My test drive experience yesterday

I drive my truck with the ect button on the majority of the time. Reason being that the transmission keeps you in the right gear where the truck is more in the power band. It does not do as well in my experience on gas but who are we kidding it's a truck not a Prius.

 

I test drove a couple new tacomas a few weeks ago too and I was really underwhelmed by the engine also. I currently drive a 2003 TRD offroad manual extra cab with 191,000 miles. Absolutely love that truck. Bought it in '09 after coming back from Japan where I drove a '91 Surf for 2 years. But it seems like the '03 has WAY more throttle response than the '16. Maybe it's because it's new and needs to be broken in? Like you and others have said, I don't expect a racing truck, but I do expect it to be as good if not better than a 13 year old model. I understand that if you really smash the pedal you can get it to respond if you can wait until the rpms get up; but at just about any rpms in the '03 all I have to do is tap the pedal and the engine immediately responds. I drove both a manual and an auto and I wasn't impressed with either. I've been reading a lot about the issues with the auto trans so I think I will just stick with the manual, I prefer manual in general anyway. Is there any body out there who went from a later year first gen to a 3rd gen who can speak to the differences and whether or not there's any improvement as the miles go up?

 

I felt like many of y'all did on my test drive. I was really hoping for some $10,000.00 worth of improvements and wow factor. Just didn't get those. I like the new look, and the interior design was good. The dual climate control was nice. But no seat height adjustment? I had a Volkswagen in the mid 90's that had height adjustable seats eventhough they weren't power. I also did not feel the aledged horsepower increase. Infact I was wondering if the salesman inadvertantly put me in a four cylinder. I guess my 2012 and I will be friends for a few more years.

 

When you're talking about a power increase on this engine realize that it makes most of its power at higher rpms

 

Yep. People buy horsepower, but drive torque.

 

I still don't understand how my 2002 Tacoma has better low-end response than 2016 with better technology and a slightly larger displacement. My 2002 can't hold a candle to the 2016 on the highway but around town my 2002 feels pretty torquey off the line.

 

I am sure the extra ~1,000 lbs of weight makes a big difference, even if the amount of torque available down low is decent on the 2GR.

 

I thought the same thing.

 

No one has mentioned what is at least part of the problem, and I think it's really the whole problem when starting from zero mph. It's not the transmission, which is in 1st when accelerating from zero. It's that the engine is in Atkinson low torque mode when pedal depression is light. Deeper depression switches the engine to Otto cycle, and only then does the thing provide the acceleration you'd expect.

 

Atkinson can suck my nuts.

There needs to be an Atkinson delete mod.

 

Yep 3rd gen is a turd...lmmfao...I'm still waiting for a previous gen to beat me off the line...On a racetrack in Mexico one was close until I smacked 2nd gear and seeya dinosaur

 

Yeah I don't see any advantage of the Atkinson design. Less power + less MPG compared to the GM twins. Can you imagine the MPG had Toyota revised the 4.0, put aluminum body panels on and cylinder deactivation? Yes, I know Toyota is too conservative for that but would be nice.

 

You have the manual transmission with 4.3 gears. You are the exception to the gen 3 rule.

 

yep, this is my issue. i dont want a damn fullsize. but it does make me sad when i see full sizes getting better mpg then a taco lol

 

Sounds as if the people with 2016 manual trans are happy. Can you get mt with tow package? Still big alternator, oil cooler and plug and play brake controller connection. Obviously not trans fluid cooler.

 

Yes, you can.

In fact, it seems rare to find one *without* a TO package.

 

Test drove one yesterday, v6 auto. I can kinda see what you guys are talking about, but i can also see why they do it. just turn on the ETC and hammer on it. with that on it seemed fine, or if you just gassed it it was fine.

 

Agree with this. Night and day difference when using ECT. Still, even with it OFF, if get aggressive with the gas, it will still go.

 

I don't like the fact I feel I have to floor it to get the torque. I'd like the power band to be more evenly distributed. ECT helps but having to hit the button every time I start the vehicle is also irritating. When I test drove it I noticed how sluggish it felt but figured it would open up after 5 to 10k miles....no such luck. No noticeable difference from when I took delivery so fat. I think people have placebo to believe it feels different after xxxx miles here because I see folks report it often but I drive several vehicles throughout the week so I don't get "used" to how the truck drives like most who drive theirs as a daily.

 

I don't understand how people can't understand why this motor has a bunch of lag and no low end power. First off it's very high compression. All its power is top end. Second, it take a second to switch between the Atkins cycle. Third, like most new vehicles it's geared and set up for economy. Unfortunately that's the era of today's cars due to the EPA regulations. My ecoboost is a dog until the turbos produce boost and even then it's not a rocket ship. It's a heavy ass truck. The Tacoma weights nearly the same amount, and it's frame is smaller and isn't fully boxed. It's not as wide or as big either. the new Tacoma is almost 1000 lbs heavier than a 1st gen also. That's a lot of weight. Throw that to a motor that's not set up for bottom end powerband and of course it's seem like a bit of a dog for a second or two