{"id":23577,"date":"2019-03-22T09:37:58","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T13:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=23577"},"modified":"2019-03-22T09:37:58","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T13:37:58","slug":"payne-tough-toyota-tundra-tames-the-suburban-frontier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/payne-tough-toyota-tundra-tames-the-suburban-frontier","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Tough Toyota Tundra tames the suburban frontier"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n<\/div>

The 2019 Toyota Tundra is a great tool for Metro Detroit’s rugged frontier roads.<\/em><\/p>\n

The American truck market is where rugged pickups meet refined luxury \u2014 pickups like 2019 Toyota Tundra that I tested\u00a0in Oakland Charter Township.<\/p>\n

Which is appropriate because the township north of The Palace in Auburn Hills is where rugged farm country meets the frontier of luxurious development.<\/p>\n

Here, successful Michiganians buy acres of farmland\u00a0and woodland to build dream homes on the edge of Detroit\u2019s metropolis. Huge 10,000-square-foot brick and stone homes spill across deforested yards. Gated communities back up against wooded streams. Modern castles reach for the sky on top of rocky hills.<\/p>\n

These cloistered estates are conveniently located just minutes from shopping malls and interstates, yet they can only be reached by diabolical dirt roads that begin where the asphalt ends.<\/p>\n

Dirt roads with names like Dutton and Brewster look like they were used in Normandy during the D-Day invasion. In February these arteries have been raked by the elements with bottomless potholes overlapping frozen mud ruts.<\/p>\n

These are the byways for which my $46,610 Tundra tester with TRD Off-Road package was built.<\/p>\n

I passed some of the most beautiful cribs I\u2019ve seen, their owners struggling to reach them in sporty Cadillac CTS-Vs and lovely Volvo XC60s. A silver CTS-V looked like it would have preferred to be underwater than on this hellscape, its driver crawling along at 5 mph while the potholes beat the unibody chassis to a noodle.<\/p>\n

My 381-horsepower, 5.7-liter V-8 Tundra drove by at 35 mph like Blake Griffin through a junior high team. Sitting on big-sidewall Michelins wrapped around 18-inch rims, the Tundra\u2019s body-on-frame construction devoured the frozen mud moguls. The four-wheel-drive system churning like a buzz-saw through stale bread. BRRRAAAAWWWGH!<\/p>\n

THONK! A rock thrown up by a tire clanged harmlessly off the steel skid-plate under the engine.\u00a0The front tires skittered across an iced rut, the rear tires churning behind. This is how you commute to your remote domicile.<\/p>\n

But arriving at your estate in a pickup doesn\u2019t mean giving up luxury-car style. The Tundra is a handsome athlete.<\/p>\n

Mind you, it\u2019s no Ram 1500, which has all the truck boys drooling down at the rodeo. But its bold chrome grille, Midnight Black body armor and bling-tastic TRD off-road wheels demand respect.<\/p>\n

The big fella\u00a0has character, which is what\u00a0you want filling up your dream home garage. The interior is as comfortable as your den with leather thrones, leather-wrapped steering wheel and an\u00a0Entune Premium audio system pumping out your favorite tunes. My wife and her friends need a ladder to get into the rear seat, but once there, the short cab offers plenty of legroom (though I\u2019d prefer a Crew Cab with its palatial backseat room).<\/p>\n

The Tundra only pales in comparison to its Detroit competition, which is why the Toyota sold a mere 118,425 full-size pickups in 2018 compared to Ford (over 900,000), Chevy\/GMC (over 800,000), and Ram (537,000). I know, I know, the Toyota only sells light-duty trucks while the Detroit Three sell Heavy Dutys and Super Dutys and Mega Kong Colossal Duties.<\/p>\n

But the Tundra can\u2019t even outsell its midsize little brother. The Tacoma\u00a0more than doubled Tundra sales last year at 245,659. That\u2019s right, the same brand that gets young buyers hooked on reliable Corollas\/Camrys so that they buy five-door RAV4 SUVs when they have children can\u2019t translate 246,000 Tacoma customers to buy full-size Tundras.<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s tough in the full-size pickup rodeo.<\/p>\n

For one, the Tundra is long in the tooth compared to the Detroit megatrons. Its 381-horse V-8\u00a0and 6-speed transmission are a generation behind, say, the Chevy Silverado\u2019s 420-horse V-8 or Ford F-150\u2019s state-of-the-art 10-speed tranny.<\/p>\n

