I have a first GEN Tacoma double cab 3.4. It definitely helps when I’m towing my boat which is only a little 14 foot Crestliner I average about 14 miles to the gallon anyway I really don’t think they cared about mileage back then thanks for the contact and the simple explanation.
People think that ECT will worsen mpg, but when driving lightly it actually helps from not pushing the pedal farther and downshifting all the time. Or if u are like myself, I usually drive in S mode and choose 5th or 6th when I want to depending on where Im at.
Thanks for the info. Im towing a 3000 lbs rv, and i am going to try out ect power on my next trip. I dont have it on, on mu first trip and my gears were all over the place.
My 2023 I bought with 4 miles on it never hunts for gears, I made the truck hold gears up until 1500 miles and drove it slow and easy, now the truck holds gears and is actually accelerate . And a lot smoother then it was when it was new
I just bought a used 2017 Taco. Gonna tow our 2500lb camper with it and I was a bit surprised it has no overdrive button which keeps you out of the overdrive gear when towing. I'm guessing that is what you meant when you said ECT keeps you out of 6th gear? So when I"m towing just keep ECT on and that takes the place of the overdrive button...?
6th gear is a bit too tall to be towing heavy loads , and you can cause the engine to overheat a bit. I learned that the hard way towing my 3,000 pound boat on a tandem axle trailer on a hilly highway in Texas. I think that in ECT it stops shifting at 5th gear and keeps you in the low gears a bit longer to give you the torque you need to get your heavy load moving.
