moving from a '97 to an '06

[97TacoDude]

I have a '97 Taco....and just say a 2006 for the first time yesterday. I swear, if I sat down 5 years ago and wrote down everything I'd change/enhance about my truck and sent it to Toyota engineers, they basiaclly did everything I said. Anyway...

a few questions for anybody who has an '06:

1. If you had an early model Taco, how do you feel the ''06 is better (or worse?!?!)

2. Does the 4.0 V6 REALLY require 91 octane gas? What kind of mileage are you getting?

3. Can you get a limited slip AND an electric locker in a TRD taco? Can you get traction control AND the TRD package?

...also, I decided several years ago that my next vehicle will, no matter what, have a factory installed GPS nav system. Can you get an integral GPS on the '06 Taco?

Thanks a bunch for any help/advice here guys and gals.

[AK98Taco]

Can you get a limited slip AND an electric locker in a TRD taco?

No.

Can you get traction control AND the TRD package?

Yes.

...also, I decided several years ago that my next vehicle will, no matter what, have a factory installed GPS nav system. Can you get an integral GPS on the '06 Taco?

No.

[SilverStreak05]

No on the 91 octane requirement as well.

[97TacoDude]

What's the power like compared to a '97 2.7L?

[white_eskimo]

No on the 91 octane requirement as well.

wtf really?!! god damn it are you sure? I have never tried running anything less than 91 because i drive up steep curvy roads all the time and want the best preformance i can get, but if 89 works fine, then i will give that a shot... i feel like an idiot since i have been so religious about using 91 :( well i guess at least 91 doesnt hurt the truck :)

[DirtyDC05]

i use 87 and dont notice any difference when running 91

[0stepside3]

A buddy of mine gets around 24-25 mpg (city) in his 05 DC with the 4.0. The only thing he doesn't like about it, he went from a 99 ExCab I think was the year... He doesn't like how much bigger it feels than his old one. I like it, a lot more roomy IMO.

[SilverStreak05]

He must have some supertruck to be getting 24-25mpg. I've never gotten more than 20, even when I was bone stock. I'm averaging 16-18 right now.

[PaulH]

wtf really?!! god damn it are you sure? I have never tried running anything less than 91 because i drive up steep curvy roads all the time and want the best preformance i can get, but if 89 works fine, then i will give that a shot... i feel like an idiot since i have been so religious about using 91 :( well i guess at least 91 doesnt hurt the truck :)


LOL!

Yeah, I run 87 with no problems. Doesn't the owners manual say 91 if you tow, I can't remember for sure. I thought running on the lower stuff was the whole point in VVT-i?

[ChicagoTaco]

LOL!

Yeah, I run 87 with no problems. Doesn't the owners manual say 91 if you tow, I can't remember for sure. I thought running on the lower stuff was the whole point in VVT-i?

When I had an 05 I always ran regular with no problems. The engine is not made to take advantage 91 octane fuel.

[Dick Foster]

That's too bad. IMHO 97 was the very best taco vintage.

[OR_05Taco]

I run 87 and it runs perfect. I've tried 91 and honestly didn't notice a difference in power, smoothness, or MPG. :2cents:

24-25 MPG??? I'm kinda skeptical of that. I wish I got anywhere near that. With the lift and my 285s I'm getting about 15-17 MPG.

[97TacoDude]

Why is '97 the best?

[Dick Foster]

It was a couple of years after the Tacoma introduction so all the bugs were worked out, like head gaskets and ECUs, it had the early styling. The latter is a matter of choice but I like the oldest model look the best because it looks like a truck and didn't try to look like a car. It was also before Toyota started making it cheaper by skimping on materials like plastic throttle bodies instead of the origianl metal ones, crappy little sensors stuck into a one piece moldied air box instead of an actual MAF and other little things like that. When I look under the hood of a later model, it just looks cheaper overall. I can only imagine that the balance of the truck followed suit in interior materials, paint, etc.

