Photo: Jeffrey Ross
Toyota really kicked things up a notch in the segment where the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon were struggling to keep things lively with the 2015 Tacoma TRD Pro. Our review showed that there’s a lot more in the package than first meets the eye but there’s one thing that casts a shadow over our excitement: the price tag.
You see, for the kind of money you’d spend on an average Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro you’d be looking at the Colorado Z71, the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon edition or even the Ram 2500 Power Wagon and, ultimately the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor. Not that the TRD Pro couldn’t keep up but things get a lot more complicated in this case.
For around $40,000 (which is the average purchase price for the Tacoma TRD Pro) you do get a lot of kit though. Things like a beefed-up suspension with larger TRD springs and Bilstein shocks with remote reservoirs are helpful in this regard.
And all those added parts do make a huge difference, especially when off-roading. We were able to hit some rather big bumps with speeds of up to 40 mph (64 km/h) and we didn’t die. You can also get airborne and land as harsh as you’d like and the car wouldn’t break a sweat.
Rock crawling is easy due to the suspension articulation and the e-locker rear differential while the clearance the TRD pack offers made the front skid plate useless.
Around town, the car is not as bouncy as its ‘lesser’ versions and that’s all due to the shocks and springs. The big tires do make it a bit loud overall, but it’s manageable nonetheless.
Unfortunately, the engine wasn’t upgraded and that means that the 4-liter V6 is still rated at 236 HP and 266 lb-ft (360 Nm) of torque. What was improved was the exhaust which is now made of stainless steel and is a cat-back. You can notice it too as it sounds a bit meaner and throatier in all RPM ranges.
If you want more grunt, you can go for a TRD-provided supercharger that takes the output of the V6 up to 304 HP and 334 lb-ft (453 Nm) of torque. The only problem with that is that it’s not a factory option.
Hands down, the Tacoma TRD Pro is the best compact off-road performance truck since the S-10 ZR2, and while that might seem like a cop-out statement considering there really haven’t been a lot of vehicles to fill that role, we’ll take it a step further by saying that this truck combines some of the best performance attributes of a Ford Raptor and a Jeep Wrangler. Don’t believe us? Read our full 2015 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro review.
For around $40,000 (which is the average purchase price for the Tacoma TRD Pro) you do get a lot of kit though. Things like a beefed-up suspension with larger TRD springs and Bilstein shocks with remote reservoirs are helpful in this regard.
And all those added parts do make a huge difference, especially when off-roading. We were able to hit some rather big bumps with speeds of up to 40 mph (64 km/h) and we didn’t die. You can also get airborne and land as harsh as you’d like and the car wouldn’t break a sweat.
Rock crawling is easy due to the suspension articulation and the e-locker rear differential while the clearance the TRD pack offers made the front skid plate useless.
Around town, the car is not as bouncy as its ‘lesser’ versions and that’s all due to the shocks and springs. The big tires do make it a bit loud overall, but it’s manageable nonetheless.
Unfortunately, the engine wasn’t upgraded and that means that the 4-liter V6 is still rated at 236 HP and 266 lb-ft (360 Nm) of torque. What was improved was the exhaust which is now made of stainless steel and is a cat-back. You can notice it too as it sounds a bit meaner and throatier in all RPM ranges.
If you want more grunt, you can go for a TRD-provided supercharger that takes the output of the V6 up to 304 HP and 334 lb-ft (453 Nm) of torque. The only problem with that is that it’s not a factory option.
Hands down, the Tacoma TRD Pro is the best compact off-road performance truck since the S-10 ZR2, and while that might seem like a cop-out statement considering there really haven’t been a lot of vehicles to fill that role, we’ll take it a step further by saying that this truck combines some of the best performance attributes of a Ford Raptor and a Jeep Wrangler. Don’t believe us? Read our full 2015 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro review.
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