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Performance Tested - 2016 Toyota Tacoma Long-Term Road Test


Performance Tested - 2016 Toyota Tacoma Long-Term Road Test
We take our long-term 2016 Toyota Tacoma to the track for performance testing.
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The old one didn't have a great top end but it had a lot more pep where it matters.
Substantially less powerful than the Colorado.
Performance feels great from 4,500-6,000 - ? That's only 1,500 rpm, and it's 1,500 rpm that happens too high on the tach for a truck engine.
Now combine that with a super-aggressive fuel cutoff that happens right AT the redline, which also happens to be the engine's power peak - ? Who signed off on that combo - especially with the slow shifting in manual mode.
Good thing the soft, off-road suspension limits payload and tow rating, because I would not want to do a lot of hauling or towing with this powertrain or these brakes.
I'm sure it'll run forever and have great resale, but this "new" vehicle just looks more phoned-in all the time.
Brakes: Drum vs. Disc
The nice thing about rear drums in my experience is that they rarely need service.
And finally, the Colorado's superior rear disc brakes? Single-piston sliding calipers. I would trust both trucks to stop effectively with or without a load, but just for kicks here's a quote
from the Colorado's performance test: "the Colorado's brakes faded substantially in three 60-0 runs. The third run was 15-feet longer than the first and there was substantial pedal fade."
We stopped using drums because they don't shed heat well, and because they don't shed water well...don't know where anyone got the idea that drums are "watertight." Discs shed water via centrifugal force, the same force that makes drums fade when wet, because rather than being thrown off the face of a rotor, water is thrown onto the friction face of the drum.
I have changed many shoes/pads on many drums/discs, and would rather do discs any day of the week. The time spend crouching down, poking the screwdriver through the little slot to back off the parking brake star wheel...no, thanks. You have not lived until you are faced with a drum that has had the shoes wear into their surfaces, and the internal hardware is compromised or corroded by the water that gets into drums and can't get out, and the drum won't come off. Slide hammer-time...
When I do a disc brake job, I can tell just by taking off the wheel what I'm going to need, because I can see the pad thickness and I can mike the rotor. I can tell if the caliper is frozen or leaking and whether the parking brake mechanism is working or not or if the anti-rattle clips or caliper mounting spring or clip is bad. I can get the parts beforehand. I can put the wheel back on and drive to the auto parts store or order online and have use of my car until the parts arrive.
With drums, you don't know if the shoes are done, or if there is just a stone that has gotten inside and that's causing scraping. The little port where you inspect shoe friction material (if there is a port) only lets you see on small part of the shoe. You can't tell if the drum is bad until you take it off - period. You can't tell if you'll need pins, springs, hold-downs, parking brake lever or strut, until you remove the drum. You can't tell if the wheel cylinder is leaking, frozen (which is always on one side, so that opposite piston is right out of the bore and now you can't back off the star wheel enough to get the drum off...most of the time, you find that you'll need more parts...after you get it torn apart and the car is immobilized unless you want to try to put it back together with the old parts...if possible.
If I don't want to take all day, I should have a set of drum brake tools...so now in addition to my disc brake tools, I need these also. I just priced out front rotors pads and clips, vs. drums, shoes and brake hardware kit for a 2005 Tacoma, using ACDelco Professional series parts, just at random, using best price on Amazon. Front discs - $137. Rear drums - $151.
Like my dad used to say - they don't make them like they used to...thank God.
Maybe not my first choices if I had to pick three cars, but I wouldn't complain if I found this group of cars in my garage. : )
Drum setup of equal diameter weighs less than disc, but drums of equal braking performance to a given disc probably weigh 20% more.
Any application can be done poorly, and the fade in the Colorado is not due to running disc/disc. The Silverado ran disc/disc and faded only 7 feet first stop to last. The F150 ran disc/disc and faded only 2 feet. The Taco with disc/drum faded 9 feet. The Colorado with disc/disc faded 15 feet. No correlation.
What I meant was that the shoes (pads) dont get wet as easily since they are enclosed by the drum, its a fact. The simple fact is that discs simply are not needed for all applications, that is why they are still used. I am not sure what part of that you dont understand.