2015 Toyota Tacoma

2015 Toyota Tacoma

The Toyota Tacoma has weathered the storm as small pickup trucks have slowly vanished from the U.S. marketplace. GM has relaunched its Canyon and Colorado twins after a bye-year, and the Ford Ranger is only available in foreign markets now. However, Toyota has planted it roots with the Tacoma, and the brand has even moved its production to Texas, where the full-size Tundra is also built.

• Interior / Exterior »

This year, Toyota debuts the Tacoma TRD Pro Series, which beefs up the styling and capabilities of the brand’s most off-roadable small pickup. It wears extra black trim on the grille, wheels, and rear parts of the truck, intended to give the Tacoma a more menacing look, as it tackles the paths beyond the pavement with more grace than the rest of the lineup.

Inside, Toyota has toned down the matte-metallic onslaught of the outgoing model and blacked out the center-stack area, around audio and climate controls, leaving brightwork around the steering wheel and vents. Likewise, it’s thrown out the orange-red lighting and replaced it with a cool-blue backlit look, in line with what’s been introduced in other models. And on Access Cabs there’s a new rear-console storage box. The plastic trim’s been upgraded and in truth the Tacoma dash now has a better feel than the Frontier’s cockpit does, if not by a huge margin.

Toyota recently gave the Tacoma a sharper, more defined look in front, with headlamps wrapped into the grille in a new way, and with higher turn signals that stretch the shape of the grille out at the lower corners. It beefs up the Tacoma somewhat, but it doesn’t take much to look beyond the nose graft to see the compact proportions peeking out from behind that bulging front end. The offset, flared wheel wells and flared fender sheetmetal adds a hint of aggression or sportiness—brought out, especially, in its off-road trims—and the front end still bears a clear family resemblance with that of the full-size Tundra and Land Cruiser. Also, models with the TRD Sport Package get new side mirrors with integrated turn signals.

Otherwise, at least on the outside, the Tacoma continues its relatively traditional compact-truck design, with a little added flair, paired with the chunky, down-to-business look that nearly all Toyota trucks have had in recent years. Its fundamental design and styling are carried through mostly unchanged since this larger, nearly mid-size version of the Tacoma was introduced, for 2005.
Access Cab and Double Cab editions of the Tacoma are offered, with standard or long-bed (LB) lengths, with four- or six-cylinder engines, and they all have the same styling, albeit with different levels of stretch for the cab and bed.

• Performance »

The Tacoma is known for its off-road performance, and for good reason. Many of the models–including the PreRunner and TRD versions–are intended for the shopper who’d rather play in the mud, and this year’s new TRD Pro Series is the leader of that pack.

We’d steer you to the countless specialty publications for lengthy discussions of the Tacoma’s tuning and off-road capabilities; its four-wheel-drive hardware ranges from a simple locking center differential to highly specialized setups with increased ride heights, knobby off-road tires, special shocks, and skid plates to protect its transfer case. Its customization possibilities go well beyond the usual light off-roading you’ll find even in the SUV class–and if you’re shopping a Tacoma purely as a dirty weekend plaything, you’ve probably listed the options and features you have in mind already.

The Tacoma is less happy when it is on pavement, though, while the other remaining mid-size truck, the Nissan Frontier, fares much better.

Ride and handling tend to be low points for the Tacoma, which tends to be thrown off course by bumpy surfaces more than other trucks its size. You typically do trade off some ride comfort and nimbleness for heavy-hauling ability, but the ride can be jarring here, and maneuverability isn’t much better than that of a full-size truck. But the steering is a positive; it’s good and communicative.
Perhaps the best way to judge the Tacoma’s performance, since it’s not very impressive, is by towing and payload. The Tacoma’s payload is well into the 3/4-ton category, depending on the model, and its tow rating goes up to 6,500 pounds.
The basic Tacoma stocks a four-cylinder engine, and it’s seen by some as a substitute for a commuter car. Gas mileage isn’t wonderful, though, and in our view, the 159-horsepower, 2.7-liter four just doesn’t have enough refinement or fuel economy on tap to justify anything other than its very low base price. It’s also strapped to either a five-speed manual, which is fine, or a four-speed automatic with widely spaced gears, which is some of the reason fuel economy is relatively low.

