2024 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro and Trailhunter First Drive: Go Fast, Far, Off-Grid

MotorTrend

Tacomas have been going off-road for a long time

Transcript

00:00What you're looking at are the first-ever hybrid-powered Tacomas.

00:07The Tacoma.

00:08Toyota's midsize workhorse is all new for 2024.

00:12We've already driven the turbocharged 2.4-liter grades.

00:15Now it's time to kick things up a gear with the i-Force Max hybrid-powered Tacomas.

00:21What is the i-Force Max?

00:22Well, it's that same 2.4-liter turbocharged engine, but with a 48-horsepower electric

00:27motor integrated into the 8-speed transmission.

00:30With a total system output of up to 326 horsepower and a whopping 465 pound-feet of torque, this

00:37is the most powerful powertrain ever offered in a Tacoma.

00:41Today, we're driving two, the top-of-the-line TRD Pro and the all-new Trailhunter grade.

00:48Both TRD Pro and Trailhunter grades have standard part-time four-wheel drive with an electrically

00:52controlled two-speed transfer case.

00:55And when the trail gets truly demanding, an electronically unlocking front anti-roll

00:59bar is standard on TRD Pro and Trailhunter, allowing for more front-end articulation.

01:05First up, the GoFast TRD Pro.

01:08All right, this is the part we've been waiting for.

01:11I love all kinds of off-roading, but I love going fast the most.

01:15And that is what the TRD Pro is made for.

01:18We are tearing up this road here because we have Fox racing shocks that are manually adjustable.

01:24We've got hydraulic bump stops.

01:26We've got springs.

01:27We've got clearance.

01:28We've got skid plates.

01:29And we've got these awesome seats that have the actual shock absorbers in the back of

01:33them.

01:34You can see pictures.

01:35They're super cool.

01:36And what they're doing right now is, when I'm getting tossed side to side, they're absorbing

01:40a lot of that impact, so I'm not getting as much, like, side to side whiplash here.

01:44But the great thing is, like, we can go tearing up this fire road here at about 40 miles an

01:50hour and not worry about pretty much anything mechanically, as long as we stick on the road

01:54and we're pretty good to go.

01:56But right now, we're just in Swarm Boat and 4i, because that's all you need to go fast

02:01and have fun out here.

02:02The great thing is, like, the TRD Pro feels like a TRD Pro all the time.

02:09It's not one of those, you know, vehicles where you have to get it in the right environment

02:12to enjoy it.

02:13You know, even when I was on the road earlier with this, it turns sharply, it handles well,

02:19it rides real well, like, it's responsive, and it wants to go, you know, even in normal

02:24mode before you put it in sport, like, it's got all that torque fill from the electric

02:28motor, turbo spools up quick, and it wants to take off on you.

02:32So it's a lot of fun to drive on the road, which just makes you want to get it off-road

02:36even more.

02:37It makes me want to misbehave in all the best ways.

02:40All right, check this out.

02:41We're getting to the loops now, and we're going to go through these at 25, 30 miles

02:44an hour.

02:45We're going to use all the suspension travel and those hydraulic bo-stops, and it is going

02:51to tear right through it, no problem.

02:55This thing's got a sway bar that unlocks electronically.

02:58It's got lockers.

02:59It's got all kinds of, you know, high-tech stuff to help you off-road.

03:04But if you just want to go fast, you don't have to spend a whole lot of time setting

03:08it up.

03:09You just turn off the pavement, stick it in 4i, and go for it.

03:12Toyota's first-ever Tacoma Trailhunter grade is a factory-developed overlanding rig.

03:18Available with a choice of 5- or 6-foot bed configurations, it includes standard features

03:22like Old Man Emu forged monotube shocks, 33-inch Goodyear Territory rugged terrain tires with

03:2818-inch bronze-finished alloy wheels, RIDGID Industries fog lights, and an integrated off-road

03:34light bar.

03:35Toyota says this truck is built for people looking for extended adventures.

03:38I'm driving a little bit slower because this is not the desert racing truck.

03:41This is not your off-road racing starter kit here.

03:45This is an overlanding truck.

03:47This thing is set up for going boondocking, going camping way out there, and you can take

03:52it out in the desert for sure, but these shocks, the sway bars, all these things are not set

03:59up for that same kind of high-speed work here.

04:02So this is more for exploring your forest trails and things like that.

04:07But we've still got plenty of hardware, and in fact, this thing's got a lot of cool hardware

04:10on it, from the Old Man Emu shocks to this sweet desert air intake over here that makes

04:16all kinds of noise.

04:17And it is not a snorkel, I have to tell you, it is not water-sealed, so don't try and drive

04:22with water halfway up your windshield, it's not going to work for you.

04:25And we've still got forged control arms in the front, and springs and shocks, and the

04:30whole 90-yard stop, locking diff, all the things you need to get into all kinds of fun

04:38just at a little slower pace.

04:40And honestly, you can feel the difference.

04:43We did a little road driving earlier, now we're off-road here, and it's not as soft

04:47as the TRD Pro.

04:48That thing's got softer shocks on it, especially the way we have them set, so that you can

04:52do this kind of high-speed stuff.

04:54With this one, it's a little stiffer, and the steering's not quite as sharp, because

04:59again, it's not trying to be real sporty, racy.

05:02It's really trying to be kind of an overlanding, an expedition vehicle.

05:06So it'll do all the same stuff, just take a little longer to get there.

05:11So it's really, the way I see it, two branches of the same tree, right?

05:15They're both performance off-road vehicles, but this one is for, you know, taking your

05:21time and really getting out deep into the woods.

05:24And that one is for tearing ass across the woods as fast as you possibly can.

05:29Really great thing about both of these trucks is they both come standard with the new hybrid

05:32powertrain, and don't be thinking that we're talking about a Prius here.

05:36There's no plugs, there's no EV mode.

05:39It only, you know, will move you around under electric power at real slow speeds.

05:44This motor is, it's about fuel economy a little bit, but mostly it's about torque.

05:50It's about giving that extra power to help get you up to speed, getting on the freeway.

05:55But also, when you're out here doing stuff like this, when you step on a throttle, you

05:58get that instantaneous boost from the electric motor, while the turbo spools up, and get

06:03all that torque immediately.

06:04And it really does help.

06:05We're not doing any serious crawling here, where I'm sure it would really shine as well,

06:09but even just coming up and over some of these bumps and things, being able to just give

06:13it just a little bit of throttle, and immediately have that power you need to get over whatever

06:18the obstacle is in front of you, it's really handy.

06:20You don't have to wring that vehicle's neck just to get it to go over something.

06:24But you see we got a lot of the same tricks here.

06:25I got the screen to help me get over these blind crests.

06:28We've got, if we need it, we have all the drive modes, lockers, and even the disconnecting

06:33sway bar.

06:34This thing can do most of what that TRD Pro can.

06:38Just again, not as fast.

06:39I was about to say, you know, maybe you won't get yourself in trouble nearly as easily if

06:43you're moving slower, but if there's anything I've learned about off-roading, you can get

06:47yourself into all kinds of trouble going slow too.

06:50There's a lot of crossover between these two trucks, but each is set up to accomplish different

06:54tasks depending on what you want to do.

06:57Want to bound through the desert eating whoops for breakfast?

07:00Take the TRD Pro.

07:01But if you're looking to billygoat it up to a remote campsite and get off-grid, the Trail

07:05Hunter might be the truck for you.

07:08To read more on these and all the other Tacoma grades, head to MotorTrend.com.

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