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Brake Modulation Lacks Finesse - 2016 Toyota Tacoma Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited April 2016 in Toyota
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Brake Modulation Lacks Finesse - 2016 Toyota Tacoma Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds conducts a long-term test of the 2016 Toyota Tacoma and finds its brake modulation could be better.

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Comments

  • thepuffthepuff Member Posts: 87
    Just keep telling yourself "Toyota renown quality, Toyota renown quality..." and all will be alright. What did Jan brainwash me into thinking from the TV commercial...oh yeah "the Fun, Sporty, and Rugged Tacoma."
  • willin58willin58 Member Posts: 38
    edited April 2016
    Other than perceived off-road ability, is there anything that the Tacoma does better than the Colorado? Even then, I can't believe it's that difficult to remove the front lip spoiler on the Colorado to even things out for off-roading.
  • agentorangeagentorange Member Posts: 893
    Sounds even worse than the finicky brakes in every 2005 and newer Xterra I have driven.
  • misterfusionmisterfusion Member Posts: 471
    This thing is so Toyota... they could have aimed high and released a worldbeater, but as usual they aimed for "just good enough to maintain sales volume".
  • desmoliciousdesmolicious Member Posts: 671
    I wanted one of these. But now that it's clear that it has lousy brakes, lousy transmission/engine pairing and lousy fuel economy I think I'll pass.
    I really had high hopes for the Taco.
  • geezermikegeezermike Member Posts: 22
    Exactly the level of detailed information and comparison I like to see. Thank you. Even more comparisons would be useful even if in a different segment (e.g. RAM, F150).

    I wonder if this braking action is something a driver gets accustomed to. For example, I owned a '69 Z28 with four wheel disks (back when it was just an inexpensive 5 year old car), and it would instantly stop just thinking about braking - stop on a dime and leave change. Everyone negatively commented on how touchy the brakes were. It was a pain at first, but I got to really like it. I have never had a car that braked as well, including my Miata.

    I am still struggling over owning a Tacoma considering some of its compromises. However, on the plus side it has rock-solid dependability, one of the lowest cost of ownership, good resale, an infinite amount of functional/radically-functional aftermarket parts, and an large collection of experience and modification knowledge -- kind of like a Jeep -- no other truck is close on these attributes. The think is, will the positives or negatives affect me more if I owned it. Just wish it had a few less compromises.
  • 5vzfe5vzfe Member Posts: 161
    I have to be very gentle on my sister's Kia Forte because my brake pedal has a longer idle stroke (thanks for the new terminology) than hers, so if I'm not actively gauging how I'm braking while driving her car, I inadvertently slam on her brakes. (They work very well by the way.)
    The clutch pedal on my old Mitsubishi Montero Sport was much stiffer and had a radically shorter travel than my parent's Jetta, which was feather light and engaged well above the floor. I stalled their VW repeatedly when starting in 1st because I wasn't used to it, and subsequent shifts were a herky-jerky embarrassment for someone like me who has been driving a stick for a few years.
    My current car has an extremely agressive throttle compared to the other cars in our driveway, and it takes some adjusting when I hop back into it - but I eventually get used to it again. There are more differences too, engine power, transmission tuning, handling characteristics etc. that make some cars easier to live with than others in certain scenarios.
    After all of that, I'm wondering are the Tacoma's deficiencies actually problems and engineering faux pas, or could you just adapt and live with? Is it just different in the way it goes about its business or does it really warrant the heavy criticism that people have on this forum for it?
  • longtimelurkerlongtimelurker Member Posts: 455
    Agree with many others...they phoned this one in.
  • metalmaniametalmania Member Posts: 167
    edited April 2016
    I'd guess you'd get used to it, but based on the description of how it behaves it sounds like it's pretty annoying. It seems odd that in 2016 manufacturers still make cars with this kind of behavior - touchy brakes, overaggressive throttle response at tip-in (I really hate that one), etc. It can't be that hard to engineer these things to be linear and predictable, can it?
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