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Payne: Toyota Taco’s tasty new recipe
Posted by Talbot Payne on November 30, 2023
Los Angeles — Like LeBron James in the National Basketball Association, the Toyota Tacoma has been the premier player in its arena — the mid-size pickup segment — for the last two decades. Whether in sport or autos, that’s a long time in a ferociously competitive environment. James has competed against champions like Tayshaun Prince, Paul Pierce, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant. Tacoma has outsold the Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, Ford Ranger and Nissan Frontier.
But you don’t stay on top by sitting on your laurels.
For 2024, the Taco is all-new with major upgrades to keep up with the competition while maintaining its core off-road and reliability talents. The changes are immediately apparent on road. With good off-road instincts courtesy of high approach angle, detachable front sway-bar and tough ladder frame — Tacoma first topped the sales charts in 2005. But it was less sure-footed on-road.
Sitting on an aging 2009 chassis, the Toyota was loud ‘n’ loose on asphalt in contrast to the remade GM twins and Frontier. For ‘24, Taco has risen to the challenge by adopting a multi-link, coil-over-shock rear suspension on up-trim TRD models — a trick inspired by big brother Tundra (and the OG Ram 1500).
I flogged a Tacoma TRD Sport over north LA’s twisted Mulholland Drive — behavior that would have sent me flying into the Pacific Ocean on the last-gen truck. I missed the bass of Taco’s ol’ V-6 engine — a casualty of emissions regulations forcing automakers toward electric vehicles. Toyota’s answer is not electric (a liability in affordable trucks tasked with towing and off-roading) but a 2.4-liter turbo-4 with three power variants to choose from, belting out between 228 and 278 horsepower with an electronically-enhanced bark.
“Customers like the authority of V-8s and V-6s, but as we reduce cylinder size, it gets tougher to do with four cylinders,” smiled engineer Sheldon Brown, Taco’s chief chef.
The growl works, and my right foot kept mashing the pedal for more. Taco has also upgraded its automatic transmission from six to eight speeds for better fuel economy and added a front apron for better aerodynamics. Multi-speed boxes can annoy by hunting for gears, but — even as I repeatedly gave it the gas — the Taco responded with crisp, authoritative shifts. As for the skirt, take it off to take advantage of the truck’s 34.4-degree off-road approach angle.
The turbo-4’s macho voice is only available in sporty TRD models like the $40,000-plus TRD XtraCab PreRunner and Double Cab that I test drove. It’s worth the cash if you have it. So is the smaller two-door XtraCab. Indeed, despite deep-sixing the V-6, Taco is LeBron-like in its dexterity — preserving customer choice by offering two cabs, two bed options (5-foot and 6-foot), rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive, and automatic/manual transmissions.
“We wanted to aggressively defend our entry point,” said Brown.
Most Tacos will sell as Double Cabs, but the two-door has features the four-door can’t match. The front passenger seat folds flat (shades of the defunct Honda Fit and 2013 Chevy Trax/Buick Encore) so that you can easily access the cargo space in back that includes … a tool pegboard. Dude.
It’s hidden behind a key-locked, mid-gate entry door (to keep tools from flopping about), that folds down. The flattened front seat, of course, makes it easy to bring along a dog, bag, toolbox, etc.
The Double Cab offers more conventional seating and mid-gate (there’s a cubby behind the rear seats), and every truck comes standard with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, which includes adaptive cruise control, pedestrian detection and auto high beams.
Want more standard stuff? Twin front digital screens with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Only blind-spot assist is missing from my list of standard must-haves.
To complement the tech, engineers tilted the front console so you can more easily see your phone screen. The pad secures your phone so it doesn’t fly out whenever the driver, um, gets aggressive. Modern Taco at your service.
Front quarters are comfortable for bony-legged giants like me — but put LeBron in the back seat and he’ll be cramped. I could barely sit behind myself at 6’5”. I don’t get it.
Lack of rear seat room is a malady that plagues most mid-size pickups, yet trucks are often purchased by big, burly people (tool guys like those referenced earlier). There has to be a happy medium between the palatial rear couches of full-size trucks and mid-size pickups’ tight squeeze.
Naturally, all this tech means the base price of the Taco climbs to $33K, a leap from $28K just two years ago. I miss sub-$30K vehicles (much less $20K). Seems like room for a Corolla-based, Ford Maverick-fighting $20K entry-level pickup to me. Hint hint.
Tacoma offers plenty of choice above $30K with eight trims, including the SR5 Double Cab with extended six-foot bed that I drove at length in LA.
Like all Tacos it comes with new sheet metal and interior that gives it a bold, Tonka truck-like presence. Toyota debuted this chunky design on Tundra pickups in 2022, and they still turn my head. So will the Tacoma. The grille is familiar, but the truck’s flanks are more muscular with bold fender flares, chiseled doors and vertical taillights.
The Alpha Male of the lineup is the TRD Pro which looks like Dwayne Johnson emerging from the ocean surf. I’ll get a chance to drive it (and its hybrid powertrain) early next year, but for now the TRD model offers plenty of beefcake.
The interior is just as muscular with a shifter the size of Thor’s Hammer (we truck guys are just big kids) and added cubby space in the doors and dash.
Crawling over dirty off-road trails, ditches and rocky beds, the TRD proved the new multi-link suspension hasn’t made Taco go soft. Just beware of the lower-hanging connection point for the multi-link suspension (shared with traditional leaf springs on lower trims) just ahead of the rear tire.
As the terrain grew more pleasant, I electronically disconnected the front sway bar (shades of Ford Bronco) with the touch of a console button. The Tacoma happily grunted along on grippy Goodyear Wrangler all-terrain tires as I alternatively toggled the fat MODE button between LOW and HIGH gears.
Like LeBron, Tacoma’s home has moved around over the years from California to Mexican assembly plants. Sitting on a tougher “boxed” TNGA-F frame, the Taco should please the faithful with its old-school reliability while impressing new-gen technoids.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Next week: 2024 Acura MDX
2024 Toyota Tacoma
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear- and four-wheel-drive, two- and four-door pickup
Price: $32,895, including $1,495 destination charge ($44,000 SR5, $41,000 TRD PreRunner, and $42,500 TRD Sport, $43,500 TRD Off Road — est. as tested)
Powerplant: 2.4-liter turbocharged, inline-4 cylinder
Power: 228 horsepower, 243 pound-feet-torque; 278 horsepower, 317 pound-feet-torque; 270 horsepower, 310 pound-feet-torque (manual)
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic; six-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.5-8 seconds (Car and Driver est.); payload, 1,405-1,705 pounds; towing, 6,500 pounds
Weight: 4,145-4,720 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA est. mpg 21 city/26 highway/23 combined (SR5); 21 city/26 highway/23 combined (SR5); 20 city/24 highway/22 combined (TRD PreRunner); 20 city/24 highway/22 combined (TRD Sport); 18 city/23 highway/20 combined (TRD Off-Road, manual)
Report card
Highs: Looks great inside and out; on-road manners to match off-road capability
Lows: Tight backseat; big price jump
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.