2017 Toyota Tacoma Trd Off Road Manual Review

Posted on 12/8/2019admin

2017 Toyota Tacoma Trd Review
2017 Tacoma Trd Off Road Specs
2017 Toyota Tacoma Trd Off Road Manual Review Form
2017 Toyota Tacoma Trd Off Road Manual Reviews

A tough midsize pickup ready for Armageddons both real and metaphorical.

Edmunds has a detailed expert review of the 2017 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road Double Cab. View our consumer ratings and reviews of the 2017 Tacoma, and see what other people are saying about the.
Oct 25, 2016 I thought I'd NEVER own a manual trans vehicle again. After long conversations with a friend of mine (happens to be my salesman ) he talked me into getting a 2017 TRD Off Road 4x4 with a 6 Spd manual trans. Holy cow is thing FUN to drive, not to mention to have control over the power! I thought I was too old to enjoy something like this.
Aug 19, 2016 2016 TRD Comparison: Sport vs. Off-Road & Double Cab Long. 2017 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro: Manual vs. Automatic Off-Road. After 2 months of owning my 2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro, Review.
Sep 13, 2017 New for 2017. New for 2016, the big news for the 2017 Toyota Tacoma is the reintroduction of the TRD Pro trim, adding a specialized off-road suspension including Fox.
Sep 18, 2017 Toyota Racing Development, or TRD for short, is Toyota’s in-house speed shop if you will, providing performance parts and variants of the brand’s trucks, like this Tacoma TRD Sport. My first test-drive of this new generation Tacoma came last year in one of the other TRD choices – the Off-Road.

Nov 11, 2016 Observed in a void, perhaps the most jarring aspect of the 2017 Toyota Tacoma 4×4 TRD Pro is the price: $41,700 USD to start with the manual and $43,700 USD with the six-speed automatic. The TRD Off Road of comparable cab style and bed length is about $8,000 USD less expensive. But that’s the way the market goes. Edmunds has a detailed expert review of the 2017 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road. View our consumer ratings and reviews of the 2017 Tacoma, and see what other people are saying about the vehicle in.

Welcome to Critic's Notebook, a quick and off-the-cuff car review consisting of impressions, jottings, and marginalia regarding whatever The Drive writers happen to be driving. Today's edition: the 2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road.

There's nothing like an off-road drive for a little post-apocalyptic roleplaying. Up there in the mountains, away from the smoggy tendrils of civilization, it's easy to imagine yourself a lone survivor plunging through the wilderness. And after giving it a fair amount of thought, I reached the following conclusion: After the nukes fall, all that will remain are the ruins of our cities, cockroaches, and people selling 10-year-old Toyota Tacomas for $25,000.

The Tacoma has a well-earned reputation for being a stupendously reliable, no-nonsense midsize pickup truck that can bend the forces of depreciation to its will. It's also known for not changing a whole lot in the two decades since the model first rolled out of the factory—from the available six-speed manual transmission to its rear drum brakes, the Toyota Tacoma remains one of the more honest, workmanlike trucks you can buy today.

Depending on your perspective, this next bit is either a weird anomaly or a foregone conclusion. Since the latest generation was introduced in 2015, the Tacoma has exploded in popularity at the same time that sedans have plummeted. Toyota sold nearly 200,000 Tacomas last year amidst the ongoing carpocalypse—a record—and sales this year have outpaced 2017. It's even outselling the Toyota Highlander right now. So what gives? Is this a case of crossover fatigue? Is it a side effect of cheap gas? Is the Tacoma really that good?

To find out, The Drive borrowed a 2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road for a week of adventures around our West Coast bureau in Los Angeles. And I learned that when it's time to rebuild civilization, our future will probably ride on the back of this humble midsize truck.

