Still getting used to the Tacoma but the other day I was in CC on the interstate set on 75 mph, well I needed to move about 5 lanes to the right but their were vehicles on the way so I sped up to about 90+ to get around them and once in the proper lane let off the gas to cost back down to the CC set speed (cruse still on) and engine braking kicked in hard and slowed me down fast enough it felt like it hit the brakes hard, kinda surprised me a little…
It also uses engine braking a lot when the shifter is in S mode (only to lock out 5th and 6th gears below 50ish mph, or 4th below 30 mph) to stop the notorious 3rd gen gear hunt (about to get an OTT tune to correct that and remap the terrible throttle curve)…
I have done a lot of reading on it but not used it yet, the S mode does a pretty good job, but I just don’t think about it until sitting in the living room late at night…
The S mode just locks out (mostly) the gear(s) above the current one shown (as you probably already know), meaning it still is fully automatic in S mode but if in 4th you only have 1-2-3-4, not 5 and 6th gears, tap it once to 5 and you have everything but 6th, tap it down to 3rd you still have everything but 4-5-6th gears,… It is not a Sport mode like other Toyota’s and manufactures… BTW, it will easily do 85 mph in 4th… lol
From everything I have read in the ECT PWR mode it just raises the shift points some, wear as the OTT tune corrects the shifting bad habits as well as gets rid of the dead pedal feel at low pedal input, it is not a hot rod tune by any means, although it does lower the usable torque curve to a more usable RPM for a heavy truck, the 3.5 is not very happy below 4000 rpms, as evident by it’s 265 lb.-ft. @ 4600 rpm, that is wayyyy to high for a truck, the OTT tunes lowers the max torque down to a much lower 3200 rpms and adds about 10 points at the wheels… I love my truck, don’t get me wrong, but why did Toyota put a Camry engine in a truck, but once it gets moving in the upper rpm range, it moves pretty good for what it is… (yes I know others do the same)
There is 5 pedal mapping curves getting more aggressive the higher you go, most will find the one they like and use it for the standard mode, then use a more responsive throttle input for the ECT PWR button… Again, it does not change anything but the pedal input response once the tune is installed… The tune seems to be what Toyota should have made it from the factory… This a CARB E.O #D-883. This verifies that the emissions produced by the OTT Torque Tune for the 3.5L are within the standards for the LEV3 ULE70 for California and Tier 2 Bin 5, or Tier 3 Bin 70 federally, and that all OBD readiness monitors and DTCs are functional and intact within the calibration. You know for all the save the planet folks out there…
Now some people are re gearing the Tacoma’s to overcome the throttle dead pedal feel mainly with the bigger tires (31"/33"), going up to a 5.2?:1 (forgot) or lower, the MT runs a 4.30 over the AT 3.90 (really a 3.91) rear gears for the V6, I have already thought about the 4.30 way down the road once out of warranty…
Update, I just drove the same road as yesterday and left the shifter in D and used the ECT PWR mode (CC on), it was better but the transmission was still gear hunting going up a curvy hill doing 45 mph, should never hit 5th or 6th at that speed under that load, as soon as it up shifted, it would down shift again, wash rinse & repeat… S (4) mode keeps that from happing, I have also noticed my MPH average is going up a little putting it in S mode…
I’d say 5 speeds hit the sweet spot too. It’s a nice balance gives you enough gears to play with without feeling like you’re constantly shifting. 4 speeds are solid, but they can feel a bit limited. I agree, 6 speeds sometimes feel like overkill unless you’re on a long highway stretch. As for 3, it just feels outdated. So yeah, 5 speeds all the way, but I wouldn’t be mad about 4 either!
3 speed… for the person who hates to shift
4 speed… for that 7 liter big block V8 in an intermediate size car
5 speed…for the 5 liter smallblock in that intermediate
6 speed… for that 240 hp, 8500 rpm 4 cylinder in a small car
Keep in mind that some 6 speeds are just offering an intermediate gear ratio between gears. It it my understanding (I might be wrong) that when those Dodge diesel trucks were sold with both 5 speed and 6 speed manuals, that the ratios of gears 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 were the same as gears 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 on the 5 speeds. The 5th gear in the 6 speed was something between gears 4 and 5 and made for towing on the highway. The 6th gear was no taller than the 5th gear in the 5 speed.
5 speeds are probably the sweet spot but I can tell many cars would benefit from a taller 6th gear for economy and less noise.
Essential all gears are intermediate gears except first, 1:1, and overdrive.
Not uncommon for pickups in the 60s and 70s to have four speeds with a “granny low”. Noemal operation was to start in second. Granny low was used when hauling or towing a heavy load.
Some 4WD vehicles had a granny low and a single speed transfer case, ie no four wheel low selection.
I think I did the math right, with that combination of gear and axle ratios I come up with this. Overall the 6 speed has a slightly shorter first gear and slightly longer 6th gear than 1st/5th for the 5 speed:
A lot of this discussion depends on which gears are over drive gears and which aren’t. Over drive gears are taller, or lower ratio gears that exist to improve fuel economy and longevity. They are not to be used for performance driving. 5 speed with a single over drive could be extended to a 7 speed with 3 over drives. This would not affect performance at all. It is still a 4 speed manual transmission as far everyone should be concerned.
