Upgrading to an 06

[salsataco]

Well i am about to upgrade my 02 4cyl 5 spd x-cab to an 06 6cyl x-cab. I should never have taken a test drive. I cant decide on the 6 speed manual or the auto. The auto is 1k more, but from my research tends to see more mpgs, so preice is not a factor. I use my truck as a shuttle rig for kayaking and to get me out camping and into the great outdoors. So which trannie?? Oh and dont drive the 6cyl if you have a 4. It was too much fun.

[salsataco]

Also I was thinking of throwing an ARB on the front. Would I need to upgrade the suspension in order to not completely kill the handling?

[devinsixtyseven]

yeah, i'd upgrade the suspension, as well as move the battery aft if you can arrange it. the arb units are a ton-o-bricks, and it only gets worse with a winch.

personally i'd opt for the 6-speed manual...ive found on my auto tranny its easier to hold a gear and change speed than use cruise control and let the tranny hunt for a gear, and again offroad im able to pick a gear better than the auto tranny is able to set for a particular obstacle. i'd get a manual at this point if one existed for my truck...

dunno if that helped any...

-sean

[pskhaat]

Yeah, manual all the way. People have thoughts about this all the time, but in my limited experience being able to fine adjust the RPMs to where you need them is a desirable trait.

So much so that I personally would opt for a manul tranny in my FZJ80 over a diesel with an auto tranny!!!

[salsataco]

My only auto I have ever had was my old XJ. Couldnt find a manual. On my current taco I have a rhino brush guard. Not very tough but it has saved me a few times. Even though it killed my approach angle. I figure I might as well shell out the extra dough for and ARB while I am at it. I dont really want to do suspension until I kill the stock stuff though. Another reason I like the ARB is the brush guard that comes up high enough for me to tie down the bows of my boats. ANy other suggestions. Does the ARB really weigh much more than a stock bumper with a brush guard???

[Ursidae69]

I'd get the manual, I'm pretty happy with mine. The bad part is when you smoke the clutch on a hard obstacle in front of friends. Also, check your PMs salsataco.

[ccrider]

I went through this decision when I purchased my 2006 auto. I had never owned an automatic. Yeah, you loose some control and some of the fun factor that comes with gear selection of a manual. However, the auto is so smooth and I enjoy the environment so much more then being focused on my driving. You need to drive the manual and then hop into the auto. It will all eventually come down to your personal preference.
I do occasionally miss shifting, but not that often !
If you go ARB Bullbar you need to replace your coilovers as the bumper goes around 125 lbs.

[Brian894x4]

It's hard to compare a 5 speed auto to any of the previous 4 speed autos, because the biggest disadvantage of the previous autos were lack of gearing options and too high of gearing. I think the new 5 speed auto addresses those concerns quite nicely.

Autos have a real advantage off road, except for engine braking downhill, but a lot depends on how much control you have over the gear selection if you want to go to manual shifting.

I don't have any idea how the new Taco trannys behave, but I know for example, my wife's Forester tranny could care less what gear I put it in or what gear I want it to be in. It has a complete mind of it's own and usually doesn't shift when I want it too, especially not downshifting to pass, which is frustrating as heck. That's just the way the Subaru designed that particular tranny. It was all about fuel economy and nothing about performance.

So, I'd do some research and test driving on the new Tacos to see how much manual control you can have and if they downshift when you want them too, will hold a gear to redline, and will stay in gear on an obsticle when you want it too.

For my purposes I'd rather have an auto to free my hands to work the GPS, computer, radios, etc.

[The Swiss]

I have the six speed. As I mentioned in a different thread, today I probably would go with the auto, even though most of the time I do enjoy my manual. I still think 6th is geared too low, 5th and 6th too close together; I would have loved to see 1 through 5 as regular gears and 6th as a fuel saver gear. But that's probably just me

[mountainpete]

For my use, I would go with the manual. The reason for me would be travelling fire roads. I travel a lot of different fire roads when I go in the backcountry and being able to control the RPMs of the engine really aids, in my opinion, to more controlled travel.

For example, I find that in areas where there are lots of up and downs (such as in BC) that the truck tends to "run away" on the downhills too much and I have to brake more. Then because there is so much washboard, the ABS kicks in and the brakes provide very little value (on Sunday I just about went off a cliff because of that!). If I was able to hold a third gear on a manual, I would not only be able to better control the downhill speed but also have immediate torque for the uphills.

But other comments are also right... Automatics are easier off-road. Just push the skinny pedal and go. Less worry about rolling back and it's easier to fiddle with all of the tech gadgets too.

Bottom line is think about what type of driving you do the most and then drive both.

Pete