Omatac a 2021 Tacoma

[Omatac]

Hi All! Recently purchased a 2021 MGM TRD Off-Road w/ MT as my first truck/new vehicle ever and I'm excited to join the community and share it!

In the background, the true owners of my truck.... until the loan is paid anyway...

A little background, I've always been a Honda fan, owned three Accords of different generations, two with self done H22A engine swaps and well, now I want to build a car for autocross and track days!
My issue, a proper track car isn't really something I want to drive to events (or pay to insure and register!)

So after saving a bit I went out searching for a tow vehicle!

Was so close to getting a 2021 Ridgeline, but that 5000 lb tow capacity was a deal breaker.
The Frontier was so -old- feeling, like, good price and 0% APR but buying would've been compromising price for the tech features I wanted.
As far as 'murican trucks well frankly I'm not confident with US automakers, though the Colorado did feel nice on a test drive.
Larger trucks, Tundra, Titan, etc. - I'm a smaller guy and didn't really feel comfortable driving a full size truck, not ashamed to admit it! Also, the size. I took a Titan home for a night and tried to drive down tight one way residential city streets where I have friends - wasn't happening.

Test driving the Tacoma - I didn't like how it rode at first. I thought it was bouncy and loose; but after testing the others above I realized its just because I'm used to cars.
So I came back and made this Tacoma mine! It hit all the right spots and didn't feel like a compromise. Plus, manual transmission, yeah!

My truck has:
The TRD premium off-road package (seat heaters were a huge selling point)
Tech package (almost worth it for the painted bumper caps )
OEM LED headlights (so. bright!)
OEM roof rack
OEM Mudflaps (didn't even realize it till I used the app!)
OEM all-weather floor liners

Now I'm working on all the little accessories to make it mine!

as of 3/7/2021

Need:
Steps/sliders - I'm short, lol. I have to stand on my toes and hop a lil to get up in this truck... I haven't been able to decide if I will get some nice stainless (painted of course) steps or just splurge for some bolt on sliders. Don't plan on off-roading much but at the same time I've never done it so who knows it may become a new addiction!
Bed cap or tonneau cover - Haven't really decided on this one, I want to secure the bed to carry tools and a tonneau would do that, but I cant doubt the versatility of a bed cap for camping! Tough choice that may come down to whichever I find used for a decent price.

Want:
LED brake lights - COME ON new vehicles should have these! The MESO Total Tail kit is in my future.
All red tail lights - not sure which models came with these, but aftermarket ones seem to go for a decent price.
Chrome interior delete - maybe some dark grey metallic plasti-dip will work?
Speaker upgrade - or are the premium package speakers decent? They sound good, but boomy in the low-mid range imo.
Non-chrome mirror turn signals
Delete the chrome headlight strip - DIY probably.
Yellow film the LED fogs

Have:
A stock Tacoma!




Anyway this is my introduction and will be a build thread! Can't help but customize my vehicles, once the warranty is up it's free game! (Supercharger!?)
Glad to be part of the community and hope to learn a lot!

 

[Tacomadad18]

Hello and welcome to Tacoma3g!

 

[Biohazard]

Welcome to the club. Good choice, though for a tow vehicle I probably would have gone full size. But with the manual, you'll do great, no worries about the annoying automatic transmission.

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Welcome to the forum! Good choice with your tacoma purchase.

 

[Omatac]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys!

I've been busy making it mine! Mods I've installed the past few weeks:

- MESO total tail v1 - I was already looking for LED bulbs and found this kit. Glad I found it in stock somewhere because this is too cool and makes more sense:

-Black raised letters for the tailgate
-MESO Gasshole - expensive piece of plastic, but funny and useful!
-Dome and license plate light LEDs
-OEM Toyota bed LEDs

-No-brand smoked mirror lights

- N-Fab Predator steps

Other stuff I have and need to get installed:
- Remote tailgate lock
- Yellow film for fog lights
- black out badge covers


New wants:
- Bass, (no not the fish) I need a subwoofer in here, and probably speakers. I figured the premium would have a good enough system but nope it fails the "really loud" test by distortion.
- Mod the DRLs to always amber. I saw someone did it while lurking on another forum, probably not too difficult electrically but I need to find a way to do it without cutting wires while the warranty is in tact.


Things I've noticed.
- Rough power delivery at moderate throttle - I almost want to call it stumbling, but it's so light and difficult to describe.
When I give it additional throttle while cruising; say to keep speed while going up a hill, it feels like it produces an amount of power, then cuts that power back ever so slightly after a split second then quickly flips between those two states a few times, just enough to notice but not enough make the truck shudder.
Seems like as long as I'm above 3000 RPM this doesn't happen. Maybe this is just how the engine reacts at the torque limit and I need to rev it higher/downshift more often?

Not really sure what to do about this, searching around it sounds like a normal thing of Atkinson engines but others don't have the problem. I guess I'll talk to the dealer about it.


- The throttle pedal is -ODD-. This may just be me coming from a world of cable driven vehicles, but first gear, it's like an on or off switch.
What I mean, it seems like 90% of the truck's power is available in the first 25% of pedal movement. Taking off from 1st is either slow and controlled or I'm gunning it, I haven't found much control between.
It's almost like the last 50% of the pedal might as well not exist, there doesn't feel like much of any difference between half throttle and full to me in most cases.

- I love the brakes, pedal barely moves and they feel so solid. The slight pedal buzz when stopped was disconcerting at first but after learning what it is I can ignore that.



Anyway thats all for now, it's nice to be here!

 

[Bird dog]

Welcome aboard.