CAR GAZING
Toyota takes on the big boys
New Tundra has the size, power to compete with Detroit iron
By Derek Price
For decades, truck buyers have had three basic choices: Ford, Dodge or Chevy.
The Nissan Titan changed that four years ago, but many diehard buyers treated it like it like a herpes-infected Taiwanese transvestite. They didn't want anything to do with a Nissan, instead staying faithful to the American brands that their dads and granddads taught them were safer bets.
Now Toyota has entered the full-size truck market for real – no longer with a halfhearted, almost-enough truck –- and has to convince the farmers and ranchers of America that their foreign nameplate isn't carrying a virus.
The result is a huge, powerful, all-new Tundra built, of all places, in San Antonio.
And after a week behind the wheel, I've discovered this is the truck Detroit sees in its nightmares.
For starters, it's no longer a 9/10ths truck. It's 11/10ths, big and bad enough to fit right in with the heaviest, brawniest pieces of pig iron Detroit can crank out. Park it at a country feed store or Western wear emporium and it blends in with everything in the parking lot, no longer looking like a Hot Wheels toy when compared with the Fords, Chevys and Dodges that surround it.
It's also powerful, at least with the 5.7-liter iForce V8 engine. It not only outmuscles its competitors with 381 horsepower, but it does so with better response than any other truck, like a ballet dancer compared to a hippo. Tap on the gas, and the whole truck responds instantly, effortlessly, like it's made of styrofoam instead of steel.
At the same time, it's a steely truck. It can tow up to 10,800 pounds and comes in a wide variety of body styles and configurations, unlike the more limited Titan. Depending on what you'll use it for, you can opt for a V6 engine or two different V8s, a single cab, double cab or gigantic CrewMax cab, several lengths for the cargo bed, and different gear ratios to aid towing, acceleration or gas mileage.
It's surprisingly refined for a truck, too, with a quieter, smoother ride than most of its competitors. That's also a strange contradiction for this truck, which on one hand wants to be a rough-and-ready work vehicle for farmers, ranchers and oil companies, but it also has a luxurious side.
Take the CrewMax configuration. Not only does the back seat have limo-like legroom, but the seat back can actually recline. Space-wise, it's like riding in a Rolls Royce.
It does have a few weaknesses though, including how it hasn't been around long enough to know whether it will stand up to the work many truck buyers demand. Toyota is known for making small, fuel-efficient cars, and the demands of hauling heavy trailers and loads of rocks might be a learning experience.
It also doesn't offer any heavy-duty models like the domestic trucks. You can't get it with a diesel engine.
Worst of all, Toyota isn't a brand truck drivers are used to buying. In a market where some buyers say, "My grandpa drove a Ford. My daddy drove a Ford, and I'm gonna drive a Ford 'til I die," it's tough for any other brands to gain a foothold.
That puts Toyota in a quandary. It knows how to make a great truck – better than the domestics in some respects – but will people buy it? Or will they treat it like it's carrying the black plague?
Only time will tell.
(Derek Price is a newspaper editor and freelance writer living in Texas.)
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