Is the TOTO Drake a Good Toilet?
The TOTO Drake is a good toilet if you want TOTO's flush and glaze without paying for a one-piece or a skirted body. It is a two-piece toilet: the bowl and the tank ship as separate pieces and bolt together on site, which makes it easier to carry into an upstairs bathroom and cheaper to service years later. What you are paying for sits inside the bowl rather than on the outside of it.
TORNADO FLUSH is doing the work
TORNADO FLUSH uses two nozzles instead of a ring of rim holes. TOTO describes it as creating "a centrifugal, cyclonic rinsing action which reduces waste buildup and keeps the bowl cleaner," and says the hole-free rim design "performs more consistently and is easy to clean." The 1.28 GPF Drake (CST776CEFG), the Drake II (CST454CEFG) and the Drake Transitional (MS786124CEG) all list it, and so does the 1.0 GPF Drake II 1G (CST454CUFG). TOTO's 1.6 GPF round Drake, CST743S, is the exception: it uses the older G-Max siphon jet. If you are weighing 1.28 against 1.6 gallons per flush, the Drake is a clean test case, because both volumes are built on the same bowl and the same flush engineering.
CEFIONTECT stretches the interval between cleanings
CEFIONTECT is the glaze, not a coating you reapply. TOTO calls it "extraordinarily smooth" and says it "prevents particulates from adhering to porous, ceramic surfaces," with an ion barrier that "keeps everything cleaner, longer." TOTO lists it on the Drake at both 1.28 and 1.6 GPF, on the elongated and round Drake II, and on the Drake II 1G. It does not remove cleaning from the schedule; it lengthens the gap between cleanings, which is worth more on an unskirted two-piece than on a smooth one-piece body.
Most of this collection is WASHLET+ sets
Twenty-three of the thirty-one Drakes here ship as WASHLET+ sets, meaning the toilet and the bidet seat were designed to go together. TOTO's own wording is plain: "the WASHLET+ system neatly conceals the WASHLET power cord and water supply hose for a clean installation." The seats run from the S2 upward. TOTO lists the S2 (SW3346) with a heated seat, rear and soft rear cleanse, front cleanse, deodorizer, air dryer, EWATER+ and PREMIST; the S7A sets sit at the top of the range and offer the THU857 auto-flush kit as an option. If you would rather see the seats grouped on their own, the Drake WASHLET collection lists them that way.
Which TOTO Drake Should You Buy?
Buy the plain Drake if you want the standard TOTO two-piece with the widest run of versions, the Drake II if you want a 1.0 GPF option or prefer its bowl, and the Drake Transitional if you want a seat in the box. After that the decision comes down to four things: bowl shape, seat height, flush volume, and whether a WASHLET comes with it.
Drake vs Drake II: what actually differs
Drake and Drake II are closer than the names suggest. Both are two-piece, both are offered elongated at 1.28 GPF with TORNADO FLUSH, CEFIONTECT and a 12-inch rough-in, both come in Universal Height, and neither includes a seat. What separates them is the bowl and tank themselves, CST776CEFG against CST454CEFG, and the flush volumes on offer: the Drake is also built at 1.6 GPF (CST776CSG), while the Drake II adds the 1.0 GPF Drake II 1G (CST454CUFG) and a round-front version at 1.28 GPF (CST453CEFG). If nothing on that list decides it for you, buy on looks and price. The Drake II collection shows the range on its own.
The Transitional is the Drake bowl under a different tank
The Drake Transitional is the Drake bowl under a differently styled tank, and it is the one non-WASHLET Drake you can install without buying a seat. TOTO lists MS786124CEG as three components: the C776CEGT40 bowl, the ST786EA tank and cover, and an SS124 SoftClose seat. It flushes at 1.28 GPF with TORNADO FLUSH like the rest of the family, so you are choosing the tank styling and the included seat, not a different flush. See the Drake Transitional collection for the versions offered.
Universal Height or standard height
Universal Height puts the seat roughly 17 to 19 inches off the floor against about 15 inches for standard, and only the taller version meets ADA seat height. TOTO writes the choice into the model number: an F in the SKU means Universal Height. MW7763346CEG is the standard-height Drake WASHLET+ S2; add the F and MW7763346CEFG is the same set at the taller height. Those two sit next to each other on a listing and differ by one letter, so check it before you order. Our Universal Height versus standard height guide covers who each one suits.
Measure your rough-in first
Drake models are built for a 12-inch rough-in, which is what TOTO lists for the Drake CST776CEFG, the Drake II CST454CEFG, the round Drake II CST453CEFG and the Drake II 1G. TOTO does build a 10-inch version of some Drake WASHLET+ sets, such as MW7764736CEFGA.10, the S7A set at 10 inches. Those appear only on certain Universal Height Drakes, so needing a 10-inch rough-in and a standard seat height narrows the field quickly. Measure from the finished wall to the center of the closet bolts, not from the baseboard; the rough-in size guide walks through it.