My Tundra\u2019s TRD package is tough as nails with Bilstein shocks. But the ride is a buckboard when on asphalt,\u00a0unlike the comparable Ram Rebel\u2019s comfy coil-spring rear setup. Throw the Tundra into a cloverleaf and \u2014\u00a0hold on, Bessy!<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 the numb steering and loose chassis make the lightweight Silverado feel like a Camaro by comparison.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Inside, the Tundra boasts nice wood and aluminum touches, but its dash, steering wheel and instrument layouts are antiquated next to the F-150\u2019s thoughtful architecture. The Toyota\u2019s clumsy automatic shifter feels stodgy. Even better are the Silverado and Ram with transmission solutions that open the center console to all kinds of mobile office space.<\/p>\n

Show me a pickup\u00a0and I\u2019ll show you a neighbor who wants to borrow it \u2014\u00a0Please? Just for the weekend so I can get some mulch?<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 but even here the Toyota can\u2019t innovate like the Detroit Three. It doesn\u2019t have corner steps like the Silverado,\u00a0MultiPro gate like the GMC Sierra or\u00a0a best-in-class tow rating like the Ford.<\/p>\n

What the Tundra does have\u00a0is good ol\u2019 Japanese value.<\/p>\n

The V-8 may not have the Chevy\u2019s low-end grunt, but the engine comes standard\u00a0starting at just $35,000. Lots of\u00a0trucks these days sport fuel-sippy four-bangers and V-6s, but a pickup and a V-8 go together like Thor and hammer.<\/p>\n

Electronics are fast blurring the difference between luxury and mainstream, and the Japanese makers are at the forefront of this trend. The $19,000\u00a0Toyota Corolla sedan is loaded with standard features like adaptive cruise-control, automatic high-beams\u00a0and lane-departure alert you can\u2019t get on many luxury cars north of $50,000.<\/p>\n

The Tundra comes equipped with this safety package at a price well below comparable Big Three competitors (though somehow Toyota hasn\u2019t figured out Android Auto yet). Even the Tundra\u2019s premium\u00a0TRD off-road package \u2014 which includes Bilstein shocks,\u00a0front tow hooks and floor mats \u2014 adds just $70 to the bottom line. Tesla floor mats cost $140, for goodness sake.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all very impressive, and Toyota throws in its usual bulletproof reliability. It was\u00a0the\u00a0only full-size truck to get a 9 (out of 10) mechanical Initial Quality Rating from JD Power last year.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s reassuring as you ride your chrome-studded truck down the ox-cart roads of north Oakland on the way to your dream home.<\/p>\n

Where Third World roads meet First World mansions, the Tundra pickup is an excellent bridge.<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch \u201cCar Radio with Henry Payne\u201d from noon-2 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.<\/em><\/p>\n

2019 Toyota Tundra<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear- or four-wheel drive, five-passenger pickup<\/p>\n

Price: $33,015 base, including $1,495\u00a0<\/strong>destination fee ($46,610 4×4 Limited Double Cab as tested)<\/p>\n

Powerplant: 4.6-liter V-8 (standard engine); 5.7-liter V-8<\/p>\n

Power: 310 horsepower, 327 pound-feet of torque (4.6-liter); 381\u00a0horsepower, 401 pound-feet of torque (5.7-liter)<\/p>\n

Transmission: 6-speed automatic<\/p>\n

Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.5 sec. (5.7L, Car and Driver); maximum towing, 9,900 pounds<\/p>\n

Weight: 5,530 pounds (as tested)<\/p>\n

Fuel economy: EPA: 15\u00a0city\/19\u00a0highway\/16\u00a0combined (4.6-liter\u00a0standard 4×2); 13 city\/17 highway\/14 combined (5.7-liter\u00a04×4 as tested)<\/p>\n

Report card<\/p>\n

Highs:\u00a0<\/strong>Standard features galore; Toyota tough<\/p>\n

Lows:Lacks refinement of Detroit Three competitors; V-8 a generation behind<\/p>\n

Overall: 3\u00a0stars<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2019 Toyota Tundra is a great tool for Metro Detroit’s rugged frontier roads. The American truck market is where rugged pickups meet refined luxury \u2014 pickups like 2019 Toyota Tundra that I tested\u00a0in Oakland Charter Township. Which is appropriate because the township north of The Palace in Auburn Hills is where rugged farm country […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23577\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}