2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road review: A properly rugged midsize truck

For 16 years, the Toyota Tacoma has sat atop the midsize pickup truck revenue charts thanks in portion to its sterling popularity and outstanding resale worth. Even as the midsize truck class has grown in new years to to include things like a reborn Ford Ranger and new Jeep Gladiator, the Toyota continues to rule the roost with a Tacoma lineup that encompasses additional than 30 configurations all giving good looks, a great deal of utility and good on- and off-highway capabilities. And right after shelling out a 7 days with what is now a six-yr-outdated truck, I’m reminded once again of all the points that add to the Tacoma’s long lasting appeal. 

Rugged looks

Even nevertheless the present-day-generation Tacoma is acquiring outdated, it really is even now an desirable rig. The blockier looks are even additional beefed up on my TRD Off-Highway tester with a extremely awesome Military Environmentally friendly paint job and contrasting black fender trim. Throw in slick 16-inch wheels wrapped in meaty Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Journey tires, black tube methods and TRD skid plates, and this truck looks additional than ready to play in the grime.

Inside the Taco, the squared-off sprint continues the rugged style and design topic, and a great deal of the cabin is constructed from acres of tough, nicely grained plastics that are quick to clean and should really glimpse good for years to come. Don’t fret, it really is not all tough plastic all the time, with key touchpoints like the steering wheel and change knob wrapped in leather and armrests coated in padded vinyl. The entrance seat cushions are agency and their nominal bolstering enables them to accommodate a variety of body styles.

As a shorter five-foot, six-inch person, I have zero challenges with house or discovering a cozy seating situation powering the Tacoma’s wheel, nevertheless, I can see why my taller co-employees have had problems right here. You will find not a ton of headroom in possibly row and rear legroom in my Double Cab tester just isn’t palatial. Once again, if four or 5 Jon Wongs require to go someplace, they will be great. 4 or 5 Craig Coles or Andrew Kroks, nevertheless, is going to be a unique and considerably less cozy story.

Storage house is admirable with significant door pockets, middle console cubbies, a respectable-sized middle armrest console, mammoth glove box compartment and a pair of hidden bins under the rear seat’s lower cushions. Of study course, there is the five-foot-extended mattress out again, equipped with a molded liner and tie-down bedrail that’ll surely come in handy for residence advancement source or flat pack home furnishings runs.

Ample tech

Most Tacoma products characteristic an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment program. Foundation Tacoma SR products are the only kinds that will not have this display and as a substitute get a 7-inch unit, whilst goodies these types of as Apple CarPlay, Android Car and Amazon Alexa are lastly standard across the board. In addition, my tester comes with a JBL audio set up, navigation, Wi-Fi hotspot and Bluetooth.

The TRD Off-Road’s eight-inch touchscreen does just take a recognizable 2nd to switch among menu screens and work out navigation routes. The menu layouts on their own are straightforward to do the job by, but significantly from visually riveting. My favorite part of the program is that Toyota maintains the physical shortcut buttons that flank both equally sides of the display to quickly get to the most applied menus like the residence, audio and map screens.

To juice up any wise gadgets, the TRD Off-Highway has a twelve-volt outlet and wireless demand pad at the foundation of the middle console, whilst there are USB-A and USB-C ports in the middle armrest. Sadly, backseat travellers will not have any electric power ports within quick attain.

On the safety tech entrance, the Toyota Security Sense suite of capabilities is standard challenge on all Tacomas. That includes automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise command, lane-departure warning and car higher beams. Blind-location monitoring and rear cross-targeted traffic alerts are out there as selections and set up on my TRD Off-Highway.

Rides like a truck

Toyota delivers two engines in the Tacoma, with a foundation 2.7-liter I4 churning out 159 horsepower and 180 pound-toes of torque providing satisfactory electric power. The TRD Off-Highway and other better trims come with a three.five-liter V6 creating 278 hp and 265 lb-ft. The V6 delivers ample grunt off the line but feels the most energetic from around three,five hundred rpm on up, creating quick sufficient do the job of expressway merging and passing. And when it really is time to do genuine do the job, my exam truck can pull up to six,400 kilos with a payload score of one,one hundred fifty five kilos.

Traditionalists will be delighted to know that Tacomas can be had with a six-pace manual transmission, but my tester is outfitted with an optional six-pace automated that aids return a significantly-from-amazing EPA-estimated 18 mpg in the city and 22 mpg on the highway. In genuine earth testing, I noticed 19 mpg.

For the most portion, the gearbox returns fluid, brief-sufficient and well-timed shifts fitting for a pickup. Nonetheless, at times a rogue, clunky downshift transpires when slowing down and acquiring again on the throttle in advance of coming to a entire quit.

The spotlight to the Tacoma TRD Off-Highway is all the components to make it cope with better, well, off-highway. That checklist includes portion-time four-wheel-travel (two-wheel-travel is also out there), a locking rear differential, specially tuned suspension with Bilstein shocks, Goodyear tires, hill-start guide and Crawl Regulate which is in essence reduced-pace off-highway cruise command to let motorists target on steering by rock road blocks. 

Sadly, the extent of my off-roading involves rolling on unpaved a lot, but I can say that it just isn’t 50 {36a394957233d72e39ae9c6059652940c987f134ee85c6741bc5f1e7246491e6} terrible on highway. Sure, points get choppy in excess of bumps in advance of the body recovers and about corners the Tacoma does not noticeably flop about. The steering is direct (for a truck), the brakes are sturdy and grabby at very first and there is some tire noise to discuss off, but all instructed, the Tacoma is  fully reasonable for every day drives. If on-highway ride good quality is a leading precedence, maybe will not acquire the TRD Off-Highway trim. Or maybe go acquire a Honda Ridgeline as a substitute.

How I would spec it

As a great deal as I appreciate the looks of the Tacoma TRD Professional and the awesome factor of knowing it can go pretty much any where off highway, the $forty five,000 foundation selling price tag hooked up to the king-of-the-hill product is steep. As an alternative, I would stick with an Military Environmentally friendly TRD Off-Highway Double Cab with four-wheel travel and a five-foot mattress like my exam truck. I would even continue to keep the automated transmission considering the fact that it’d be a every day driver, with a selling price that starts off at $38,705 such as spot. 

From there, I’ll toss on a $2,790 Premium Audio and Navigation offer that also includes the Technology Bundle for have to-haves these types of as blind-location monitoring, rear cross-targeted traffic alert, nicer audio program and LED headlights to swap the standard Tacoma halogen set up. To even further gown the outdoors and increase functionality, I want the $469 oval tube methods, $499 TRD entrance skid plate, $a hundred and sixty black emblem overlays and $129 mudguards. And lastly, inside I’ll pony up $169 for all-temperature rubber ground mats, bringing my Tacoma’s base line to $42,921. Considerably from low cost, but it really is less costly than the $forty six,894 truck pictured right here.

Legitimate to its roots

Even though some on the Roadshow personnel continue to be baffled at the Tacoma’s level of popularity, I feel I have a good comprehending of why it really is so effective. Besides dependability and resale, the Tacoma is a straightforward and uncomplicated truck. It looks like a truck, drives like a truck and delivers respectable towing and hauling capabilities, whilst packing sufficient creature comforts to make it livable. Almost nothing additional. Almost nothing considerably less.