The Tacoma is the most popular mid-size truck by a huge margin. So which one's best? Everybody loves Tacos. You can see it in the sales results: last year, Toyota's Tacoma outsold mid-size pickup rivals like the Chevrolet Colorado and Ford Ranger and the Nissan Frontier, combined.
Of course, even with the auxiliary KC HiLites, Marty's truck was fairly basic, and the Tacoma lineup is hugely varied now, with multiple options. Here's where we think the sweet spot is in the range: the most Taco for your money.
Once you've decided how many doors you need, the good news for pickup purists is that going one step up from the work-truck-spec SR model with its steel wheels gets you the best-value Tacoma, the SR5. With a 278-hp turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, eight-speed automatic transmission, six-foot box with the extended cab, and niceties like alloy wheels and push-button start.
View Price on AmazonAt $38,280, the SR5 should handle all your hauling and camping needs, but if you want better off-road chops, we're also big fans of the TRD Off-Road. With terrain management systems, underbody armor, and an electrically disconnecting anti-roll bar, it's got go-anywhere ability in spades. You can even order it with an honest-to-goodness six-speed manual transmission, though the comically large shifter has the feel of picking up a toddler by their snow boot.
The Tacoma's hybridized version of the 2.4-liter turbo four is also worth a look, though top trims like the Trailhunter and TRD Pro are painfully expensive, nearly double the price of the basic nonhybrid truck. Here, the TRD Off-Road again offers the best bang for the buck at $49,280, with the 2.4-liter powertrain offering up a stout 326 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque.
If you're going with a budget-oriented SR5 build, it's still worth considering the $1825 upgrade package, which bundles together parking assist, LED lights for the bed, a damper for the tailgate, and a trailer brake controller. The cold weather package ($2560) has all this plus a heated steering wheel and seats. Or you can just throw in heated front seats for $585.
In the TRD Off-Road, you're probably going to want the $4825 upgrade package for its heated and powered seats, trailer brake controller, upgraded audio, and 120V rear inverter. It also comes with a power horizontal window at the back—your dog will thank you—and a fun portable Bluetooth speaker that pops in and out of a dash mount.
Topping the Tacoma range, the Trailhunter and TRD Pro models offer maximum equipment for maximum capability. The Trailhunter is the overlanding option, able to get you way out into the boonies; expect to see these trucks out in the world loaded up with thousands of dollars of optional extras, roof-mounted tents, and so forth. You can go rock crawling in the TRD Pro too, but it's happiest when flying through the desert, having just lifted off from a huge bump in the road.
But at $66,395 for the TRD Pro, you'd really be laying down full-size truck money on a Tacoma. The resale value is probably there, as it's long been a Tacoma attribute, but some of the extras are actually drawbacks. The clever damped seats of the Pro are more comfortable over washboard roads, but they're only up front, and they will bash the knees of rear passengers like having a downhill mountain bike run into them. With Tacos, it's best not to overdo the fillings.
Source: caranddriver.com
