Sponsored
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2025
- Threads
- 7
- Messages
- 225
- Reaction score
- 120
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
- Vehicle(s)
- Hopefully soon 2026 4Runner Off Road
Manual is great until you go off road. Then you will wish you had an auto. Coming from putting 105k miles on my manual Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.
OP
OP
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2025
- Threads
- 3
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Massachusetts
- Vehicle(s)
- Chevy Trailblazer 5.3
- Thread starter
- #18
Just to be clear, people are commenting as if I am suggesting toyota switch ALL 4runners to manual, and get rid of automatics.
I'm just saying they should offer it as an option, for the people that DO want to drive one all day. Whether they're going off road or going to dunkin donuts or wherever. Just like they do in the nearly identical tacoma.
I saw multiple references to 15% of broncos being sold as manuals. Although I couldn't find the source for that number. But thats a lot, probably because people who want a manual suv have just two options, bronco or wrangler. And even as a ford hater, thats an easy choice.
Anyway, the point of this thread was to find all those 4runner fans that DO want a manual option, and encourage them to submit feedback to toyota like I did.
I actually heard back from toyota yesterday. It was a very generic "thanks for your feedback, it has been filed" type of message. Every little bit of manual interest help.
I'm just saying they should offer it as an option, for the people that DO want to drive one all day. Whether they're going off road or going to dunkin donuts or wherever. Just like they do in the nearly identical tacoma.
I saw multiple references to 15% of broncos being sold as manuals. Although I couldn't find the source for that number. But thats a lot, probably because people who want a manual suv have just two options, bronco or wrangler. And even as a ford hater, thats an easy choice.
Anyway, the point of this thread was to find all those 4runner fans that DO want a manual option, and encourage them to submit feedback to toyota like I did.
I actually heard back from toyota yesterday. It was a very generic "thanks for your feedback, it has been filed" type of message. Every little bit of manual interest help.
OP
OP
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2025
- Threads
- 3
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Massachusetts
- Vehicle(s)
- Chevy Trailblazer 5.3
- Thread starter
- #20
In response to anyone thinking "nobody even buys the manual tacoma", you can't even search inventory for manual tacomas. Transmission type is not an option in inventory searching. Of course if you make it hard enough to buy something, nobody is going to buy it.
having a auto in a off road vehicle lets you finer control of the power delivery on slow technical trails using 2 feet. having manual you would need to heel/toe it more precisely.
on sports cars, manuals are preferred since you need to down/up shift into and out of corners at speed for several reasons, one is to preload the suspension going into a corner so you dont do a 911 tail swap
heel and toe to downshift is a quick flick of the feet vs minute adjustments over the course of inches at times offroading.
its just easier in an auto than manual in this case.
feathering a clutch and brakes and applying power while slipping a clutch is not ideal over the long term.
with an auto you only have to worry about the brakes and power and applying power to overcome the brakes. brake pad are way cheaper to replace than a clutch (at least now a days)
but this is just my view if i ever thought about doing off roading.
on sports cars, manuals are preferred since you need to down/up shift into and out of corners at speed for several reasons, one is to preload the suspension going into a corner so you dont do a 911 tail swap
heel and toe to downshift is a quick flick of the feet vs minute adjustments over the course of inches at times offroading.
its just easier in an auto than manual in this case.
feathering a clutch and brakes and applying power while slipping a clutch is not ideal over the long term.
with an auto you only have to worry about the brakes and power and applying power to overcome the brakes. brake pad are way cheaper to replace than a clutch (at least now a days)
but this is just my view if i ever thought about doing off roading.
They're never going to offer a manual in the new 4runner, or any in the future more than likely, regardless of spec. Nobody wants it in any meaningful proportion. Toyota also doesn't want to waste CAFE %'s on such a small percentage of it's customer base. It's not happening. If you want one, you're gonna have to build it yourself.
Why are they offering it in the tacoma then? Seems odd that they did. Guessing no dealers want to stock them.
IMHO, what Toyota should of done is offer it in Landcruiser 1958 model(need to ditch hybrid too) which vibes with the stripped down model vibe they are going for
Sponsored