Traditionally the highest non over drive gear is direct drive 1:1 ratio, but this is just a tradition carried over from before over drive became standard. Having the over drive gear as 1:1 with a lower ratio rear end would actually be a little bit more efficient for highway cruising, since 1:1 has the lowest loss.
A 3 speed wouldn’t have over drive, so I can see why you wouldn’t want it. If the 6 speed had 5 normal speeds and an over drive, then I can understand why 5 speeds may be too many and could harm performance driving due to shifting delays.
If you lose power for half a second each time you shift, by the time you get to 4th gear you have lost 1.5 seconds. At some point the benefit of closer gears is lost due to the shifting delay.
How could someone not figure that out? That’s amazing! At some point you would accidentally shift in to 5th. If 3rd is on top on, and what he would think is fully to the right, then going full right and up trying to get to 3rd would go to 5th.
In a high powered performance car, 3 regular gears might be best for acceleration. It could also be 6, allowing the driver to skip every other one. The more over drive gears beyond that the better. For a heavy truck, 6+ regular gears would be optimal.
Nope, it just depends on the overall ratio, including the rear axle ratio. You could have no overdrive ratios in the transmission and a very ‘tall’ rear axle ratio and achieve the same thing as a couple of overdrive ratios in the transmission and a ‘shorter’ rear axle ratio.
That’s not a technically correct definition for overdrive, at least not in the way I’m using the word overdrive. The highest non overdrive gear being a direct 1:1 ratio in the transmission is just a tradition from how gearing was designed before overdrive was available.
That’s a common definition, but it is not relevant to how I am using the word overdrive here. Overdrive is a taller final drive ratio in an over geared vehicle. Top speed cannot be reached in overdrive.
Overdrive speeds are taller gears, or final drive ratios, beyond what is needed to deliver maximum performance. They exist for better economy. It actually has nothing to do with whether the transmission gear ratio is taller than 1:1. Wikipedia explains it well: Overdrive (mechanics) - Wikipedia
No it isn’t. Not all 5th gears are overdrive, not all 4th gears are 1:1. If the trans HAS 6 gears, it isn’t a 4 speed, its a 6 speed.
What matters is the total spread between 1st and the last gear.
My 2007 Mustang 5 speed with its 4.6L V8 had a 3.55 final drive:
1st 3.38:1 or 12:1 engine to wheels
4th 1:1
5th 0.68:1 or 2.41 engine to wheels
1st divided by 5th is 4.97:1 total gear spread
My 2013 automatic with its 5.0L V8 has a 3.15 final drive
1st is 4.47:1 or 13.1 engine to wheels
4th is 1.14:1
5th is 0.86:1
6th is 0.69:1 or 2.17 engine to wheels
1st divided by 6th is 6.47 total gear spread
So that extra gear gives me a harder launch off the line and a lower rpm at highway speeds. Quicker acceleration and more economical.
The 5 speed could have had the same spread between 1st and 5th but the rpm drop between gears would be too large.
The optimum situation for acceleration is usually when a shift at redline drops the rpm to a mathematically similar torque point. Much like this for the 6 speed automatic (the 6th gear curve omitted) speed:
Looks like there needs to be a 7th gear between 1st and second…but the torque converter fills that gap. The 5 speed could have given me a larger rpm drop between shifts with the ratios but I’d either lose some acceleration in 1st or MPGs in 5th. The choice of transmission ratios must go hand in hand with the final drive and the engine’s torque curve.
Would adding a gear between 1st and 2nd add enough shifting delay that your 0 to 60 time would be less? THIS IS A MANUAL TRANSMISSION DISCUSSION. I assume you have to have a clutch to qualify for discussion here, no paddle shifts.
What’s your highest non overdrive gear, according to how wikipedia and I are defining overdrive?
This definition of ‘overdrive’ is different from that used by 99% of folks. But sure, I understand it, and it has to do with how many gears in the transmission contribute to acceleration vs. improved mpgs. Coming up with a ‘best’ number of gears for acceleration would depend on the combination of engine, gear ratios, aerodynamics, etc. And a big question: acceleration to what? 60 mph? 1/4 mile? top speed? No one answer.
Which has morphed into an overall transmission discussion (and stop yelling) considering that the answer is the same.
My automatic has a clutch in the torque converter and a few inside the transmission as well. It has select shift - but no paddles.
You can read it for yourself, I posted it already,
And here
Neither of which matters at all as @texas has already explained.
Whether any gear is an overdrive or not, it is about the total spread of the ratios in the transmission 1st to gear X, no matter how many there are and then the choice of final drive.
You forgot the old Indy race cars that had a 2-speed manual trans. Nowadays, they all use a 6-speed semi-automatic, but I don’t know when the builders of Indy cars gave-up their old 2-speed sticks.
