The 2024 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro is improved over the previous three generations of the truck.NATHAN LEACH-PROFFER/Courtesy of manufacturer
Toyota revealed the all-new, fourth-generation Tacoma mid-sized pickup truck in Hawaii this week, and it’s improved in every way.
It’s replacing a vehicle that hasn’t seen a major revision in years – at least eight years, and maybe 18, depending on what you consider major.
“We looked at the way fuel economy regulations were headed in North America and really questioned for a while whether there was room for a new generation of pickup trucks,” says Stephen Beatty, Toyota Canada’s vice-president of corporate.
“As we started to look at the way we could bring hybrid technology to the market, and new levels of efficiency even to the base engine with turbocharging, we found there was room for it. The new truck platform we’re using gives us the ability to build these new vehicles and make them extraordinarily rugged.”
Toyota revealed the all-new Tacoma in Kona, Hawaii Thursday evening.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
The new, Mexico-built Tacoma is turbocharged and more powerful with two different powertrains. It’s definitely more rugged, with the old leaf springs replaced by coils on all but the most basic version. It has Toyota’s full gamut of driver’s assistance and software that’s a match for anything on the market and a hybrid motor in the more powerful version. It’s probably more fuel efficient – official numbers have not yet been released, but it can’t be worse than the previous gas-gulper.
It’s bound to be more expensive, too. Prices will not be released or even speculated on until its release late this year, or next spring for the hybrid.
“It will be fully competitive in today’s truck market,” says Beatty. Take from that what you will.
There will be six grades, all with four-wheel drive, a two-speed transfer case and built on the new TNGA-F platform that’s shared with the Tundra and Sequoia. There’s a smaller cab version that will arrive later without rear doors or seats, but with plenty of rear storage inside and a six-foot bed (and Americans get a stripped-down version of it), but all other versions are a four-door double cab with the choice of a five- or six-foot bed. The standard 2.4-litre turbo four-cylinder engine still offers the choice of six-speed automatic or six-speed manual transmission, for purists who can only otherwise find a new mid-sized truck with a stick-shift in a Jeep Gladiator.
The manual transmission creates 270 horsepower while the automatic creates 278, which is similar to the previous generation. The difference comes with the grunt – the two engines create 310 and 317 lb-ft of torque respectively, up from the 265 of the older truck.
The 2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter is designed for round-the-world adventurers.NATHAN LEACH-PROFFER/Courtesy of manufacturer
If this sounds like just an incremental change, it’s because it’s setting the stage for the new hybrid powertrain that attaches a 48-horsepower motor and 1.87-kilowatt-hour battery to the 2.4-litre engine. Similar set-ups are found on the larger Tundra and the new Grand Highlander three-row SUV. It all combines to create 326 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque, which is more than any of the mid-sized truck competition.
The grades are broken down into the basic two-door truck (SR5) or three different TRD models that are designed for fast off-roading. (Again, Americans get a more basic TRD truck called the Prerunner that won’t come to Canada.) There’s also a luxurious, road-focussed version (Limited), and an all-new overlander called the Trailhunter. The Limited, Trailhunter, and most loaded TRD come with the hybrid engine, called the i-ForceMax, which is only available with the automatic transmission.
The Trailhunter was first seen as a concept at last year’s SEMA show, and it’s designed for round-the-world adventurers (and wannabes) who want to travel and camp in the most remote areas. Its suspension features Old Man Emu-brand 2.5-inch forged monotube shocks with remote external reservoirs, made by the Australian ARB company and fitted at the factory. It also has a steel rear bumper and an available roof rack that’s good for a tent or rigging up a camp shower, all sitting on 33-inch Goodyear tires.
The road-oriented Limited has an adaptive variable suspension and centre locking differential, while the three TRDs come with various grades of sport-tuned shocks. The more expensive TRDs and the Trailhunter also come with an electronically activated rear locking differential, and with a disconnecting front stabilizer bar. This increases articulation by 10 per cent, and on the top-end TRD Pro, it allows a 33.8-degree approach angle, a 23.5-degree breakover angle and a 25.7-degree departure angle. Those are very capable figures.
That costly TRD also features an “isodynamic performance seat” that, according to the press release, “uses an air-over-oil shock absorber system allowing for vertical and lateral seat movement simultaneously to dampen body movement and stabilize the head and neck to keep alignment with the spine.” I didn’t drive the truck to try it – you’ll have to take Toyota’s word for it, for now.
The 2024 Toyota Tacoma has a 14-inch touchscreen and digital gauge cluster on the more costly grades.NATHAN LEACH-PROFFER/Courtesy of manufacturer
The bed of the truck is 7 per cent larger, and the whole vehicle is generally more rugged. Frame crossmembers are strengthened and high-strength steel is used liberally throughout the boxed, steel-ladder frame, though aluminum reduces weight in the upper body. The disc brakes are stronger and electric power steering should improve the feedback to the driver – a common complaint in the previous generation. Maximum towing capacity is still 6,500 pounds, but the maximum payload is bumped to 1,709 pounds.
Inside, the Tacoma is thoroughly updated, with a 14-inch touchscreen and digital gauge cluster on the more costly grades and an eight-inch screen and analog gauges on the less expensive trims. All grades get a push-button start, and there’s even an upgrade available for the sound system that includes a dockable JBL portable Bluetooth speaker.
This all sounds like a lot because it is a lot. Toyota’s had plenty of time to think this through – after all, it could sell every unit it could make of the old Tacoma, and buyers were grateful to pay whatever the going price. The Tacoma has some of the highest residual values on the market, because even if the truck was dull and outclassed, it was solid and reliable. You knew exactly what you were getting.
“I don’t think it was ever an option for us to not have a Tacoma,” said Sheldon Brown, Toyota’s chief engineer for the truck. “We were selling 240,000 units, led the segment for 18 years – we pretty much owned the segment. We were always going to find a way to make sure that we kept Tacoma.”
The new Tacoma offers a lot more that finally brings it into line with the features and capabilities offered by its competition: the Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier and Jeep Gladiator. On paper and in the metal, it looks very impressive indeed. We’ll let you know if it lives up to the promise when we drive it later this year.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story stated the Tacoma will be built on a platform that is shared with the Tundra and Sienna. In fact, it’s shared with the Tundra and Sequoia.
Shopping for a new car? Check out the Globe Drive Build and Price Tool to see the latest discounts, rebates and rates on new cars, trucks and SUVs. Click here to get your price.