If ever there were a car to represent the North Shore, it’d be the Toyota Tacoma.
In fact, perhaps we should update the city coat of arms to include a lifted Taco’ with four mountain bikes hanging off the tailgate, and change the motto from “Montes Rivique Noris Inspirant,” to “Like, Sick Vertical, Bro.”
But I digress. Suffice to say that when this latest Pro-grade version of Toyota’s pickup truck graced my driveway, I found myself temporarily elevated to outdoors royalty. Forget the Rolls-Royce – if you want to grab eyeballs on the mountains, you show up in a Tacoma with big muddy boots on.
Because of its popularity, the Tacoma absolutely refuses to depreciate in value. Shopping around for a good deal on a slightly used one is a waste of time, as it’s often not much more to just finance or lease a new one.
Toyota has watched its pickup truck grow and maintain a loyal following that stretches all the way back to Marty McFly’s wicked little black pickup with the yellow KC light covers. Further, Toyota has also seen owners deck their trucks out with all kinds of aftermarket gear.
Because Toyota is not stupid, they’ve realized that if people are willing to pay for aftermarket add-ons, then they’ll probably be willing to shell out for factory gear. The result is the TRD Pro, which retails for a brain-boggling $55,000. It’s cool as all get out, especially here, but is it worth the steep price tag?
Design
When Toyota completely redesigned the Tacoma a few years ago, it pretty much stole the title away from Porsche for “most conservative update.” Even more so than the classic teardrop shape of a 911, you don’t mess with a winning recipe.
Thus, the new Tacoma looks almost identical to the old one. What this TRD-spec version brings to the table is chunky 16-inch TRD alloys, wheel arch cladding, a giant heritage-style front grille that yells an all-caps TOYOTA, visible skid plating, matte-black badging, and LED lower fog lamps.
Taken all together, this is one good-looking truck, aggressive in its stance, but not overly high. It’s the automotive equivalent of a really good outdoor jacket, ready to take on the elements even if you’re only wearing it to go downtown.
Environment
On the inside, Toyota has festooned the Pro’s interior with all sorts of TRD jewelry, including a shifter that seems unnecessarily large. However, what you notice first is the space, or the lack thereof.
Like the previous generation truck, the Tacoma comes with seats that are comfortable for some, but probably a little short for taller drivers. Actually, tall drivers are going to have a bit of an ergonomic struggle with the Tacoma’s cabin, which can seem cramped at times.
The crewcab, however, does provide enough space out back for car seats to easily slot into place for your little shredders and shredettes. Further, the more you drive the Tacoma around, the better it seems to fit. There’s a reason Toyota hasn’t changed much here: people like their Tacomas rubbery on the inside and fairly basic.
Performance
Let me first say what pretty much every Toyota pickup truck fan has been saying for the past three decades: why don’t you offer a diesel engine, Toyota? If the market can digest $50K+ for a mid-sized truck, then surely they’ll pony up the extra $2,000-$4,000 for a stout and indestructible diesel four-cylinder.
But Toyota is not quite ready to send a diesel our way, so we’ll have to make do with one of its ubiquitous 3.5-litre V-6 applications. Here, the engine makes 278 horsepower at peak power and 265 foot-pounds of torque at 4,600 r.p.m. The transmission is a conventional automatic six-speed, or you can also get a manual.
While the power figures look fine on first glance, the Tacoma is not exactly a speed machine. If pressed, the V-6 climbs up in the revs and provides the needed power. However, if you’d prefer effortless low-end shove, it doesn’t quite deliver. Sometimes the automatic transmission is also slow to upshift, which further reinforces the driving experience that a little more down low power could be used. Cough diesel cough. Ahem.
However, the takeaway experience of driving the TRD Pro over a wet and snowy week was one of general compliance. With a decent turning circle thanks to the short bed and enough power to zip up the Sea-to-Sky without feeling overtaxed, the Tacoma was about as difficult to drive as a RAV4. It wasn’t as efficient as a four-cylinder crossover, obviously, but when you factor in the way the Tacoma holds its value, you have to wonder whether it isn’t just as cheap to operate.
Also, the Tacoma TRD is just fun. My two kids insisted on taking the truck everywhere, because they thought it looked cool. When I took it up to some Squamish backroads, it further proved its mettle with shift-on-the-fly four-wheel drive and a locking rear differential. The TRD stomped around in the puddles, getting better looking the more mud there was on it.
I’d like there to be a diesel offering, and I’d bet the standard TRD version would be just as effective for most of the light off-roading owners will do. Even so, it’s hard to fault this truck for the grin it puts on your face.
Features
Kitted out with Toyota’s simple-but-effective Entune system, the TRD Pro was faultless at day-to-day stuff like Bluetooth calls and audio streaming. The navigation is easy to use as well.
Fuel economy is much improved over the old 4.0-litre V-6, though the Tacoma is still relatively thirsty. Official figures are 13.2 (litres/100 kilometres) in the city and 10.7 on the highway, but mixed-mileage results were more like 13.0.
Green light
Looks cool; simple and effective interior; plenty of street cred on and off-road.
Stop sign
Cramped cabin; still no diesel; expensive.
The checkered flag
The ultimate Tacoma proves why the North Shore loves it so much.
Competitor
Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 ($TBD): General Motors isn’t shy about wanting to steal sales away from the market segment leader. The thought of all that sport-truck money just sitting there is enough to have its accounting department salivating.
But it’s not GM’s accountants Toyota needs to worry about, it’s the engineers. Chevrolet’s performance division have come up with a nasty little truck that’s far more aggressive in its off-road intentions, a compact pickup that’s basically a smaller version of the Ford Raptor. It comes with locking differentials front and rear, hugely altered bodywork, and factory rock-sliders.
And you can get it with a diesel. Expect the Tacoma to keep fans for being reliable and steadfast, but expect the Colorado ZR2 to steal a little thunder when it debuts.
