Subtle jerking (transmission?)

I agree, the transmission appears to be bullet proof, the OEM programming is just feeding it the wrong instructions. Tune fixes that.

 

Yeah. Lots of different opinion out there. My 17 obviously was built on a different day than yours. Sounds like you got a lemon.

 

You have the unicorn Taco! I honestly wish I didn’t have to pay extra to have my $47K truck run like it should have from day one, but the money I spent on my KDMax tune was so worth it now I sing the praises of my trucks performance

 

Sounds like were discussing two completely different trucks. I live in connecticut right near the border of ny and ma. Its fairly hilly where i am. My 2020 is a pleasure to drive...just as good or better than any other vehicle i've driven with an automatic. Can't seem to understand why others have issues. You'd think in this day and age, all vehicles would be cookie cutter types.

 

Unicorn bs. Gotta believe there are many more thousands of gen3 trucks out there like this with happy owners that aren't complaining, or toyota wouldn't be selling so many of these. Getting to realize there are some here that expect too much, and some are natural whiners that will find fault with anything.

 

I think it's also a question of adjusting your driving habits. It took me a few weeks to get used to how far I have to push the pedal in order to avoid the truck shifting up too soon. Now it's second nature. Also, the truck is learning my driving habits as well. I smile every time I drive the thing, no tune needed.

 

I think this describes 80% of the people on the internet. On Facebook, and other mind melting platforms like that, it might trend closer to 99.997%

 

Did any of you early Gen 3 owners that are jerkin' bother to see the dealer for the software update that have?!

 

Thanks for the advice everyone.
I’ve started diving into the ECT and S-drive options and it definitely seems to effect the issue I reported. Haven’t found my perfect setting yet but at least I now know what the options are. Gotta say, I’m not a fan of how the standard D drives, but the resultant mileage is damn good- 34mpg highway!

 

You have 3.5L motor?! That's impressive, if so.

I'm doing my first extended road trip tomorrow now that I'm almost at 2k on the truck. So far my combined is about 17mpg give or take.

 

Must be downhill both ways!

 

Wow I think you’re right there are lots of people that are happy with there Tacos or maybe there’s a lot of owners that put up with their trucks poor performance not knowing it could be better….. much better. I didn’t whine to anyone I researched and found KDMax, researched some more and took a chance and all I can tell you is I now love my truck. I wish we were closer geographically so you could drive my truck maybe it would perform just like yours but I’d wager my is better thanks to my KDMax tune…. Carry on

 

I 100% believe your truck drives perfectly, along with most other 3rd gens. But I also think Toyota made a few Tacomas that have a transmission valve body or TC issue or something, and likely knows about it but refuses to do anything to address it. My 99 Dodge Dakota shifted less rough than this truck when it was 16 years old and had 200,000+KM on it. And it had a mechanical kick down cable lol. I feel everything this transmission does when I speed up or slow down. I feel like I get rear-ended every time I slow to a stop. Dealer did TSBs/said it was normal. Tunes did nothing which also leads me to believe it could be mechanical issue. If I didnt like the truck so much in every other way I’d trade it. I just hope for some sort of fix someday. I’d even pay for it if I absolutely have to.

 

Only thing i question is the performance of these trucks with identical factory tunes, as my buddies 2019 trd lacks the same poop as my 2020. Supposedly the engines produce the same hp., but there's definitely a noticeable difference.