When the interiors of the 2016 Toyota Tacoma was featured at the New York International Auto Show early this year, pickup truck enthusiasts were impressed with its car-like features and the great amount of technology that it has taken on for its infotainment system.
Everybody knows that in North America, a pickup truck is always an ideal work vehicle. Very seldom that it is being used as a city vehicle to go to work or do personal and official errands with.
Toyota already has the Tundra to compete with the big-name pickup truck makers in the full-size pickup truck category and the Tacoma is its bet in the mid-size segment, even though it is actually smaller compared to other entries of other carmakers in the category.
American have been so used to seeing today’s pickup trucks going bigger and meaner, but Toyota deviated from the norm by launching the 2016 Tacoma, some 10 years after it rolled out the last iteration of the brand in 2005.
But looks could be deceiving for the 2016 Toyota Tacoma as it is actually designed more for roughhousing than for work. With its features and capabilities, great technical specifications, and top-of-the-line engine performance, the 2016 Toyota Tacoma is the badass mid-size pickup truck that buyers did not know they wanted, describes Digital Trends.
An off-roader truck
The Japanese carmaker’s mission statement for the 2016 Tacoma was to make it one helluva of a mid-size pickup truck to complement its big brother, the Tundra.
It actually features the same fascia contours and hexagonal grille as the Tundra, but its overall package was inspired by the desert racing trucks that have to endure the rough and tumble of the barren wilderness.
With its high clearance and certainly beefy front end, the 2016 Toyota Tacoma can certainly take any off-road adventure that will be thrown its way.
The 2016 Toyota Tacoma comes in three variants – the SR, the Limited and the TRD – and based on their names alone, a pickup truck enthusiast would already know that those seeking the mud and dust of the off-road would certainly take the TRD model.
The TRD variant is exclusively powered by a new 3.5-liter engine that exudes up to 278 horsepower of maximum power and 265 pound-feet of maximum torque. Power is sent to either two or four wheels via a six-speed manual or automatic transmission.
Ninth generation model
The ninth-generation Tacoma comes with car-like features, new engine choices, and an upgraded and sophisticated interior that would surely keep it in the driver seat in the US pickup market for a long, long while.
The last time that the Japanese carmaker updated the Tacoma was way back in 2005 and the complexion of the pickup market has changed dramatically since then, notes Forbes.
At that time, the Tacoma was a pacesetter in the market that was once featured the likes of the Ford Ranger, the Mazda B-Series, the Mitsubishi Raider, the Chevrolet S10, the Isuzu Pickup, the Dodge Dakota, the Volkswagen Pickup, and many others.
These days, the major market players include the Chevrolet Colorado, the GMC Canyon, the Honda Ridgeline, and the Nissan Frontier. Even with its nearly 10 years of no upgrade, the Toyota Tacoma still account for 50% of the pickup sales in the US, which only indicates how the brand has endeared itself to American pickup truck enthusiasts.
While the 2016 Toyota Tacoma is coming with a lot of technologies for infotainment and safety purposes, the makeover of the revered pickup truck line from the Japanese carmaker has placed less emphasis on its work capability like towing capacity and payload, and more on amenities such as performance and appearance.