[J.T.054x4Taco]

I run 87 and it runs perfect. I've tried 91 and honestly didn't notice a difference in power, smoothness, or MPG. :2cents:

24-25 MPG??? I'm kinda skeptical of that. I wish I got anywhere near that. With the lift and my 285s I'm getting about 15-17 MPG.
i run 87 and i'm with him. since my lift & mt 285's i havn't gotten better than 14.5-17mpg. i've done the math at every fill up since i lifted it about 4 months ago.

[AK98Taco]

It was a couple of years after the Tacoma introduction so all the bugs were worked out, like head gaskets and ECUs, it had the early styling. The latter is a matter of choice but I like the oldest model look the best because it looks like a truck and didn't try to look like a car. It was also before Toyota started making it cheaper by skimping on materials like plastic throttle bodies instead of the origianl metal ones, crappy little sensors stuck into a one piece moldied air box instead of an actual MAF and other little things like that. When I look under the hood of a later model, it just looks cheaper overall. I can only imagine that the balance of the truck followed suit in interior materials, paint, etc.

The '98-'00 have a look of their own, whereas the '01+ share a very similar grille design to the '95-'97, but I feel the unique look of the second gen is the most attractive. The '98-'00 also share almost identical design features under the hood and inside the cab so I don't think they are subject to the cheapness you noted.

[0stepside3]

I run 87 and it runs perfect. I've tried 91 and honestly didn't notice a difference in power, smoothness, or MPG. :2cents:

24-25 MPG??? I'm kinda skeptical of that. I wish I got anywhere near that. With the lift and my 285s I'm getting about 15-17 MPG.


His is a bone stock prerunner and he babies it most the time. He'll give it hell sometimes, and his mpg goes bad.. But a lot of the time, it gets good mileage. Hell, I get 19 mpg city in my 03 with the 3.4 . And I've got 285/75/16s on mine too. I'm normally always running late for work so I don't drive too slowly on the backroad highways to get to work, normally around 65-75 mph, and that doesn't really affect it all that much. My mpg will go down to 17 or so when I drive like that for a week :D

[OR_05Taco]

His is a bone stock prerunner and he babies it most the time. He'll give it hell sometimes, and his mpg goes bad.. But a lot of the time, it gets good mileage. Hell, I get 19 mpg city in my 03 with the 3.4 . And I've got 285/75/16s on mine too. I'm normally always running late for work so I don't drive too slowly on the backroad highways to get to work, normally around 65-75 mph, and that doesn't really affect it all that much. My mpg will go down to 17 or so when I drive like that for a week :D

Ok, I was thinking it was a 4WD. I guess with a prerunner it could happen. I was just skeptical because even when mine was fresh off the lot I think the best I ever got was 20 MPG. I dont mind trading some MPG for off-road ability though.

[Major Woods]

2005 double cab, Sport V-6, 6 speed
1) The new Tacoma's are better in every way from my early Toy.

2) I only use 91 octane when towing my 26' big boat (6500lbs). I also have a 20' boat (2200lbs) that I tow using 87 octane.
Milage is 15mpg while towing, 20mpg every day to work.

[Marcopolo]

I also use 87 octane and have from the day I bought the truck, I average about 18 miles to the gallon and have hit 21 once but that was all highway with cruse control set to 70.

[TacoMike82]

Like my 05 better than my 04 becuase I think it looks better, bigger more powerul engine, 6 speed as opposed to a five speed, better interior and I think the whole composite bed thing is cool.
Liked the 04 better because it was smaller overall and I liked the idea of having a lever in the cab to switch from 2 wheel to 4 wheel as opposed to a dinky little knob.
Best one I ever had but didnt know it was my 84 with manual hubs, two good old fashioned solid axles and the little carbureted 22r, if I had known better at the time I would have kept that son of a bitch.

[siambxr]

87 octane ehhy, hmm been using 89 from day one no issues at all and the power is sweet.. spent 4 days up in the South Lake Tahoe area mad snow and lots of F head drivers .. the taco perfomed great.. just couln't loose one H1 Hummer tailing me big time ... BTW .. MTRs are awsome in snow....

[RVM]

The interior quality has done nothing but improve.

I don't think plastic parts under the hood are necessarily a bad thing. It just depends on what function the part has. If it doesn't require metal, why use it?

