Earlier today, David published a ridiculously detailed review about how the new Tacoma is just about everything you expected it to be. We’re talking about a truck with a roomy cab, great off-roading capability, and even the manual transmission sticks around. Here, just take this quote from the man himself:
The new Tacoma didn’t mess with a good thing. The off-road capability is still there, the functionality is still there, it’s just that now there’s a beefier frame, a small and more efficient turbocharged engine, a better transmission, a torquier engine, a fresh new interior, and a new rear suspension. It fixes people’s concerns about seating position, it addresses concerns about that old anemic powertrain, it will hopefully address the fuel economy concerns, and I bet it will continue being capable and reliable.
In the context of Toyota Tacoma steps, this is a huge one forward.
While fans couldn’t get enough delicious Tacos, there was still a pretty big question hanging out there. What’s up with that huge chin? People were even noting it back when I first saw the truck in Hawai’i in May. Thankfully, the dam is pretty easy to move. I highly recommend you read David’s explanation on why the dam got so huge, but the gist of it is that Toyota’s engineers sought to fix the Tacoma’s weird seating position, which caused a chain reaction:
“We wanted to address some of the foibles of the outgoing truck, one of those was the seating position — we wanted to raise the heel-to-hip, but we also wanted to make sure we had good head clearance. So we’ve actually grown the cabin slightly… also treadwidth extension… while door-to-door [distance] stays the same…with the overfenders the vehicle has gotten a bit wider. As a result of that, our effective area has become greater.”
The dam tries its best to help minimize drag. Anyway, there’s a lot of math and engineering in David’s article, but Professor Chorls isn’t convinced it was all needed. In response to the above explanation, Professor Chorls says:
That’s a lotta science words for “we meke truc bigge”
This was a common and fun theme among the comments, with Canopysaurus chiming in with a set of unclear directions:
Engineer:: We’ve got a problem.
Designer: Yeah?
Engineer: Yes. That great new cab you designed for better seating increases frontal area, which increases drag and impacts performance and economy. See?
Designer: (scrutinizing engineer’s notes) Hmm … well, damn it all!
Engineer: Um, OK.
We also noticed this lovely compliment from Tybalt:
I am not the target audience of the Toyota Tacoma. But I read, with rapt attention, an article about the Tacoma’s air dam. If that’s not a testament to David Tracy’s writing and the Autopian’s nerdish obsessiveness over seemingly minute vehicular details (ahem, Torch’s taillights), I don’t know what is. Stuff like this is why a membership is worth your hard-earned money.
Keep up the great work y’all.
David thanks you, Tybalt! We love writing up goofy deep dives for all of you to enjoy. Have a great evening, everyone!
I thought trucks were high for “ground clearance on job sites”
My GTI has that much ground clearance and parks next to F150s at work. Sometimes we even bring lunch to work
I hope they don’t ship them with yellow transport guards. I’ve had enough of that.
You want the purple ones, these add at least 5HP to the wheels (Fiat changed those from yellow to purple to make their dealers take them off during for sale preparation but they cannot be bothered)
’24 Tacoma owners can now make extra cash by lowering their front tire pressure and snow plowing roads!
They really missed an opportunity.
We all know the most important feature in truck design is BIG WORDS. This needs to have TOYOTA or TACOMA printed on it. Perhaps they can do so as a shipping protector and dopes will take a shine to it and leave it on.
It’s just a dam shame.
I think they should lean into it. You know what the Tacomas really need? Those yellow shipping guard things from the Charger/Challengers.
/s
I am having trouble with scale, is this truck now the size of a Tacoma? It looks bulky.
The Tacoma is the size of a Tacoma. Perhaps you are thinking of the Tundra?
This just in: the new Tacoma has grown to nearly the size of a Tacoma! What happened to mid-size trucks like the Tacoma?
You know, this is what I was thinking, Tundra.
The Tacoma’s air dam would’ve been a great candidate for a large scale commercial application of one of the ultra black automotive paints that made the rounds a few years back. It would then virtually disappear beneath the front bumper.
https://www.motor1.com/news/596393/porsche-911-musou-black-paint/
I’d rent out the air dam as advertising space. People could see it in their rear view or oncoming traffic would see it. Rent it to one of those law firms you hear on the radio all the time, or good old JG Wentworth.
Actually a cool idea, treat it like the sun shade stickers on race cars.
I expect a few to be rolling around with SPEEDHUNTERS on the “chin spoiler”
Or go the other way, put yellow scrape protectors around the bottom of the thing and call it a Tacoma Hellcat.
Oh no I did not expect for this to happen
(Rips the dam thing out!)
Plastic rivets fly everywhere.
(Increases approach angle.)
(Sits in big ass expensive truck in mall parking lot)
(Crying to myself in the silence of the cab)
This is a joke right?
(nope, people care about this)
Oh bother!
Especially configured to get quickly deleted by the owner one way or another.
DAAAAAMMMMMMMM.
If Autopian hadn’t written an article about it, I would have never noticed that chin. Instead, that is precisely what I’ll be saying ever time I see one from now on.
For all I know, the F-150 has something similar, but nobody’s ever noticed b/c nobody expects anyone to go offroad in one.
Yeah, funny how that works. Not a truck guy, but enjoyed the article and very much the comments, so the new taco will join the Lexus Predator Face & BMW Beaver as something I’ll be actively looking for: the Toyota 3 Gorges Redux
It’s like the first generation Genesis Coupe’s penis shaped windows.
God dammit. Thanks for adding that to the list.
I still can’t unsee the last gen Accord’s Swingline stapler taillights, now this.
I just googled this a WOW. Wang-dows.
dammit
The Jay Leno truck.