{"id":27244,"date":"2021-04-21T12:26:52","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T16:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=27244"},"modified":"2021-04-22T12:28:08","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T16:28:08","slug":"payne-rugged-toyota-tundra-trd-pro-likes-to-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/payne-rugged-toyota-tundra-trd-pro-likes-to-play","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Rugged Toyota Tundra TRD Pro likes to play"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mt. Morris\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Rural Michigan is pickup country. Huge Ford F-250s towing equipment. Laden Silverados hustling to service jobs. Gorgeous Ram trucks prowling construction sites. And macho pickups of all stripes with big tires, menacing hood scoops\u00a0and lifted suspensions eager to go beyond where the asphalt ends.<\/p>\n

Despite its rare Toyota badge\u00a0my hulking, 2021 Tundra TRD Pro tester fits rights in.<\/p>\n

Sitting atop 32-inch Michelin all-terrain tires, Fox off-road shocks\u00a0and 11 inches of ground clearance, the Lunar Rock-painted behemoth bristles with hood scoops and tow hooks. This is not your father\u2019s Camry, but a serious\u00a0bark-chewing beast.<\/p>\n

\"2021<\/p>\n
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Think of Toyota as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Japanese automaker has built a reputation as a dependable daily driver (backed up by years of JD Power reliability MVP awards) and a weekend track warrior. Its Toyota Racing Development (TRD) shop has climbed podiums at the highest echelons of motorsports from NASCAR to Formula One. That resume includes winning the Baja 1000, North America\u2019s premier off-road competition.<\/p>\n

Beginning in 1998, the TRD badge started to show up on the Tacoma (Taco, as it\u2019s known to its legion of fans) as a rough-and-ready off-roader. While the Detroit Three dominated full-size pickups, Taco owned the midsize segment with its Mr. Hyde TRD variants leading the way.<\/p>\n

Tundra followed with its own TRD features but has lived in Taco\u2019s shadow \u2014 its sales just half that of little brother (much less anywhere close to the Detroit Three). But Tundra upped its game in 2015. It grew a comprehensive TRD Pro package (like Taco) with serious suspension and skid plate mods. It even brought back a Baja 1000 trophy in the Pro Stock class to make little brother proud.<\/p>\n

Tundra? My TRD Pro tester is Tund-raw.<\/p>\n

\"Where<\/p>\n
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Somewhere between Southview Farm and the Irish Road Canoe kayak launch, I turned off Mt. Morris Road into The Mounds Off-Road Vehicle Park. The Mounds is 200 acres of dirt, sand and bog. It\u2019s a place where dirt bikers, ATV owners\u00a0and Jeepsters can let out their inner child.<\/p>\n

And where Tundra lets out Mr. Hyde.<\/p>\n

I shifted to Neutral and turned the transfer-case dial from \u201c2WD\u201d to \u201c4WD.\u201d Then I held the traction control button to turn off the nannies. When I say \u201cheld\u201d I mean \u201cheld for a loooong time.\u201d This is a Toyota, after all, and the nannies don\u2019t retreat easily.<\/p>\n

Once unleashed, TRD Pro had a blast. ROOOAARR! I nailed the throttle and the 381-horse, 5.7-liter V-8 bellowed, the rear end slewing sideways through muddy bends. With the Fox shocks allowing extended suspension travel, Tundra bounded over a sandbox of moguls like an oversized puppy.<\/p>\n

WHUMP! It\u2019s easy to get too excited, and the enormous front skid plate is there for when the suspension travel runs out and the truck\u2019s belly slaps a mogul.<\/p>\n

The Mounds\u2019 tight confines are, frankly, more suited for midsizers like the Tacoma, but it would be impressed by how big bro did.<\/p>\n

\"King<\/p>\n
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My friend Scott, who bleeds Ford blue, was impressed, too. Walking around the TRD Pro back in Oakland County, he liked the menacing, black front grille and hood scoops (OK, so the scoops are fake). The big back-seat room. The lifted suspension.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo running boards for better off-road clearance. Nice.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The TRD Pro trim is key to giving the Tundra personality. It\u2019s also key to keeping the Tundra relevant in the full-size truck market.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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The Texas-built truck sits on old bones. In today\u2019s high-tech truck world of big Ram\u00a0screens and digital Ford F-150s, the interior of the Tundra is a generation behind. The instrument display is simple. The chassis competent. The 8-inch console touchscreen devoid of fancy graphics or wireless Apple CarPlay.<\/p>\n

On the road back down I-75 to Metro Detroit from The Mounds, the rear end fluttered over road seams. Inside, the cabin lacks the noise insulation of today\u2019s more refined Detroit trucks. But in its simplicity, truck lovers will find comfort.<\/p>\n