The Toyota Tundra, since 1999 Toyota's leading import for the American truck market, continues to provide consumers with the luxury pickup truck alternative for those willing to pay a higher price. While functional and increasingly usable for commercial purposes, the Tundra continues to have private consumers as its primary market. The latest specifications reflect numerous changes and attempts to hold onto market share and expand.
Basic Specifications
The latest Tundra engine still retains the choices that were established in the 2000s with a 4.0-liter engine (V6), a 4.7-liter engine (V8) and a 5.7-liter engine (V8). The 4.7-liter establishes the full-torque truck option with a 271-horsepower performance and commensurate torque for hauling and towing (the V6 model provides 220 horsepower in comparison). The most recent engine size, the 5.7-liter engine, produces 381 horsepower and 401 foot-pounds of torque, putting to rest the early 2000 criticism that the Tundra was only for consumers and had no commercial application on the work site.
Both manual and automatic transmissions are available on Tundras of all sizes. The automatic version tends to be the most popular and the most distributed. However, the manual transmission can be either ordered or found with a bit a searching. In terms of gearing, the V6 Tundra models distribute with a five-gear transmission, and the V8 models come with a six-gear design, adding additional push on the high-end engine-revolution spectrum.
The Tundra in 2010 and 2011 models operates with an anti-lock braking system designed into all four wheels, with disc rotors and corresponding caliper systems on the front and back axles. Suspension on the Tundra works with a spring-mounted system using stabilizers across the axles to reduce offset reactions on the truck body. The shocks used for dampening use a nitrogen gas design with low pressure to lessen the effects of road bumps on the body.
Cabin and Body Features
The early Tundras were critiqued for being designed with an inadequate backseat that really was only comfortable for children. The leg space was far too cramped for an average adult. Current models of the Tundra now provide full spacing, but some truck bed area is given up in exchange. Bed lengths today range from five feet for a full-cabin truck to eight feet on a maximum-bed model.
Original options on the Tundra offered a basic truck with no features beyond function; the SR5 choice, which came with basic styling inside and out; and the Limited model, which even included a captain's-seat design for the driver.
Buyer Options
The Tundra in 2010 and 2011 models sells with a work truck package designed for commercial applications, three different TRD sport packages for off-road enthusiasts, a Platinum package for those for whom cost is no barrier for all features available as add-ons, and an SR5 package for the general consumer looking for a luxury pickup truck for personal use.
Depending on conditions or driving styles, Toyota continues to address special needs on the Tundra with the Towing package for extra engine cooling and torque control, the Cold Weather package for operating in low-temperature zones, and a Memory package to allow presetting of personal choices in adjustable features (i.e., seat positions, mirrors, steering wheel tilt).
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