By Dre' Marrow
My Toyota experience (though I've driven Corolla's, Avalon's, and Camry's) was extended this weekend when I borrowed my in-law's Tacoma for picking up a head board from my mom's house who lives about 60 mi away. Other than noticing a classic automobile at a gas station along with a Chevrolet Cruze possibly being repo'd, the Tacoma wasn't a bad midsize pickup.
Though it size make it look like it could swallow three fat men on the inside, it's noticeably small, even for my 5'11 190lb frame. Although the Tacoma's interior isn't particularly fancy with hard plastic surfaces, it provides plenty of practicality and comfort. The gauges are clear and the controls are easy to operate. Storage space is plentiful, and the Double Cab's rear seat is comfortable for adults.
However, some drivers might take issue with the positioning of the driver seat, feeling that it's mounted too low to the floor. Driving the Tacoma around the city was a good experience, for it's easy to maneuver, park in tight spaces, and handling was surprisingly good for a truck this size. On the highway, the truck showed plenty of passing power whenever summoned, the noise level was adequate and like in the city, the ride was pleasant, even for a hard core based TRD package.
However, the MPG was awful, and ironically, the MPG was noticeably worse when cruising at 60mph. (driving at 70mph, yielded better MPG, which is a head scratcher). Loading the Tacoma with a 25lb payload was a breeze and the tie down hooks were strategically placed. But when driving up a small grade (it was about four of them) the Tacoma noticeably down shifted just to make it up the hill.
Worse, the air conditioning wasn't on and the payload was an aforementioned 25lb! Unloading the Tacoma was as simple as loading it, making me appreciate the vehicles ride height. Overall, my over all experience with the Tacoma (stay tuned for my TL article), was a good one. Despite the smallish, hard surfaced interior, low for it's class MPG, I'll give the Tacoma a final grade of C-.
(Dre Marrow is the co-founder of The Spectrum, a site that provides insight about current events, or as he would put it, "common sense over non-sense")
1 comment:
I test drove a Tacoma back to back with a Frontier and found it lacking.
The Tacoma's engine and throttle delivery leave a lot to be desired. It is just too casual for something with that much power and torque. I felt like I had to mash the throttle into the carpet just to keep up with traffic.
In comparison, the Frontier's engine and throttle management system seemed to want to tear into the pavement every time we left the light. The throttle could be deemed as touchy as it requires mere thought to launch the truck forward. LOVE THAT!!!
I thought the Tacoma's seat to be rather flat and hard. I was constantly playing with the seat adjustments just trying (and failing) to get comfortable. The Frontier gripped me in place and supported my oddly shaped body just right. Leather is also a HUGE step up from the cloth in the Tacoma.
Last thing I hated was the price. I drove a middle of the road Tacoma Crew Cab with automatic trans. MSRP was over $30k. The Frontier I drove was the top of the line Pro4X with leather, satellite, sunroof, Rockford-Fosgate, for $31k.
The Nissan is just a better value and sure as heck is more fun to drive. They both suck gas down like a V8 but at least I can get a manual trans. (6M) in the Frontier Pro4X Crew Cab to squeeze extra mpg from the motor.
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