It was a couple of years after the Tacoma introduction so all the bugs were worked out, like head gaskets and ECUs, it had the early styling. The latter is a matter of choice but I like the oldest model look the best because it looks like a truck and didn't try to look like a car. It was also before Toyota started making it cheaper by skimping on materials like plastic throttle bodies instead of the origianl metal ones, crappy little sensors stuck into a one piece moldied air box instead of an actual MAF and other little things like that. When I look under the hood of a later model, it just looks cheaper overall. I can only imagine that the balance of the truck followed suit in interior materials, paint, etc.

[97TacoDude]

I only looked at one on a lot once but I was pretty friggin' impressed. It's looks at first glance to be one hell of a step up from a '97. The larger size, greatly improved interior, bed, and power can't be ignored. Did I mention it's bigger? Maybe it has more plastic but Toyota doesn't mess around...they build reliable product time and time again. They need to put a GPS in it get rid of that 91 octane comment in the manual (sounds like the "delete" key on some Jap's keyboard will do the trick there).

[white_eskimo]

you guys are lucky i get 14 mpg with my 05 taco and thats with the stock tires... commuting up and down mountains sucks :( STAMP OUT FLATLANDERS!!! :D

[SP Jon M3]

2. Does the 4.0 V6 REALLY require 91 octane gas? What kind of mileage are you getting?

No it does not "require" 91, but the manual does say something to the effect "for optimum performance use 91".

[RVM]

I'm getting anywhere from 13.5 to 15.8 mpg in the city, and that's never letting the RPMs up past 2000. All stock. :( I'm hoping as I get more miles on the motor it will improve. I know on other motors the best power and mpg hits around 30k miles (fully broken in at that point).

you guys are lucky i get 14 mpg with my 05 taco and thats with the stock tires... commuting up and down mountains sucks :( STAMP OUT FLATLANDERS!!! :D

[OR_05Taco]

I'm getting anywhere from 13.5 to 15.8 mpg in the city, and that's never letting the RPMs up past 2000. All stock. :( I'm hoping as I get more miles on the motor it will improve. I know on other motors the best power and mpg hits around 30k miles (fully broken in at that point).

Wow, that's pretty bad. When mine was stock (for about a month) I was getting 16 at worst (all city, lots of skinny pedal) and about 20 at best (all highway with CC on). We have the same truck pretty much, except yours is an 06 off-road and mine is an 05 sport. I wonder why you're getting such bad mileage stock....and driving nice even. :confused: That sucks.

[fast frank]

What's the power like compared to a '97 2.7L?

I don't want to insult the 4cyl guys, They like their motors and that's cool.

But here's the deal.

That 2.7 makes what? 150 horses?

The 4.0 makes like 240.

That's a pretty big difference.

In a dragrace, or pulling a trailer, or climbimbing up on the freeway into 80mph traffic, or in deep sand, or ANYWHERE that you might need power-

The 4.0 is going to have quite a bit more on tap at all times.

The end result is that doing the things I mentioned above has you calmly pushing the gaspedal down halfway and feeling good about things instead of holding the gaspedal to the floor and wondering if you're going to make it.

It's a nice feeling, really.

Fast Frank

[J.T.054x4Taco]

Wow, that's pretty bad. When mine was stock (for about a month) I was getting 16 at worst (all city, lots of skinny pedal) and about 20 at best (all highway with CC on). We have the same truck pretty much, except yours is an 06 off-road and mine is an 05 sport. I wonder why you're getting such bad mileage stock....and driving nice even. :confused: That sucks.
having 4wd makes a big diff in the mpg

[OR_05Taco]

having 4wd makes a big diff in the mpg

No shit?? Really? Mine is 4WD, so is his, thus the comparison.

[J.T.054x4Taco]

No shit?? Really? Mine is 4WD, so is his, thus the comparison.
dam dude! keep your skirt on. i must of miss read the thread.

[OR_05Taco]

dam dude! keep your skirt on. i must of miss read the thread.

Whoa there! Don't misread something that tame as a jab at ya. Here, I'll put some of these in this time so you don't get the wrong idea ---> :) :) :)


;)