The Pros

For those who just want a pickup, pure and simple, it's hard to argue with the package Toyota has created here. Introduced in 2015, the latest model utilizes a high-strength steel frame paired with a rugged body. You can't slice a katana without hitting someone with a strong opinion on Toyota's front-end design language, though I think this is one of the better interpretations in the lineup. The high-clearance off-road bumper on the TRD model certainly helps. But the whole thing exudes a capable, confident eagerness that's missing from much of the competition.
Plus, you can still pair a six-speed manual transmission with the more-powerful V-6 engine, which puts out 278 horsepower, 265 pound-feet of torque, and can tow 6,400 pounds.
To create the TRD Off-Road trim, which is a step below the full-bore TRD Pro, Toyota added Bilstein shocks tuned for off-road use, a skid plate, a locking rear differential on 4WD models, and the company's 'crawl control' feature that takes over the throttle and brakes on tough trails. Automatic transmission models also get a multi-terrain drive mode dial to calibrate things like wheelspin and throttle response even further. All that stuff works great, but it's the Tacoma's 9.4 inches of ground clearance, solid rear axle, and Kevlar-reinforced Goodyear Wrangler tires with tons of sidewall that really serve up the confidence to venture forth. You'll probably find your limits before it does—it's pretty unstoppable, as long as you don't do something like this.

With that in mind, the Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road just might be one of the best bases for building an overlanding or expedition rig out there. Toyota will gladly sell you a Tacoma TRD Pro for about $8,000 more, which has fancier Fox internal bypass shocks that can take more of a beating, a touch more ground clearance, and a few more tech options. But you can't get the manual transmission on the Pro, and since the Tacoma aftermarket is essentially limitless, you could easily buy an TRD Off-Road with a stick and replace the suspension with something tougher for around the same price. But really, the stock Bilstein shocks are more than enough for casual weekend exploring.
And that's really what the Tacoma is all about: just getting out there a little more. Even if you prefer not to pretend that the modern world has collapsed, it's a vehicle that begs to see the view from the top of that mountain, or where that dirt road leads over the horizon. These photographs were taken at the Hungry Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Park, which is about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles. Had I no reason or ability to go there, would I have ever seen the beautiful contrast between a dry, golden valley and the snowcapped peaks above, or drunk in the crisp, fresh air that it made me feel like I hadn't breathed in weeks? I left at 8 a.m. and was home by 1 p.m. Better than brunch? You bet.
The Tacoma TRD Off-Road makes its bones in being, well, capable off-road, but there are still a few key modern comforts that make it more livable day-to-day than in the past—things like the standard touchscreen infotainment system, a wireless charging pad, and a backup camera with parking sensors. The double cab interior on my tester is a simple, functional space, with seats that are more comfortable than they look. And Toyota added a new suite of standard driver assist features this year that vaults the Taco to the top of the safety pack, including adaptive cruise control and forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking.

The Cons

In the dirt, the Tacoma is aces. On-pavement is a different story. Body-on-frame trucks in this segment (Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier) aren't known for their handling prowess—or for being much fun to drive on the road at all—and the Tacoma doesn't do much to stand out on that front. The softer suspension of the TRD Off-Road lends itself to a diving nose under braking and body roll in the corners, while the transmission was far too quick to downshift under light acceleration on the highway. Zero-to-60 mile-per-hour times generally mean very little in terms of real-world use, but you won't be surprised to learn the Tacoma does it in 7.3 seconds. It feels slow and slightly underpowered—though having more control over the gears in the manual transmission probably helps.
Its simplicity is also a double-edged sword on the inside, which doesn't do a great job of straddling the line between simple and dated. Look to the new Jeep Wrangler for an analogous example—there are ways of doing a functional, rugged interior without it feeling like something designed last decade. There's a lot of black plastic, you can't get full leather or power seats on the TRD Off-Road, and there's still no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto available. Is that worth $40,000 to you? For some, that's not what you're paying for. For others, the view from the driver's seat will leave you flat.

