After 14 years, the US gets an all-new Toyota Tundra.
Malaysia is a complete stranger to the full-sized pick-up truck. Our roads are just not suited to this size of vehicle. Americans, however, love these things. And one of the best selling vehicles in this segment for many years has been the Toyota Tundra. The second generation Toyota Tundra has been on sale since 2007 in the US market. After 14 years, Toyota have finally given the nameplate a complete do-over. This third generation Toyota Tundra is expected to continue the tradition of highly reliable and capable pick-ups in the market.
The new Tundra was redesigned from the ground up in the USA and assembled at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas plant in San Antonio. It features a high-strength boxed, steel ladder frame with aluminium reinforced composite bed and an all-new multi-link rear suspension. This is the first time the Tundra is being offered without leaf spring rear suspension, but the new setup has a 17.6% higher maximum towing capacity of 5443kg and 11% higher maximum payload capacity of 880kg.
By switching to multi-link rear suspension, Toyota have improved roll damping, towing performance, lateral rigidity, and improved dynamics and comfort too. Optional air suspension gives further flexibility with automatic and manual levelling for better clearance off road.
They’re offering a twin turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine with 389hp and 649Nm of torque. There’s a hybrid option called i-FORCE MAX which adds a bell-housing-mounted electric motor to the system and brings combined output numbers up to 437hp and 790Nm of torque. Regardless of which setup customers go for, the Toyota Tundra gets a new 10-speed conventional automatic transmission.
We know pick-up trucks have become relatively liveable machines, with loads of features and creature comforts. But in the US, Toyota have gone many steps further. The 3rd generation Toyota Tundra gets a panoramic roof, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a rear sunshade, and even a gigantic 14″ touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple Carplay available!
Body types include 2 different four door layouts and bed lengths ranging from 5.5 feet, to 6.5 feet to 8.1 feet. The truck bed uses a new Sheet-Molded Compound construction and reinforcing aluminium cross members in the bed. It’s a tougher bed than traditional steel ones, yet parts of it, like the tailgate, are lighter. The tailgate also gets remote release through the key fob as standard.
Toyota Tundra TRD Pro
There’s also a TRD Pro tuned version of the new Toyota Tundra which has even better suspension. These get 2.5″ FOX internal bypass shocks which provide 1.1″ of lift at the front. These shocks feature piggyback reservoirs for additional oil for improved off-road performance. oikytetraflourethyline-infused shock fluid reduces friction and improves off-road ability further.
The TRD Pro models also come with a front stabilizer bar, red-painted suspension parts, a TRD aluminiuym front skid plate, unique Falken tyres with an all-terrain tread pattern as well as additional underbody protection.
