"No new surprise engines"?
Does Toyota/Lexus have a turbocharged 2.4L Hybrid anywhere else in their lineup? Oh, wait, the Lexus RX500h. But is this the same engine?
As someone who shops Toyota specifically because of reliability, I like that their engines are tried and true. If this is the same engine that's going in the next 4Runner, I'll probably still wait a couple of years to buy one, just to wait out all the teething issues.
Apparently toyota hired some fluffers to pump the Taco? Sad day for Toyota.
And yes, lexus has the same engine with a more powerful hybrid. This isn't new. It's the same engine and powertrain everyone expected. You can read the last year of this thread to see that everyone knew exactly what was coming and generally understood it would be a replacement for the v6, not a competitor in the class with the Ranger or Colorado that both have significantly more powerful engine options.
Toyota needs a mid-range engine between the T24A and the V35A. The T24A isn't enough power for comfortable highway towing or hauling. Not with a hybrid. Not without a hybrid. It simply cannot produce enough power at low-mid range rpms for steady state highway loads when towing.
And that's fine for people who don't need to do truck things. I'm sure it's nice for city driving. It would be a lot better with an optional 350hp turbo v6 non-hybrid for folks that want a small truck that does truck things.
It is very true to the core ethos of Tacoma being 2cyl short. I expect the 4runner to be the same.
The 4WD non-hybrid Tundra, with much more weight and much more power, does 17/22/19mpg. I think you can expect the new 4WD Tacoma to do at least 2-3mpg better all around than that. I think they'll finally crack 20mpg city without the hybrid, and definitely with the hybrid.
The 8-speed was a surprise to me. I like it, because 10-speeds seem a little much, a little complicated, for rugged offroad trucks. I remain very surprised they kept a 6MT around. That makes them and the Gladiator the only manual trucks left, and it's hard to actually count the Gladiator for me.
The engine was never going to be some all-new unique thing--they have to share components across lineups or they're going to die. I don't care for PHEV anything, but I wouldn't be suprised if an EV Tacoma releases by model year 2026.
As far as front locker, Toyota has always been remarkably committed about refusing to put a locker in IFS.
When you say "steady state", is the hybrid powertrain incapable of constantly providing maximum power output? The 465 lb ft of torque at 1700rpm is the king of midsize trucks now.
What is it about a 10 speed you think is different from an 8 speed that makes it less reliable? Both the 8 and 10 at have 10 internal gear and clutch elements. They're probably the same transmission gear train and the Tacoma doesn't shift into 2 of the gears. Probably 3rd gear and 10th gear, but I haven't gone through the breakdown to see. The direct shift 10AT has about 15% wider gear ratio range, so it would offer better 1st gear crawl gearing.
BUT - I think either is probably okay. Both have a pretty wide ratio range and should be significant upgrades over the 6AT.
When I say stead state - I mean literally that. How much power can it produce continuously. Like going up a mountain pass. The hybrid battery is very small. It can produce around 40hp for about 40 seconds. After that it's dead weight. It will not help towing a trailer up a pass. It will help on the on-ramp and have good 0-60 times. It's not for sustained power delivery. It could be if it had a properly sized battery for the task - whatever the expected power and duration is. In my view that would be something like 30-40hp for 5 miles. A typical mountain pass climb. But it doesn't have anywhere close to enough juice for that. So it's mostly for getting a high power number on paper and quick 0-60. Closer to a shot if nitrous than it is to a bigger engine. And TBH that's probably all tacoma buyers generally want. So Toyota did okay in getting its target buyer satisfied. But it's not going to be comparable to a Ranger or a Colorado that can actually maintain 300hp output all the way up a mountain pass.
And what that means in the real world is that it'll be 4-5k rpms up every mountain pass where the more powerful competitor trucks will offer less fatiguing experience by having enough reserve power to climb without running up to the high rpms to get enough power. It's probably an upgrade from the v6, but not a huge one.
And that's why then need a PHEV - because they need a 10kwh battery to make the hybrid system useful for doing truck stuff. As it is - it's not really useful for anything other than quicker 0-60 times, adding 600lbs, and deleting all the rear seat storage space.
As far as MPG - I don't expect much improvement. It might do better in EPA cycle, but probably wont in the real world. In most real world tests small displacement turbos perform worse than NA engines. The C&D long term test hybrid tundra is only averaging 16mpg in non-towing use. Way lower than the EPA numbers. That generally seems consistent with most feedback. I think 20 combined mpg is about where it'll be at for the offroad trims. Same as the Ranger and Colorado. Not as good as the high efficiency full size powertrain options. And - how much do they weigh? How often do the shocks need to be rebuilt? And how much does a rebuild of the seat shock cost? what happens if they fail - what does the seat do when one side goes out?
EDIT: The suspension seats are very odd. I'm really curious about whether it's a gimmick or it's really useful. I'd hate to sit behind one. Rear taco seats are small as it is. Also - no adjustable headrest. I can't remember seeing a production car without an adjustable headrest that wasn't a 5 point harness seat like a COPO model. So that's maybe a first for a modern production car that I'm aware of. Also - how much doe the shocks cost to rebuild or replace and how often is that? What happens if one side blows out - what does that do to the seat position? Also how much does it weigh? So many questions.
Edit 2 - looks like they will offer a 2.4kw inverter. That's great. Should also be std on the Tundra hybrids. Thumbs up on that choice.
