Looks like Toyota Finally Got the Tacoma Dialed In.

I ordered a '16 Tacoma when the 3rd Gens first were introduced. That truck was a limited and it searched endlessly for gears all the time. I've had a couple since, the most recent being a '19. Pretty much the same. I just picked up a new 2022 SR DblCab 4x4 this past monday. I am almost thru the first tank and have put almost 400 miles on it. It drives night and day difference vs the other 3rd Gens. NO searching for gears. Tranny shifts smooth and holds gears up slight hills where the others would 'cough and spit' and downshift a time or 2 because they lost speed. AND in mostly town and country driving I am averaging 20.8mpg per the info screen. I will take that all day. This thing is SO much more pleasant to drive. And like I said I had a limited, and a couple TRD OffRoads. I am loving the simplicity of the SR. Just the right amount of equipment. This one is a keeper...

 

Same experience here. Went from a 2019 to a 2022 and night and day difference.

 

I definitely get some gear searching in my '22 (way more than my '15). I think it can depend on the slope of the roads you drive on. I live in CO with mild to crazy up/down. The worst for me is a long slight incline, like 3% or 4%. Tons of gear searching.

 

Maybe better than previous model years, but I drive 4Runner and Tacoma back to back same highway cruising at 80 mph, Tacoma likes to shift around more than 4Runner. I always thought more gears better, but to be honest I rather have that 5AT without gear hunting.

 

I was concerned about my 22 SR if it was too basic.... really I am not missing all the bells and whistles- I know some guys just have to have everything on their truck but for me it wasn't worth the $15-20,000 extra....plus toyota and the dealerships charge way too much for the accessories like running boards, bed covers, hitches etc like double the price

 

I love my new SR. Just the perfect amount of equipment

 

I shift my own...my bad

 

I've never driven a manual 3rd GEN Tacoma. I imagine it drives pretty darn good. I drive a lot and was looking for the best fuel mileage and I know the manual is known to get a little less mileage than the auto.

 

I always rather buy the later years of a generation that has been out for a while, rather than the first couple years of a new generation.

I've driven three 3rd gen manual Tacomas ('19 TRDOR lifted 4 inches on 35s, '21 TRDOR, and my '22 TRDOR) including my own and they drive good to me (although I wouldn't want to put 35s for how I use my truck).

 

It would be cool if Toyota would offer a manual transmission on the SR, it seems so appropriate for the economy model to have a standard shift option.

 

They last had it dialed in 2015…

 

The main difference is the older 3GS got better as they went through the learning process, but the news ones get worse as time goes on.

 

I hope not. To me that really doesn't make sense. How are you coming up with that? You are driving a '17 I see.

 

And a long bed. It seems the SR is the 'work truck' model. It just makes sense. Canadian buyers can get a long bed SR, why not here?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnZp-vOdMjs&t=12s

 

If your unhappy with the way your Taco is driving (gear hunting, delayed throttle response, etc...) you might want to look at a tune for it. I recently got a KDMax tune on my 2018 after 50K miles and its like a completely different truck. Drives much smoother, no hunting, better mpg (was 17 and now 20). Very satisfied with my decision.

 

Hence the ‘‘.

I’ve driven a 2022 and my 2017 and honestly can’t tell any difference. The 2022 truck I drove was stock, and mine has a lift and weight and heavy tires, so it wasn’t a totally fair comparison, but generally they seemed mostly identical in behaviour, and my friend, who just picked up the 2022, drove my truck and couldn’t tell any major difference either, even with the changes I have made.

 

You could get the 4 banger 5 speed MT in the SR for 2016 and 2017.

 

But I don't think in a dblcab 4x4...