2024 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport Manual First Test: The Last Stick-Shift Pickup

Many modern pickup trucks drive like crossovers or SUVs, ride as smooth as some cars, and exclusively come with automatic transmissions. The 2024 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport does none of those things—a welcome divergence, at least in one area. Despite the solidly modern look, the brand-new Taco remains an old-school truck, eschewing its competitors’ more modern feels, for better or worse.

We know the Toyota has its fans, however, who flock to it precisely because it operates in bygone way, and thanks to competitors abandoning manual transmissions, the Tacoma has one more old-timey reason to consider it: It’s the last stick-shift pickup you can buy. On the other hand, for those who appreciate other trucks’ march into modernity, the manual transmission might be among the only reasons to consider the new Tacoma.

The six-speed manual transmission option isn’t available on every Tacoma. Only a select few trim levels across its vast lineup of work trucks, everyday haulers, and hardcore off-roaders accommodate the option. On the low end, there’s the base Tacoma SR (specifically with four-wheel drive and a crew-cab body); on the other end, roughly in the middle of the Tacoma lineup, are the TRD-branded models, the TRD Off-Road and the TRD Sport tested here. The manual comes paired exclusively to the Tacoma’s 2.4-liter turbocharged I-4 engine making 270 hp and 310-lb-ft of torque, which is 8 less hp and 7 less lb-ft than you get with the automatic. No hybrid Tacomas (i-Force Max in Toyota parlance) get the manual—those are automatic-only, because their electric motor lives in the transmission—nor do any XtraCab extended-cab models.

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Triple Pedal Trials

“Manual transmission!! Wooohooo!” senior editor Jason Gonderman’s notes read after stepping out of the Tacoma TRD Sport, echoing the sentiments of most other MotorTrend editors who have experienced it. This is a pickup’s manual gearbox, the shift delivering the requisite long throws and joined by a less-than-precise clutch. “Rowing the gears” suddenly seems more apt description than hyperbole, but it’s a much more fun experience than letting an automatic shift for you. First gear is much shorter than in most modern manual transmissions, meaning you’ll have plenty of shifting opportunities even at city speeds; just don’t hustle it. You really can’t hustle this transmission.

The iMT auto rev-match function works well for those who desire the assist—it’ll smoothly match engine revs to road speeds as you shift gears without needing to hit the go pedal—while a single well-marked button shuts off the system easily for those who don’t. Hauling the lever into the next gate is an amusingly agricultural experience. Those used to modern manual transmissions will whine about its lack of precision, but those accustomed to older off-road machines will be impressed by the engine’s anti-stall functions and clutch override start feature.

The engine isn’t quite as charming. When asked to produce power, it sounds loathsome of the idea. Grumbly and transmitting plenty of bad vibes through the seats and floorboards, the turbo engine feels far less smooth here than in Tacomas with the eight-speed automatic transmission. And it isn’t particularly quiet or refined-feeling in those auto-equipped trucks, either.

Its 270 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque match and exceed the power and torque ratings of the previous-generation Tacoma’s V-6, but with a 500-some-pound weight gain over the old Tacoma, the four-cylinder feels stressed when driven hard in ways competitors’ similar turbo-fours—like in, say, the new Ford Ranger or Chevrolet Colorado—don’t. The stick shift slows things down further, with the TRD Sport’s 7.9-second 0–60-mph time lagging automatic-equipped Tacomas with the same engine, which themselves lag their midsize competition.

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All-Truck Feels

Just like the transmission, the TRD Sport’s suspension gives throwback sensations. Unfortunately, this is a throwback we’d throw back. Despite most Tacomas—the TRD Sport included—moving to a new five-link rear end supported by coil springs (lesser versions still get leafs), the TRD Sport’s suspension provides a rough ride. Again, this isn’t unique to this version of the Tacoma, and it lags the refinement offered by rivals like the Colorado/Canyon twins or Ranger, to say nothing of the fully independently suspended Honda Ridgeline. Occasionally crashy sounds accompany the general lack of appropriate damping, leading digital director Erik Johnson to comment: “I can’t imagine how horrible the leaf-sprung trucks ride, if these are the coils. Jittery, nervous, lots of wheel patter. Lots of vibration through the steering column and wheel.”

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Crewless Cab

A continuing Tacoma tradition suffered across the lineup is its rear seat sized for children. Too small to comfortably seat adults in back, the Tacoma appears built more toward an enthusiast audience, with daily-driver practicalities like rear passenger space relegated to a tertiary priority. This is the four-door Double Cab, too; the new XtraCab Tacoma models abandon even that pretense, dropping the previous-gen truck’s rear seats and half doors entirely, making them two-door, two-seat trucks.

That said, there is a decent amount of storage for the front row, and while CarPlay kept disengaging on us, the vertical wireless charging holder scores points for keeping the phone’s screen visible as it charges. The seats are a perfectly fine place to be, even for longer stretches, and are comfortable enough to make the suspension bearable. Style is subjective, but the Tacoma’s interior look is more adventurous than in most other midsize trucks, which often are plain or feel cheap inside, and there are plenty of physical switches and knobs with chunky grips operable by gloved hands. (Chevy’s Colorado, conversely, isolates most controls in the central touchscreen.)

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Unapologetic Truck

For those who bemoan the crossover-ification of the modern pickup truck, the Tacoma is a singular outlier seemingly built as a bulwark against progress. It’s more at home in the dirt than at the mall or doing school runs. For that crowd the manual transmission is an essential component, and with any luck it will see a decent take-rate, with those who applaud its continued existence on the Tacoma’s order sheet willing to put their money where their mouth is. We only wish the stick-shift Tacoma were more appealing for reasons beyond its lone survivor status.