The Toyota Tacoma is now officially the only truck to offer a manual transmission in the US. It’s a shame since this 2025 TRD Off-Road was a blast to drive.

Having driven virtually every major trim of the Tacoma, including another TRD Off-Road with an automatic, Limited, TRD Pro, and Trailhunter, I think this manual was probably the most fun I’ve had daily driving one. What I’m glad Toyota did, was not just make this an base model offering and in fact allowed a lot of options to be available with the manual. Too many brands force you into an automatic to get some of the higher options of a model, and almost feels like a punishment to get 3 pedal.

With that being said, you do only get the non-hybrid i-FORCE 2.4L 4-cylinder turbocharged engine. You’ll get 270 horsepower and 310 lb.-ft. of torque delivered to the 6-speed manual transmission. The intelligent manual transmission (iMT2) offers automatic rev-matching and anti-stall technology. It is one of the easier manual to drive which comes at the cost of a clutch with any character to it. I’m used to having a clutch that is a bit unforgiving but very communicative that it is biting into the flywheel. I guess its a small price to pay if it means attracting a newer generation of manual drivers.

I guess we have Toyota to thank with now having the sole manual truck at the time of me writing this. Will they sell enough to keep its production? I hope enough of you buy them as it has been the most engaging and entertaining modern truck I have driven.