Toyota has invited hundreds of automotive journalists to Washington state next week. The objective: to get up close and personal with the 2016 Tacoma pickup. You can expect that your favorite car blogs will be posting impressions of and reactions to the new truck in the coming days.
Quite a bit of information already has been released about the 2016 Tacoma:
--The frame is bolstered by more high-strength steel
--The suspension is retuned, but Toyota has not said to what effect.
--There's a new 3.5L V6, replacing a 4.0L unit from at least 10 years ago. No power numbers have been released, but the new motor is widely expected to be both more powerful and more fuel efficient than the 4.0L.
--The 2.7L four cylinder motor carries forward from 2015, but it may get a tuning change to increase power.
--The automatic transmission is a 6 speed. A 6 speed manual is available with the V6.
--The off-road electronics offer an e-locker, hill start assist, clutch start cancel, active traction control, crawl control and a multi-terrain select dial. These features were offered in 2015, so it remains to be seen if there will be any improvement.
--Materials in the cabin are supposed to be upgraded.
--The bed gets a locking tailgate.
--The front end adopts the Dustbuster / bottom feeder appearance of the Tundra.
I'll be looking for any increase in the cargo capacity of the new Tacoma. The Chevrolet Colorado has the 2015 Tacoma beat by 200 pounds (1590 vs 1360 lb payload for a crew cab 4x4 model), making it more capable of shouldering the load of a camper plus all your gear. Lots of people have to add air bags to their Tacomas to handle being overloaded.
Quite a bit of information already has been released about the 2016 Tacoma:
--The frame is bolstered by more high-strength steel
--The suspension is retuned, but Toyota has not said to what effect.
--There's a new 3.5L V6, replacing a 4.0L unit from at least 10 years ago. No power numbers have been released, but the new motor is widely expected to be both more powerful and more fuel efficient than the 4.0L.
--The 2.7L four cylinder motor carries forward from 2015, but it may get a tuning change to increase power.
--The automatic transmission is a 6 speed. A 6 speed manual is available with the V6.
--The off-road electronics offer an e-locker, hill start assist, clutch start cancel, active traction control, crawl control and a multi-terrain select dial. These features were offered in 2015, so it remains to be seen if there will be any improvement.
--Materials in the cabin are supposed to be upgraded.
--The bed gets a locking tailgate.
--The front end adopts the Dustbuster / bottom feeder appearance of the Tundra.
I'll be looking for any increase in the cargo capacity of the new Tacoma. The Chevrolet Colorado has the 2015 Tacoma beat by 200 pounds (1590 vs 1360 lb payload for a crew cab 4x4 model), making it more capable of shouldering the load of a camper plus all your gear. Lots of people have to add air bags to their Tacomas to handle being overloaded.
