NWCN / Toyota

The all new Toyota Tundra

I learned to drive in a pickup truck.  My father was wise to buy my brother Mike and I an old Ford, figuring his high school age boys would beat the hell out of any thing they drove.  We did our best to prove him right.  

With its first tour of duty in the U.S. Forrest Service, the pale green paint gave our truck the look of a seasick manatee.  We drove it hard and hauled everything from firewood to sheetrock to band equipment.  It lasted five years in our hands but the memories will last a lifetime.  We sold it for more than Dad paid for it, even with the additional dents.  

This story is not uncommon.  Trucks are woven into the very fabric of America.  The auto industry is happy to encourage this romance because these vehicles are very profitable for them.  Toyota has long looked at this love affair with envy.  Doing business in America for 50 years now, they’ve snagged a lot of market share.  But the full sized pickup market has been elusive.  

Now on its third try, Toyota thinks they have the complex full-sized truck market nailed with the much anticipated 2007 Toyota Tundra.  The most hyped pickup truck introduction of the young century is now officially on.   To show it off, Toyota has brought automotive writers to California’s Alisal Guest Ranch.  A quick look around finds only well worn Chevys at work here.  It proves a sobering reminder.  

Toyota knows the pickup market is a tangled and complex web.  Some buyers simply require basic work vehicles.   Others demand features so luxurious, Cadillac and Lincoln have entered the game.  There are by-the-numbers fleet buyers and fierce brand loyalists.  Today, the pick ‘em up truck serves a huge spectrum of Americans.    

The new Tundra is bigger and more capable in every way than the outgoing model it replaces.  In short, its dimensions now effectively match the domestics and Nissan’s Titan.  This no-excuses machine can haul and tow with the best of them.  But that’s not the whole story here.  This Japanese brand is going all out to make Tundra an American truck.  Dealers are on board to sell and service in a new way.  Toyota is not fooling around here.  Clearly they want market share. 

But first let’s talk about the truck itself.  There’s a lot of detail so grab a cup of coffee and hunker down for a read. 

Toyota’s famously cautious styling gives way to sheetmetal that’s trying pretty hard to prove truck toughness.  At the same time there’s a soft feminine streak, especially in the slightly sculpted rear fenders.  The green house has the currently fashionable high belt line.  A forward canted rear window is its signature.   I find the strong trapezoidal grille the most appealing part of the design. 

There are three cab styles.  The Regular Cab has lots of tool room behind the single seat.  That space has a plastic floor for wet stuff to be stored.   The larger Double Cab with four rear hinged doors has space for cargo or the sheetrock crew in back.  The rear seat splits and folds up off the floor for good flexibility.  These two models are available with a either a standard 78.7-inch bed or 97.6-inch long bed. 

Then there’s the huge CrewMax.  It has limo like legroom and seats that split, fold and slide every which way from Sunday.  The shortest bed of 66.7 inches is mandatory in the CrewMax.  All Tundra tailgates have an assist feature that make opening and closing easy.  Supposedly there’s a damping feature to reduce rattling when driving with the tailgate open.  I don’t notice much of a difference.   

The frame is a steel ladder design with fully boxed rails for the front half and C-channel members the rest of the way back. Wheelbases range from 126.8 inches (Standard Cab with short bed) to 164.6 (Double Cab with long bed).  The front suspension gets double A-arms and coil springs on both rear-drive and 4x4 models.  The rear suspension is a solid axle on leaf springs. 

Standard beefy anti-lock disc brakes on all wheels feature electronic brake-force distribution and electronic brake assist.  This means peace of mind during emergency braking with a load of lumber aboard. 

Tundra is available with three engines.  The base powerplant is a 4.0-liter V-6 with aluminum block and variable valve timing.  It makes 236 horsepower at 5200 rpm and 266 lbs-ft of torque at 4000 rpm.  

Next up is an iron block 4.7-liter V-8 with DOHC, 32-valves, and aluminum heads. It’s rated at 271 horsepower at 5400 rpm and 313 lbs.-ft of torque at 3400 rpm.  These two engines are paired to a five-speed automatic transmission. 

Built for power not fuel economy, the largest of Tundra’s three engines is the iForce 5.7.  Trucksters, start licking your chops.  This 381 horse V8 makes 401 lbs-ft of peak torque at 3600 rpm.  It features cast-in iron cylinder liners, dual overhead cams, 32 valves and VVT-I variable valve timing on intake and exhaust valves.  Once driven, you won’t be surprised to learn that it’s based on the same powerplant found under the hood of a Lexus LS460.  A bonus- the 5.7 gets a six-speed automatic. 

There are three trim levels- DX, SR5 and Limited.  Choose between rear-drive and 4X4 with shift-on-the-fly capability and high and low ranges.  Tow Package models upgrade the cooling and electrical systems.   It also adds an automatic transmission warmer and power steering fluid cooler.  

