I’ve always thought the 3rd gen was supposed to have an electric motor with the 3.5L. That way, it could use the motor for extra torque without needing to downshift all the time. The engine they used feels like it came out of a RAV4 — way too small for a truck by itself.
I think a lot of the gear hunting could’ve been avoided if they added a 3-way switch instead of just an ECT button. Imagine having ECO, normal, and tow modes. ECO could stick with higher gears longer, even if it doesn’t speed up fast. Normal would work like it does now without ECT. Tow would act like ECT, keeping the revs near 5K for power.
Cam said:
Wouldn’t a tune like OTT help with this a lot?
The gear hunting doesn’t bug me enough to spend $500. I wish they had added an eco mode like I described from the start. I think those tunes just keep it in ECT mode all the time, which is the opposite of what I want. I’m after something that sticks with lower RPMs, not more power.
Also, I’ve always wondered if Toyota planned on adding a small electric motor during a mid-cycle refresh to help out.
Sable said:
I just changed how I drove and lowered my speed during long climbs. Manual mode helped too. It’s definitely one thing I won’t miss from my 3rd gen.
Manual mode just blocks certain gears. My problem is the high RPM when using radar cruise and the car in front moves over. It shoots the RPM up to accelerate. Using S4 or S5 just makes that worse. I really want an eco mode that prefers lower RPM and higher gears.
@Finlo
I used to set my cruise speed just a bit over the car in front, so it wouldn’t try to speed up hard when the lane opened. Newer Toyotas let you control how fast it brakes and speeds up in cruise mode. That plus a turbo engine with more low-end torque helps a lot with this issue.
Rey said:
I’ve had mine for 8 years and 200k miles. It bugged me at first, but I got used to it. Took some time after switching from a 2013 Tundra.
I’ve had mine for 7 years, and I’ve gotten a feel for when it’s about to downshift two gears. Still super annoying when I’m using radar cruise and the car in front moves over and my truck jumps in RPM just because the speed was set a little higher.
They just picked the least bad option that worked across their lineup. It’s a slightly changed car engine in a truck. Not great, but at least I’ve got the manual version of the 3rd gen.
I’ve felt the same about mine. I always thought it downshifted too fast on the highway. Kind of felt like it was made more for fuel saving than for how people actually drive trucks.
Lloyd said:
I’ve felt the same about mine. I always thought it downshifted too fast on the highway. Kind of felt like it was made more for fuel saving than for how people actually drive trucks.
Exactly. That’s why I think they should’ve built in a simple ECO switch. Let the driver choose how aggressive it is, instead of forcing it to drop two gears just to keep a set speed.
I use cruise a lot too and yeah it gets annoying when it goes full throttle just because the car in front moved. I started tapping down the set speed right before it tries to jump.
Aris said:
I use cruise a lot too and yeah it gets annoying when it goes full throttle just because the car in front moved. I started tapping down the set speed right before it tries to jump.
I’ve started doing that too lately. Not the perfect fix but better than nothing.
Mine used to shift way too much too, especially on hills. I added a pedal controller and it helped a bit, but I still think the truck needs better stock tuning.