4G Tacoma 6-Speed Manual – Who Went Old School

[TRD JON]

Toyota surprised everyone by keeping a 6-speed manual transmission option on certain 4th Gen Tacomas (TRD Sport and TRD Off-Road). Who here actually went for it?

I’ve been driving manuals for years, and it’s awesome to see Toyota keep it alive. The clutch feel is solid, maybe a little long though for it to grab, and the gearing feels pretty dialed for trail use. Only downside? You lose some features like Crawl Control and Multi-Terrain Select.

Still — if you’re in it for the driving experience, it’s a blast. Anyone else daily-driving the manual or using it on the trails?

Let’s show some love for the third pedal — and share tips for break-in and shifting sweet spots.

 

[TacomaForce]

I'm glad they did this, but I'm not a manual guy myself. Maybe if I have a sports car, sure, but automatic on the truck is best. Much easier on the trail. I wouldn't want to mess with a clutch on a gnarly rocky section.

 

[Pappy]

Yep. My sixth Toyota 4x4 manual. I would rather pour out gear oil after 50K miles, or whatever Toyota recommends, than live with the idea of "life time" automatic fluid.

 

[Riley_monthule]

Yep. My sixth Toyota 4x4 manual. I would rather pour out gear oil after 50K miles, or whatever Toyota recommends, than live with the idea of "life time" automatic fluid.

Yours is manual? That's awesome! I'm a die hard manual fan. Most cars I've had have been manual including my current daily a 2002 toyota echo. For the truck I chose auto though. It's a road trip and trail rig for me and the new safety sense cruise control system is amazing. It's basically self driving on the highway. On my most recent trip to Alabama Hills I spent most of the time looking at the scenery and listening to books instead of driving. Plus obviously it's great when you hit traffic, again you really don't even have to drive. I'm also doing some good trails with rock crawling and the auto is just better than the manual for that use case unless you get a second box installed. I do sometimes wish I went with the manual though just for good time sakes haha. Either way I'm stoked Toyota Kept the manual but not confident they'll do it again with the current sales figures.

 

[Pappy]

Yours is manual? That's awesome! I'm a die hard manual fan. Most cars I've had have been manual including my current daily a 2002 toyota echo. For the truck I chose auto though. It's a road trip and trail rig for me and the new safety sense cruise control system is amazing. It's basically self driving on the highway. On my most recent trip to Alabama Hills I spent most of the time looking at the scenery and listening to books instead of driving. Plus obviously it's great when you hit traffic, again you really don't even have to drive. I'm also doing some good trails with rock crawling and the auto is just better than the manual for that use case unless you get a second box installed. I do sometimes wish I went with the manual though just for good time sakes haha. Either way I'm stoked Toyota Kept the manual but not confident they'll do it again with the current sales figures.

I have the adaptive cruise control with steering assist. I don't use the steering assist much, but it's nice when I need to open a bag of potato chips. Love the adaptive cruise. The only thing I don't have that automatic trucks have is all the traction control settings.

 

[Pappy]

I'm also doing some good trails with rock crawling and the auto is just better than the manual for that use case unless you get a second box installed.

I will say that my two shake down runs that were off-road were not pleasurable with the manual. I don't know what it is about this manual, but it sucks in low range. What I'm going to try next time is turning on the iMT, and see if that helps with the shifts. I just could not get the tranny to shift smooth on downshifts.

 

[Riley_monthule]

I will say that my two shake down runs that were off-road were not pleasurable with the manual. I don't know what it is about this manual, but it sucks in low range. What I'm going to try next time is turning on the iMT, and see if that helps with the shifts. I just could not get the tranny to shift smooth on downshifts.

Yeah that's pretty standard with manuals in low range. The trans has a lot more leverage over the drive train so any small throttle application or shift feels like a big jolt in the cab unless you're a rev matching god haha.

 

[h4ngman tacoma]

Toyota surprised everyone by keeping a 6-speed manual transmission option on certain 4th Gen Tacomas (TRD Sport and TRD Off-Road). Who here actually went for it?

I’ve been driving manuals for years, and it’s awesome to see Toyota keep it alive. The clutch feel is solid, maybe a little long though for it to grab, and the gearing feels pretty dialed for trail use. Only downside? You lose some features like Crawl Control and Multi-Terrain Select.

Still — if you’re in it for the driving experience, it’s a blast. Anyone else daily-driving the manual or using it on the trails?

Let’s show some love for the third pedal — and share tips for break-in and shifting sweet spots.

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I feel like most owners are pretty much used to driving manuals and I loved the fact that Toyota decided to offer options with the 4th Gen. This would be my 3rd time owing a Tacoma after previously owning a 2nd and 3rd Gen. I used to love driving manuals too, but for now I pretty much don't mind driving any.

Toyota surprised everyone by keeping a 6-speed manual transmission option on certain 4th Gen Tacomas (TRD Sport and TRD Off-Road). Who here actually went for it?

I’ve been driving manuals for years, and it’s awesome to see Toyota keep it alive. The clutch feel is solid, maybe a little long though for it to grab, and the gearing feels pretty dialed for trail use. Only downside? You lose some features like Crawl Control and Multi-Terrain Select.

Still — if you’re in it for the driving experience, it’s a blast. Anyone else daily-driving the manual or using it on the trails?

Let’s show some love for