kelsen
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Hey y’all. Recently picked up a TRDOR in Muncie, Indiana and then drove it back to Texas ~1250 miles. Below are some on my impressions and feelings on the newest Tacoma. I also have a few other thoughts I’ve posted over on reddit under the name Modprop.
For starters, I am coming from a 2015 Nissan Versa, so literally everything is a positive to me even if it’s a negative.
Truck info:
I was specifically only looking for the 14” screen and the SDM, but couldn’t find one that had both for the price I wanted to pay. I settled for just the screen and figured I can remove the sway bar later on, so no real loss to me on that front. I also have heated seats (but I’m from Texas, so that’s only useful for maybe 3 weeks a year.) Other than that, the truck is as bare bones as can be.
Driving Experience:
I’ve ridden around in numerous 2nd and 3rd gens that friends have owned over the years, never driven them before though. Off the bat, this is one of the best vehicles I have driven, the response is nice, the safety features are overall unobtrusive, and the ride is smooth and comfortable. There’s a little road noise, but nothing a little extra volume on the knob can’t fix.
Suspension wise, those Bilsteins just eat what you throw at them. I’m eventually gonna put them through their off road paces, but eventually I’ll remove these and put some heavy load OME or something on it.
4 Wheel disc brakes are great. Thank you Toyota for joining us all in the present. Sorry to people who like rear drums.
Those 265s look way better in person than in videos and pictures. They look so tiny in media, but actually fill the space nicely in person. I’ll run these for a while, but eventually I’ll step up to 35” and a re-gear on the transmission.
Now for the big part: The turbo 4 banger. I love the way this thing sounds winding up. I sounds like a little baby diesel, and it’s very cute. It’s got some haul-ass to it, but like others have said, that turbo-lag can be a little buzzkill. I put pedal to metal a couple times on the trip, and the ramp up was jarring every time. Such is life with a side mounted vegetable slicer. Gas mileage is weird, your tank is going to base it off the total average mileage of the vehicle, so I suggest you reset all that in your settings prior to your first real fill up to get a more accurate idea of what your miles to empty will be. I averaged 21.7 HWY at 78mph average speed from Lake Charles, LA to Houston, TX. Not great, just so-so. I’m gonna keep figuring it out, because I feel like it will get better as I learn how to drive it more efficiently.
Interior:
I’ll keep this short.
Cockpit - Great. Driver and Passenger will live in the lap of luxury. I personally love the look and feel of it.
Rear seat - If you have short friends and family, they’ll be fine. If you have friends over 5’10” and you make them sit in the back, you either hate them or you’re a sadist. The rear sucks. I know it’s a midsize, but damn.
The storage under the backseat is really nice. Great addition, sorry to all of y’all that buy hybrids. You’re gonna lose that.
Exterior:
I like the look. This is so subjective that I honestly can’t take anyone’s opinions on it. You’ll either like, you don’t and won’t like it, or it will grow on you. I’m gonna add some accessories/body parts for overlanding and moderate trails as time goes on.
Mechanical/DIY:
A couple screws to get the bash plate off to access the oil pan/filter. Nothing crazy. Filter is easily accessible out the front of the block. Doing my first oil change this weekend, will let you know if it’s as easy as I am making it sound.
Engine Bay is nice and open. Will be a pretty easy vehicle to work on for pros and DIYers from the looks.
Final Thoughts:
I like the truck, but I’ll do a one month, six month, and one year check-in as time goes on.
If y’all got any questions, or want specific pictures, let me know. I try to be pretty open about how I feel about the truck and I’ll try to be quick with answering questions and requests.
Thanks for y’all’s time!
For starters, I am coming from a 2015 Nissan Versa, so literally everything is a positive to me even if it’s a negative.
Truck info:
I was specifically only looking for the 14” screen and the SDM, but couldn’t find one that had both for the price I wanted to pay. I settled for just the screen and figured I can remove the sway bar later on, so no real loss to me on that front. I also have heated seats (but I’m from Texas, so that’s only useful for maybe 3 weeks a year.) Other than that, the truck is as bare bones as can be.
Driving Experience:
I’ve ridden around in numerous 2nd and 3rd gens that friends have owned over the years, never driven them before though. Off the bat, this is one of the best vehicles I have driven, the response is nice, the safety features are overall unobtrusive, and the ride is smooth and comfortable. There’s a little road noise, but nothing a little extra volume on the knob can’t fix.
Suspension wise, those Bilsteins just eat what you throw at them. I’m eventually gonna put them through their off road paces, but eventually I’ll remove these and put some heavy load OME or something on it.
4 Wheel disc brakes are great. Thank you Toyota for joining us all in the present. Sorry to people who like rear drums.
Those 265s look way better in person than in videos and pictures. They look so tiny in media, but actually fill the space nicely in person. I’ll run these for a while, but eventually I’ll step up to 35” and a re-gear on the transmission.
Now for the big part: The turbo 4 banger. I love the way this thing sounds winding up. I sounds like a little baby diesel, and it’s very cute. It’s got some haul-ass to it, but like others have said, that turbo-lag can be a little buzzkill. I put pedal to metal a couple times on the trip, and the ramp up was jarring every time. Such is life with a side mounted vegetable slicer. Gas mileage is weird, your tank is going to base it off the total average mileage of the vehicle, so I suggest you reset all that in your settings prior to your first real fill up to get a more accurate idea of what your miles to empty will be. I averaged 21.7 HWY at 78mph average speed from Lake Charles, LA to Houston, TX. Not great, just so-so. I’m gonna keep figuring it out, because I feel like it will get better as I learn how to drive it more efficiently.
Interior:
I’ll keep this short.
Cockpit - Great. Driver and Passenger will live in the lap of luxury. I personally love the look and feel of it.
Rear seat - If you have short friends and family, they’ll be fine. If you have friends over 5’10” and you make them sit in the back, you either hate them or you’re a sadist. The rear sucks. I know it’s a midsize, but damn.
The storage under the backseat is really nice. Great addition, sorry to all of y’all that buy hybrids. You’re gonna lose that.
Exterior:
I like the look. This is so subjective that I honestly can’t take anyone’s opinions on it. You’ll either like, you don’t and won’t like it, or it will grow on you. I’m gonna add some accessories/body parts for overlanding and moderate trails as time goes on.
Mechanical/DIY:
A couple screws to get the bash plate off to access the oil pan/filter. Nothing crazy. Filter is easily accessible out the front of the block. Doing my first oil change this weekend, will let you know if it’s as easy as I am making it sound.
Engine Bay is nice and open. Will be a pretty easy vehicle to work on for pros and DIYers from the looks.
Final Thoughts:
I like the truck, but I’ll do a one month, six month, and one year check-in as time goes on.
If y’all got any questions, or want specific pictures, let me know. I try to be pretty open about how I feel about the truck and I’ll try to be quick with answering questions and requests.
Thanks for y’all’s time!
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