Manual transmission Fan Club and BS thread (All Generations Welcome)

Aside from brief periods when my vehicle was in the shop, this is the first time in 14 years that I can't jump into a vehicle with a manual. In 2003, when the Air Force reassigned me from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska to HQ USSOUTHCOM in Miami, dumped my '97 Dodge Ram long bed for an '03 Mini Cooper S that only came with a six-speed manual. Kept it until 2009 when I was stationed at Lackland AFB in San Antonio and my 7 month old, 100+ lb English Mastiff puppy needed more space and bought a '99 4Runner (125k miles) with a 5 speed manual, my first Toyota. I regret parting with it and should have kept it to this very day. It would have saved me tons that would have me in a Tacoma now, but I didn't keep it. That 10 year old 4Runner with a manual made such a good impression on me, that 9 months later I dropped it for a certified '07 FJ 6M (under 50k miles). It was solid, but the full time 4WD and rear half doors were less than ideal. Two years later rolled $6k negative equity into a new '12 Wrangler Unlimited with a manual. Spent nearly $2k extra on the factory lifetime warranty with $100 deductible. Four years later things changed. I found myself with a wonderful woman who has a 9 & 11 year old and us in need of a second vehicle. That was at the same time the jeep went over 100k miles and I needed to start using my warranty and paying $100 deductibles. Overcoming the negative equity in the payments and constant maintenance over the last year left us inconveniently without a vehicle for periods of time and unable to put away for that second. Last week that came to an end. The wrangler was now worth more than I owed and I unloaded it for an '05 4Runner for our family (her) vehicle so the kids and my 180 lb eight year old Mastiff are comfortable and be able to save for that second (my) vehicle which will be a second gen double cab Tacoma with a manual. I want a manual, but need a second vehicle that is at least somewhat family friendly. A double cab Tacoma will provide that and I'll have confidence knowing whatever one I get, it will last for many years to come without the maintenance burden I experienced with the Jeep. Looking forward to the Tacoma, since I'm very fond of the Taco's cousins the FJ and 4Runner.

 

My '99 was a manual and I absolutely loved it, with the notable exception of when I drove it to Connecticut. I was turning 3500 rpms at 75 on the highway (TRD w/the 4.30 rear on 31's), and people were still passing me like I was standing still. The rest of the time, I loved everything about that truck.

 

@Dannyblues Is that you?

 

Any of you guys take advantage of the ability to not push in the clutch and shift from 3rd to 2nd when approaching a stop sign or traffic light change? For instance, If I'm cruising in 3rd and have a stop sign coming up I will slow down to the point where I can slide her out of third without much pressure, while still slowing now to a crawl slide it through neutral and put slight pressure on second and 9 times out of 10 it clicks right in and then gently hit the gas to get going again. All while never touching the clutch. Works 90% of the time for me you just need to time it right. I do it all the time and just wondering if you guys do it to.

 

Did I just read a porn script?

 

Thought the same

 

yup, and if you try, and recognize the rev match for all gears...you can do away with the clutch completely if you like outside of starting roll and reverse

 

On the other hand, unless you're rev matching exactly every time, you're increasing the wear on your synchros.

 

Sorry. No Danny here.

 

if you stick around you'll understand. and you'll probably get a few lectures as well.

 

hehe...def a similar style

Welcome!

 

I'm sure those lectures will be deserved. Some I'm looking forward to, like about the new Atkinson engine so I know if my long-term plans include stockpiling gen 2 Tacos and gen 4&5 4Runners.

 

seems that question cannot yet be answered, for me at least. the only reason i would even think this is because the factory ECU tune on this motor is gawd awful and there aren't any solutions to market yet. but apparently there is at least one vendor working on one. if a good tune comes out then we can all forget about the motor complaints. (and i don't even care about a SC... just a driveable and fun tune is enough for me).

 

Just busting your balls. @Dannyblues is a manual owner, who posts often, and initially had Loooooong posts with no paragraphs. So first lesson on this forum, use paragraphs please, or we will just skip over your posts and not read.

Welcome to TW, hope you enjoy it.

 

On the other hand

It could be worse.

Somebody could type like this

Where every pause where you would normally use a comma

A period

Or a semicolon is a paragraph unto itself.

That would really be annoying

Don't you think?

 

Or they could write with no punctuation at all where the entire post is just a long runon sentence with no pauses or breaks for the entire thought That would really make their posts difficult to follow especially if they were trying to ask a detailed question

 

Or! They could, write like Christopher. Walken talks and, insert random punctuation to. Indicate. WHERE! They had paused....mid-thought.

 

Or, they could trade in their Tacoma and buy a Ford but still hang around....

Feeling like a wise ass today...No real reason. Cheers!

 

So...
Clutches. How about THAT idea, huh?