Photo: Nikita Chuiko for Kolesa
Care to guess which is the most popular mid-size pickup in the United States? The answer is pretty obvious from the headline, with Toyota delivering a whopping 237,323 units last year compared to 117,016 units of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon from General Motors.
The biggest automaker of the Big Three in Detroit has refreshed both midsizers for the 2023 model year, and Toyota will do it as well for 2024 with its truck. But as opposed to General Motors, the Japanese automaker will do it properly. Not only will the next-gen pickup switch to a new platform, but it’s also believed to become the segment’s first hybrid.
Masterfully rendered by Kolesa’s pixel artist based on design patent images of the series-production Tacoma, the newcomer definitely needs a redesign. Not only skin deep, but out of necessity. Last year, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash tested six mid-size pickups to see which offers adequate protection in the updated side crash test.
The crew-cabbed Colorado, Canyon, and unibody Honda Ridgeline all earned good ratings, while Ford’s Ranger and Nissan’s Frontier couldn’t do better than acceptable. Toyota, on the other hand, was the worst offender of the bunch with a marginal rating.
The nonprofit organization discovered that both the structure and safety cage don’t maintain well during a crash of this particular severity. Not only did the door sill crumple, but the B pillar was pushed to within a few inches of the center of the driver seat. Given these circumstances, Toyota simply didn’t have a choice but make the switch to the Tundra’s TNGA-F architecture.
Gifted with Tundra-inspired styling cues, the smaller truck will reportedly drop the standard four-cylinder engine and optional sixer in favor of a turbocharged four and hybrid version of said turbocharged mill. Codenamed T24A-FTS, the 2.4-liter engine cranks out a very respectable 265 horsepower at 6,000 revolutions per minute and 310 pound-feet (just around 420 Nm) at 1,700 revolutions per minute in the Highlander.
Adding some hybrid assistance to the mix results in 340 horsepower and 400 pound-feet (542 Nm) of torque in the Crown Platinum. This one-engine and multiple-output strategy makes a lot of sense, more so if you remember that a V6 is employed by all Tundras produced nowadays.
General Motors didn’t make the switch to hybrid assistance in the Colorado and Canyon, but on the other hand, both trucks dropped all three previous-gen engines in favor of the 2.7-liter turbo four-cylinder of the Silverado 1500.
Although there are small hardware and software differences between all three available variants of said engines, don’t forget that it’s cheaper to build one engine as opposed to three. GM dealers will also find it easier to service one engine architecture instead of a 2.5L four, 3.6L six, and 2.8L diesel.
On that note, what’s your take on Nikita Chuiko’s rendering of the next-generation Tacoma? From a visual standpoint, is it a step in the right direction for the midsizer or a bit of a letdown compared to the N300?
Masterfully rendered by Kolesa’s pixel artist based on design patent images of the series-production Tacoma, the newcomer definitely needs a redesign. Not only skin deep, but out of necessity. Last year, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash tested six mid-size pickups to see which offers adequate protection in the updated side crash test.
The crew-cabbed Colorado, Canyon, and unibody Honda Ridgeline all earned good ratings, while Ford’s Ranger and Nissan’s Frontier couldn’t do better than acceptable. Toyota, on the other hand, was the worst offender of the bunch with a marginal rating.
The nonprofit organization discovered that both the structure and safety cage don’t maintain well during a crash of this particular severity. Not only did the door sill crumple, but the B pillar was pushed to within a few inches of the center of the driver seat. Given these circumstances, Toyota simply didn’t have a choice but make the switch to the Tundra’s TNGA-F architecture.
Gifted with Tundra-inspired styling cues, the smaller truck will reportedly drop the standard four-cylinder engine and optional sixer in favor of a turbocharged four and hybrid version of said turbocharged mill. Codenamed T24A-FTS, the 2.4-liter engine cranks out a very respectable 265 horsepower at 6,000 revolutions per minute and 310 pound-feet (just around 420 Nm) at 1,700 revolutions per minute in the Highlander.
Adding some hybrid assistance to the mix results in 340 horsepower and 400 pound-feet (542 Nm) of torque in the Crown Platinum. This one-engine and multiple-output strategy makes a lot of sense, more so if you remember that a V6 is employed by all Tundras produced nowadays.
General Motors didn’t make the switch to hybrid assistance in the Colorado and Canyon, but on the other hand, both trucks dropped all three previous-gen engines in favor of the 2.7-liter turbo four-cylinder of the Silverado 1500.
Although there are small hardware and software differences between all three available variants of said engines, don’t forget that it’s cheaper to build one engine as opposed to three. GM dealers will also find it easier to service one engine architecture instead of a 2.5L four, 3.6L six, and 2.8L diesel.
On that note, what’s your take on Nikita Chuiko’s rendering of the next-generation Tacoma? From a visual standpoint, is it a step in the right direction for the midsizer or a bit of a letdown compared to the N300?
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