I mainly drove a Double Cab Limited with the 5.7 V8 on both paved and dirt roads.  Acceleration is effortless with a buttery smooth power delivery from both engine and transmission.  Ride quality is on par with today’s modern pickups, meaning it’s pretty comfortable but hardly car-like.   Tundra is very drivable in that it doesn’t feel like a huge truck.  It simply feels large.  Only the Silverado and Sierra drive more nimbly. 

Theoretically, these vehicles will be called on to do some heavy work.  Payloads range from 1,400 to 2,060 pounds.   Towing Package equipped rigs have outside mirrors that pull outward to improve rearward view.  V6 models can tow up to 5,000 lbs.  Tundras with the 5.7 V-8s are rated to pull at least 10,100 pounds (with a max of 10,800 with a 4X2 Regular Cab model).   I seldom seen this kind of hauling being performed but these are trucks and trucks need bragging rights.  

An optional tailgate mounted camera and dash display helps solo drivers to line up the tow hitch.  You don’t need to buy the nav system to get it either.  It only works in reverse though.  My tester’s screen goes blank whenever the truck is placed in drive.  I’d prefer to lock the camera as I feebly hunt forward and back to hitch up. 

The starship cockpit design of the dashboard swoops around to surround the driver.  The gauges are set very deep, almost to the point of distraction.  It’s similar to the Pontiac Solstice’s dash.  Overall, it’s a pretty broad expanse of silver plastic broken up by a black center stack.   It appears more sports car than tough truck. 

The control layout is straight forward and Toyota boasts everything is easy to operate while wearing work gloves.  They also claim that the standard climate control is very quick to heat and cool its occupants.    

These are preproduction vehicles so build quality judging won’t happen in this writing.   The exteriors all look great.  I’m assuming some of the rough plastic interior edges in the cabin will be smoothed off and naked metal seat anchors will get plastic covers.   

There are loads of storage cubbyholes. The large center console becomes a place for hanging folder files when the divided bin is removed.  The overhead console has multiple nooks.    A dual level glove box includes a spot that’s just right for a Thermos in the upper half.  Time to re-fill that coffee cup. 

The blizzard of specs and statistics thrown at us by Toyota show that Tundra is now on par with the competition.  But trucks are more than that.  Good dealerships have built strong relationships with the farmers, ranchers and construction firms that depend on these machines.  And let’s not forget brand loyalty.  There are a lot of Calvin stickers riding shotgun on rear windows.  He’s not peeing on competitors logos because owners are wishy washy about the brand they’re driving. 

Toyota is not ignoring any of that by any stretch of the imagination.  In fact the story on how they intend to market Tundra is as big if not bigger than the truck itself.  Certainly you expect an advertising onslaught second to non in the coming months.  Get ready to see them align themselves with ESPN’s Monday Night Football, NASCAR, country music events and fishing tournaments. They are treating the launch of this truck similarly to a new brand, much like Lexus and Scion.  If they could position this truck as a running mate to a presidential candidate, they would.  

On top of that, dealers have been getting ready for Tundra by enlarging their service bays to accommodate trucks with ladder racks on them.  They’ll also have beefy truck components to show off to potential buyers who think these rigs might somehow not be capable enough.   On top of that, there will be traveling road shows called the “Prove It” tour that will show up at county fairs and 84 Lumber stores.    

But the brilliant masterstroke is a new assembly plant in San Antonio, Texas.   Toyota is on a full-court press to establish themselves as an American brand.  What can be more ‘merican than a pickup from Texas.  It certainly advertises better than “built Tokyo tough”.  This plant alone can produce 200,000 units a year.  And remember there’s the original factory churning them out in Princeton, Indiana.  

There’s no doubt Toyota will increase sales.  If you’re into keeping score, here are some figures to chew on- In 2006, Ford sold 796,039 F Series trucks.  GM’s Chevy and GMC?  A combined 903,881.  Toyota is a distant fourth with 124,508 Tundras.  That means third place goes to Dodge with 364,177 Rams herded off the lot.   Check back next year, it proves to be a knock-down drag ‘em out fight. 

So, winding down this long and detailed look, let’s summarize.  Toyota has built a pickup that needs no excuses.  The strong points?  The iForce 5.7 V8 is terrific and Toyota has an excellent reputation.  Weaknesses?  I’m lukewarm on the dash design and materials plus the full sized dimensions and power threaten to strip Toyota of some of their green image.  And then there are those Calvin stickers…  

Tundra drives well and has a range of engine, bed and cab choices that fit more buyers than before.  They have primed their dealers properly.  A bottomless pit of money is being tapped for what Toyota will advertise as their most American product to date.  This all but guarantees that their market share will rise.  The only question is by how much. 

But unlike the domestic’s performance in the car market, their truck sides have been well tended to.  GM, Ford and Dodge (plus Nissan to a lesser degree) have very competitive products and dealer networks.  The new Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks are formidable competitors.  Ford is on record that they will protect their turf.   It will be interesting to see what part brand loyalty plays in the years to come.  Let the truck wars begin.