Already the Toyota Tundra is suffering through a mid-life crisis. Introduced
as a 2000 model, the Tundra was supposed to make up for the T-100—Toyota’s
less than impressive stab at the American fullsize pickup market in the
early ‘90s. The T-100 was generally considered a four-fifths-scale
pickup and came with just a V6.
Then the V8-powered Tundra appeared at the start of the millennium, but
it’s been criticized as being a nine-tenths-scale pickup. It is
a little smaller than others and the Access Cab model is handicapped by
a rear seat that’s torturous on adult backsides. But the Tundra
has intimate qualities that make it delightful personal pickup and separate
it from the rest of the pack that tries to outsize and out-tow each other
every year. The Tundra seems to rise above the fracas and concentrate
on offering a well-groomed pickup that showcases what Toyota does best.
Toyota sells
every Tundra that rolls out of the Princeton, Indiana, assembly plant,
mostly to Tacoma owners stepping up or Lexus owners who need a pickup
for weekend recreation. But now Toyota is feeling insecure standing next
to the fullsize trucks from Detroit and Nissan’s massive Titan.
The company has given the Tundra its own shot of natural cab enhancement
with the release of the Double Cab. Toyota is also bulking up its image
by racing against the Big 3 in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series,
and doing quite well.
There’s no doubt that Toyota was afraid to step on Detroit’s
toes when it developed the T-100. But now Toyota—as a corporation—makes
more money than GM and Ford combined and is second only to GM in global
sales. Toyota continues to pick up market share every year and will no
longer be considered simply as an auto importer. Toyota already has four
North American assembly plants and will be opening a new truck plant in
San Antonio to build the next-generation 2006 Tundra. Combined with its
Indiana truck plant, Toyota will have twice the current Tundra capacity.
Toyota must be thinking about conquest sales and picking up owners from
the Big 3. To accomplish that feat, Toyota feels it has to start building
bigger trucks. And the Double Cab is a hint of such a direction.
We took delivery
of two Double Cabs for testing: a 4x2 with the Limited trim and a 4x4
with the SR5 trim. The Double Cab SR5 comes standard with a 4.7-liter
V8, 4-speed automatic transmission, anti-lock brakes, CD player with six
speakers, cloth-faced seating, power vertical-sliding rear window and
power windows/locks. Our test vehicle added a DVD player for rear seat
passengers, upgraded 8-speaker sound system, TRD Off-Road package, anti-theft
system, carpet floor mats, towing package and bedliner. Total MSRP was
$34,057.
The Limited
package adds a JBL sound system with eight speakers, power mirrors, 17-inch
wheels, color-keyed grille and bumpers and power-adjustable driver’s
seat. Our tester was enhanced with a DVD player, heated leather seats,
power moonroof, bedliner and tow package. Total MSRP was $35,257.
The towing
package includes a Class IV tow hitch, 7-pin connector with converter,
130-amp alternator and supplemental transmission oil cooler. The TRD Off-Road
package includes Bilstein shock absorbers, P265/70R16 BFGoodrich tires
and color-keyed fender flares. There is one other option available on
both the SR5 and Limited that was not on either of our test vehicles but
should be considered when ordering a Tundra, especially for driving over
hazardous road conditions. Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) with Traction
Control (TRAC) helps reduce vehicle skids by using the traction control
and anti-lock brake systems together. The sophisticated electronics will
even cut engine power under certain situations to assist the driver regain
control.
Toyota didn’t
shrink the cargo bed to accommodate the extra cab length; instead, the
wheelbase was stretched from 128.3 inches on the Access Cab to 140.6 inches
so the bed could remain at about 74 inches long. This strategy differs
from the Ford SuperCrew, new Chevy Silverado Crew Cab and Nissan Titan
Crew Cab, which have shorter beds in the 67- to 68-inch range. And Toyota
didn’t just maintain the bed length; it also deepened the cargo
area to 20.7 inches, which is nearly four inches deeper than other Tundra
models.
