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

Hi everyone! I have a 2000 Celica 6-speed. I need more utility and the pickup truck sounds perfect. I have decided on the Tacoma. I am in no hurry to buy and need to find a sale, then I should pull the trigger.

I joined to learn all about this vehicle. It appears to be the popular forum for this truck.

So funny, I registered and saw this topic first, and laughed out loud. How timely for me.

I had a '93 Integra, 97 Acura CL, and 2000 Celica. I lost my job a week after buying that car. You can bet that affected my perception of buying new vehicles.

Well, here I am in 2016. I love the stick shift. The 6-speed Celica has been a hoot to drive! I also ride a motorcycle, a Honda VFR800 which has 6 forward speeds of its own. You are reading the text from a human who has spent a lifetime reviling automatic transmissions. I have decided though, for the first time since my 1980 Delta 88 Midnight Blue Royale Brougham, to purchase, oh gasp, an automatic Tacoma. To Steves104x4, I am not fat, but am tall and handsome. So take that. To others, I am not lazy, I am an overachiever, 110% superstar. So take that as well!

I, for lack of a better term, program all day long. This and other factors have contributed to back, neck, and right arm pain. As my chiropractor taught me, anything we do with one side of our body and not the other takes the muscles, and thus overall body, out of balance. In this case, the clutching with the left foot and the shifting with the right. So I thought I would take the purchase of a Tacoma as an opportunity to provide some relief to the right side, which hurts very very badly. This is one small step that is the "right thing to do", while I am wincing through the ordeal. Secondly, it will be nice for my wife to be able to drive my vehicle. She just never glommed onto learning the stick even though I have offered to teach her. (Why is "glommed" being flagged for spelling? Stupid Internet.) Some people just reject the stick shift and that is okay.

I have not test driven one, which I will do last minute. I did shift it and the modern, short throws of the automatic are very nice.

Oh, as you can imagine, the Celica seating is right on the ground. It's crazy and it kinks the body in half, with the legs coming more straight out. The Tacoma seating was relatively very nice compared to the ol' sports car. There is another boon for my comfort and health.

I will have the motorcycle to keep me aware of how a stick shift actually works. Not that I think it would be possible to forget it. But life in the four wheeled vehicle is going to be a very different experience from these last twenty-two years or so.

That said, both sides can feel free to use me as your bridge to help mend all of the old hard feelings and battles.

 

This topic probably has migrated a lot, but read the first couple of posts, where I started reading this as I joined today. Then the context of my post should make sense. Sorry I am late to the game, but I think some will still be interested in my view of the auto vs. manual. If not, no harm, move on, and sorry for interrupting.

 

Alright, its decided. Manual it is after reading about 30 pages of this thread.

I've been agonizing over this decision for weeks. I have put down a deposit to be first to order (when ordering is available) the 17 TRD Pro at my local dealership.

I have a 10 T4R Trail. When I bought it, I was really bouncing back and forth with it or an FJ manual. I can't remember what the deciding factor was, but I got the 4R and have loved it since.

However, its high time that I move back to a manual and I am really looking forward to it.

TRD Pro, Barcelona Red, Manual, Double Cab, nothing else really matters to me...

Now, the biggest decision is if I should keep the 4R for my daughter that aren't even old enough to drive yet!

 

I will drive it for u till they are of age.

 

I too am considering ordering a manual. Those who have towed with it? How does it do? I imagine better considering the gearing is lower and first gear feels like it would rip out a tree stump if asked. I drove the DCLB auto 4 times and am ready to concede a foot of bed due to how crappy the auto drives.

 

Exactly what I did. I only towed a 600 lb trailer with two quads for a combined weight of 2000 pounds and it was 10 times easier than my wrangler with 4.10s was. Forgot I even had a trailer back there.

 

I towed with mine. Nothing heavy though. 2500 or so of trailer and snowmobiles. Pulled like I would expect a 3.5 to pull. Had to rev it a bit to pull the big hills. But with the manual you can hold whatever gear you want for as long as you want. I'll tow 3500 or less trailers again with it. I have a duramax so pulling big trailers is its job. @RedBeard1 has towed some heavier stuff with one.

 

I am in the same deal as you

I really need the LB

Thus I considered the tundra with 8 feet bed as well (cheaper than taco)

Now deciding to give up long bed and getting TRD PRO 6MT as 4x4 is a must

 

Yeah I drove the auto a handful times and couldn't convince myself to like it. I am not sure how Toyota corporate allowed the auto to slip through the Toyota of America's board of directors final ok before it went to production. They really neutered their flagship truck with that configuration that sells more than any other. I would have gladly driven an auto if it had some nuts.

 

Do you foresee any changes for the 2017 Auto model ?

 

Yep, that's what sold me. Honestly I didn't think the Auto was that bad, it drove fairly predictably, shifted a ton but was never when I didn't expect it. I'm just a fan of Manuals, enough of one to wait 3 damn months to have them build me one.

 

Most likely extremely similar just a different ECU flash for the Tranny. Apparently there already is a TSB in some areas for a reflash for the tranny gear issue.

 

My crawler and trailer weigh in at about 4900lbs so with spare parts, tools, camping gear, my tiny wife, fat heeler dog and my self. I am probably around 58-5900 lbs of load on the truck. I tow in 5th gear 60-70 mph with the cruse set does just fine. Holds speed within 3-5 mph on hill climbs and compression braking is sufficient on most down grades. It is not a 1 ton by any means but it does tow better than a v8 auto Chevy z71 I used to own. Having towed the same load with my 01 cummins, 06 Chevy and the Tacoma I can safely say that the Tacoma is in second place in the towing category out of the 3 I listed.

The automatic transmission Tacomas I drive were total dogs unless you hammered on them with the ETC switch engaged. The manual is a totally different animal.

 

Good to hear. My trailer is probably only 3500 lbs worst case scenario but I do live in the Rockies with lots of grades and thin air. I called the biggest area dealer in Denver and he said a total of 12 weeks for delivery of a manual Tacoma OR 4x4. Total bummer I gotta wait that long. I will try other dealers to see if I hear anything different.

 

I waited damn near double that amount of time for mine consider that a good lead time.

 

Sounds like it was worth the wait? I am sacrificing a ft of bed length but I couldn't live with myself driving that wretched auto everyday.

 

Pick up beds are useless any way I much prefer flat beds but I am not gonna put one on the Tacoma for aesthetic reasons. I have plenty of trailers though.

 

I disagree. I don't want to strap everything I ever put in my bed down.

 

I found this video... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aU_cV3W388

If the MT I ordered drives like the one on the video, I'll be really happy.