With 236 horsepower and an even more noteworthy 266 pound-feet of torque, the 4.0-liter V-6 provides a completely different personality–with enough torque off the line to move the Tacoma quickly even when you have a heavy load. The five-speed manual transmission in either model shifts smoothly but has long throws; the five-speed automatic that’s standard on V-6 models is responsive, but the engine runs out of steam at highway speeds, turning in more ambient road noise than rapid acceleration once it’s cruising at 75 mph.

The Tacoma recently earned some much-needed audio-system improvements, with the standard system incorporating built-in Bluetooth hands-free connectivity, plus a USB/iPod port. The base system now has six speakers, and even that is satellite-radio capable. Also new to the Tacoma line is the Entune system, which packages navigation functions, text-to-voice capability, voice commands, HD Radio, Bluetooth audio streaming, and real-time traffic and weather, among other features.

Outside of these changes, the Tacoma’s model line largely has carried over for the past few years, offering a basic pickup package for those looking at the cheapest model, ranging all the way up to the specialized terrain-focused PreRunner model. The PreRunner adds a higher-riding suspension, locking rear differential, and other appearance cues. Also available is a TRD Off-Road Package that brings special badging, plus an off-road suspension with Bilstein dampers, fog lamps, and a transfer-case skid plate.
For 2015, Regular Cab models have been discontinued, and the TRD Pro Series debuts for hardcore off-roading enthusiasts.
The Tacoma’s looks haven’t changed much since a 2005 redesign. The grille’s a bit more pronounced, and the headlamps are tapered a bit more into a more amped-up front bumper. Elsewhere, it’s purely business, without the flair that the Frontier has. The Tacoma’s just more chunky, more disjointed, and behind the front pillars, more plain and traditional. In the cockpit, Toyota’s improved the texture and appearance of the plastic trim in recent years, and the Tacoma’s cabin gets the nod over the Frontier’s if only for that slightly elevated sense of quality, enhanced by the backlit gauges and touches of brightwork.

The base 159-horsepower, 2.7-liter four-cylinder can manage basic chores well enough, so long as you’re riding solo and not towing or hauling much. We’d choose the five-speed manual, and leave off the hefty four-wheel-drive system; the four-speed automatic’s gears are too widely spaced for quick acceleration or good fuel economy. The 4.0-liter V-6 on the preferred versions of the Tacoma has a completely different personality: it makes 236 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque, which is more than enough to hustle the Tacoma around quickly, even when you have a heavy load, though things get a little breathless past 75 mph or so on the interstate. The five-speed automatic that’s standard on V-6 models is a responsive gearbox, too.
It’s the Tacoma’s road manners that disappoint the most. Even among pickups, which typically trade off some ride comfort for heavy-hauling ability, the Tacoma feels numb and lifeless in urban environs. The ride is hard and choppy; on pockmarked city surfaces the tires simply lose contact with the road. Maneuverability in the Tacoma doesn’t seem any better than that of a full-size truck.
The best way to judge the Tacoma’s performance, since its street handling not very impressive, is by towing and payload and off-road capability. The Tacoma’s payload is well into the 3/4-ton category, depending on the model, and its tow rating goes up to 6,500 pounds. The Tacoma’s a beloved canvas for the off-road community, with everything from a basic four-wheel-drive system and a locking differential to skid plates, huge knobby tires, and off-road suspensions available from Toyota as a model or as an accessory.

Access Cab and Double Cab editions of the Tacoma are offered, with standard or long-bed (LB) lengths, with four- or six-cylinder engines, and they all have the same styling, albeit with different levels of stretch for the cab and bed. As for interior comfort, it’s all relative. Compared with full-size trucks, the Tacoma disappoints for interior roominess and seating comfort, but compared with other mid-sizers like the Nissan Frontier it’s competitive. That said, even though Double Cab versions have the space for four adults (two kids in back for Access Cabs, which have smaller back doors and seating), the rather skimpy, short and flat seats in front won’t win you over for longer trips
Photo Gallery: Toyota USA

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