR

Brofessor · Oct 17, 2019

synaps3 said: ↑

I'm on 285 75s, fully steel armored, racks, 2.5" lift, camper on the back and I average 17mpg. Something's wrong if you're getting that bad of MPGs. Or you need to slow down.

I've never felt the need to regear, but can tell the difference on bigger tires for sure. I think I'd want to regear on 35s, but I don't see any need to go to 35s with the driving I do. You definitely wheel harder than I do if you've almost killed it at Moab a few times. I've only gotten stuck a couple of times offroad, nothing too bad... only one really bad hit offroad and no major trail damage yet thanks to the sliders and IFS skid.

Only complaint I have after 40k miles is my tow mpgs. I'm getting between 9 and 11mpg depending on speed (70mph or 65mph) towing a travel trailer. It tows just fine, you just need to make liberal use of the skinny pedal like @Brofessor said. It tows best in ECT mode with the M option, keeping it on 4 so it doesn't hunt uphills.

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Nice. My MPGs suck but that’s my own fault.

besides it’s all about smiles per gallon, not miles per gallon.

VAsponger · Oct 29, 2019

read your whole write up, and I appreciate it. Cause I have a 06 tacoma and I am debating on purchasing a new

Jbblazier[OP] initial post: ↑

In May of 2018 I picked up a 2018 Tacoma Off-road Tacoma, it was between that and a 5th gen 4runner but coming from a 4th gen 4runner I wanted a truck and wasn't getting rid of the 4runner. At the time I worked for South east Toyota which is the largest distributor of Toyota's in the world. We Brought in hundreds of Toyota's every day from Japan by ship and domestics by rail and processed them to go throughout the south east. I got a killer deal on the truck and knew I was leaving soon so I couldn't pass it up.

I had often driven and moved Tacoma's so it was nothing new getting inside and leaving the dealership, what was new was getting on the interstate, the power in the low gears was pretty weak even compared to my 05 4runner on 35"s. None the less the truck felt great and I was proud of it, after about a week I had already lifted it and put 285/70/17 KM3's on it.

And holy shit was it sluggush now lol, my gas milage went from around 19 to 13.1 and towing a trailer to Atlanta for YotaMafia's annual stone meetup I instantly noticed the trucks lack of torq or what felt like a lack of torq compared to my 4.0 4runner.

Keep in mind this is only my 2nd week of owning the Tacoma, We leave Atlanta and head North West 2000 miles to CBI Off-road in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Back on the interstate again the cruise control was almost useless with the truck loaded down, using the radar cruise control the truck would slow down if someone got in front of me and then downshift to 3rd gear at 65-70mph and hold that until I manually made it shift getting around 10.1mpg on the computer with no trailer. The ride was nice and all the little interior features are so much nicer then my 4runner but man is this power train sucking!

Fast forward to Idaho falls and getting amour put on at CBI, after we added full skids, sliders, and an aluminum front bumper with a bed rack and a CVT tent I really did not notice too much of a power loss and the Gas mileage didn’t really change. I think the truck already having to downshift to 4th gear all the time made the difference just not as noticeable.

It’s now been a year since all of that and I still love the Tacoma, It drives nice even after multiple Moab trips that almost killed it! I think the biggest downfall is still the transmission, the truck shouldn’t need a regear from the factory, if the engine could utilize its torq in the lower RPM range with the trans I think it would be a phenomenal combo, hopefully Toyota figures this out and can fine tune the transmission and engine combo.

The Interior is still solid, even after a 100lb yellow lab runs around in it so no complaints there, the lane departure warning is cool, the rear locker and crawl controls are nicely placed, again it’s a super nice truck but I can’t make myself like it as much as my 05 4runner for some reason. Having a truck with a bed is cool but it seems Toyota gives the Tacoma the short straw when it comes to little amenities that even the 4runner had 13 years before this Tacoma. Auto AC for example, power seats, a nice little clock aside from the radio, much better feeling interior panels. I know this is Tacoma world and you guys are thinking I’m crazy but I just feel the 4runner gets a lot more love then the Tacoma when it comes to care in designing.

Anyway, we still have big plans for this Tacoma and hopefully when we throw these 4:88s in the diffs it really wakes up, if not I think its Tundra time.

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read this whole thing and thank you! I have been debating on selling my 06 tacoma and purchasing a new tacoma possibly. Will consider everything you wrote, but I totally agree as my wife drives a new 4runner and that and the tacoma are night and day it seems. There is so much more with the 4runner even the older models like you had. And even comparing my 06 tacoma with a new tacoma is kind of depressing. They haven't changed much at all and or added basic features for a new model truck. Love them, but will definitely way my options before a future purchase. thanks again for your honest opinion and btw badass truck you have!

Chablo · Oct 29, 2019

When I put my lift and tires on 285 17's I went from 20-22 to 17-19mpg. Idk why you would go from 19 to 13.1 something isnt right there.

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Honest feedback after 50K miles on my 2018 Tacoma OR

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Honest feedback after 50K miles on my 2018 Tacoma OR

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