Toyota’s latest Tacoma teaser might be the biggest surprise yet. The company has officially confirmed that the 2024 Toyota Tacoma will be offered with a stick shift and three pedals for those who want it.
The new Tacoma’s rollout has been tantalizingly slow through a series of teasers every (Taco) Tuesday for more than a month. So here’s a summary of what we already know.
So far, Toyota has told us there will be a new Trailhunter model aimed at overlanders with parts from ARB, and that there will be an available detachable speaker from JBL. We even know that the 2024 Tacoma will come with a hybrid driveline.
It’s that last bit that makes today’s teaser so special and so surprising. It’s a simple photo: three aluminum pedals with rubber grip points, dangling in a darkened footwell, with the tagline “2024 Toyota Tacoma is coming in clutch.”
For many of Toyota’s most diehard buyers, this is a huge deal. The popularity of the manual gearbox isn’t what it used to be, but plenty of off-roaders need, want, or demand one.
Are they staying too attached to the past? Maybe. But Toyota doesn’t think so, and that’s why the latest Tacoma will come with a six-speed manual.
Stick Shift Plus Hybrid Tacoma?
The question that remains is how this box will work with the new truck’s driveline. When Toyota revealed there would be a hybrid Tacoma, many of us assumed that would be the only available engine.
This new six-speed says there will be a second engine option, one that won’t have hybrid assistance. Unless, of course, Toyota is planning the first stick-shift hybrid since Honda last attempted it in the ill-fated and unloved CR-Z coupe of 2011-2016.
I’m not going to speculate too much on what the second engine could be. Toyota has a few naturally aspirated and turbocharged four-cylinder engines available as well as the 3.5L V6 it is already using. Toyota also offers a 2.7L four in the 2023 Tacoma, though that one isn’t available with the six-speed (only the V6 is).
To find out exactly what Toyota has planned, you’re just going to have to wait — but probably not for long. Expect the 2024 Tacoma to be revealed in full sometime this month. And expect a few more teasers to drop before it gets here.
