thanks James for answering how the size feels..
I think they (not just Toyota, but everyone) jumped the shark when they started making crew cabs in compact trucks. If you want a small truck, fine, get a small truck. Trying to cram a crew cab into a compact just doesn't work. If you want a crew cab, then get a full-size.
here's the thing though.
in our application, we wanted a crew cap (full 4 doors and a 6ft box)
5 feet was too small and 5.5ft isn't available on the Tacoma. 5.5ft I could likely get away with.
The 6ft box is perfect for our application in the bike setup and having room to spare to place crap in the back still.
While the extended cab would still gives us plenty of space for gear when we're two people, the crew cab is the way to go if you're someone who plans to have 4 people traveling.
As mentioned in the pass on this forum, my friend has the same truck as me (2013 crew cab / 6ft box)
He wanted a manual but HAD TO HAVE the 6ft box, that wasn't an option so he was stuck with an auto.
We packed all our gear and our 4 mountain bikes with the four of us driving down 8 hours to Vermont.
My wife is very small and was plenty comfortable, I'm 5'9" and being in the back was fine. 8hrs was a little long in the back without stopping but it wasn't that bad.
As the review mentions, you can certainly fell the extra length the 4 doors and 6ft add but I've yet to have a situation in which driving around felt too big or long.
I even had a stint driving in and out of downtown Toronto at the tail end of rush hour and never felt too big / long