But honestly, what might hurt the Tacoma the most for potential buyers is just how small the cabin feels. The high floor helps ground clearance but cuts interior leg and headroom, and you can't adjust the seat height. Rear seat passengers in the double cab have the least amount of legroom in the class at 32.6 inches, and it also feels oddly tight from the front row as well. Yet from behind the wheel, it oddly drives like a larger truck than it is—unless you get the double cab and long bed, in which case, it's actually big. So it's really the polar opposite experience of a crossover like the Toyota Highlander, which is designed to feel massive on the inside but carry itself like a small sedan.
Just say no to plastic body cladding. I get that it's more functional here than on a lot of other cars, but it's also going to age poorly on a truck otherwise engineered to survive the end times.

The 2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road, Ranked

Performance: 4/5

Comfort: 3/5

Luxury: 2/5

Hauling people: 4/5

Hauling stuff: 4/5

Curb appeal: 3/5

“Wow” factor: 3.5/5

Overall: 3.5/5

The Bottom Line

So back to our essential question: Why is the Toyota Tacoma so dang popular all of a sudden? As with many existential queries, the answer is a swirl of reasons. Part of it is that, as Counting Crows once opined, you don't really know what you've got 'till it's gone. [Don't you dare give the Counting Crows credit for Joni Mitchell's genius, you son of a bitch. —Ed.] Just about every major manufacturer used to make something hardy and off-road focused like the Tacoma (if not necessarily a pickup), but nearly all of them faded away over the last 20 years as people turned to crossovers. But it would appear the market overcorrected and squashed out a few too many rugged 4x4s; survivors like the Toyota 4Runner, Tacoma, and the Jeep Wrangler have enjoyed record sales over the past few years, while other manufacturers are making no secret about their desire to get back in on the 'authentic' off-road truck game.

Cheap gas has certainly helped boost its popularity, but that too isn't the sole reason for the Tacoma's success. Its EPA fuel economy numbers sit at about 20 miles per gallon combined, which is neither low enough to make it a real detriment nor high enough to draw in people who are looking for a fuel-efficient rig. And sales have continued their climb in the last few months even as gas prices are creeping up to a three-year high.

So what we're left with is the Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road standing on its own merits. Yes, you can go elsewhere to find a nicer cabin, a smoother ride, and a more luxurious experience—all of which become more important to more people with each passing year. What you can't find is the combination of real off-road chops, legendary reliability, and a six-speed manual transmission seen on the Taco. There are certainly flashier ways to play in the dirt—but when the bombs start to fall, is anyone going to be looking at you anyway?

The 2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road, By the Numbers

Price (as tested): $36,115 ($40,505)

Powertrain: 3.5-liter V-6 engine; 278 horsepower, 265 pound-feet of torque; six-speed automatic transmission; rear-wheel-drive with part-time four-wheel-drive and low range; electronically-locking rear differential

Fuel Economy: 18mpg city/23 highway/20 combined

Curb Weight: 4,425pounds

Payload Capacity: 1,175 pounds

Towing Capacity: 6,400 pounds

Ground Clearance: 9.4 inches

Amount of money spent on a day-use off-roading permit to escape the smog of Los Angeles: $5

2017 Toyota Tacoma Manual Transmission Review

The 2017 Toyota Tacoma Manual Transmission Pro gets noteworthy suspension upgrades that cross section consummately with the low maintenance 4WDemand framework. Street ability is incredibly upgraded by the programmed slip differential and electronically-controlled exchange case. Supporting the new setup are rough terrain back leaf springs, TRD-tuned FOX 2.5 Internal Bypass stuns, custom front springs with a one-inch lift, and an extra creep added to the track on account of more extensive wheel counterbalances.

On the off chance that you go for the standard manual transmission, you gain Active Traction power that uses the four-channel electronically monitored slowing mechanism framework to direct power stream front and toward the back. Purchasers who pick the programmed transmission are dealt with to the Toyota Multi-Terrain Select System giving five settings, Hill Start Assist Control, and a Crawl Control System that works at low speeds to consequently adjust the brakes and throttle to handle the most difficult rough terrain conditions.

Like the past TRD Pro, moves up to the 2017 model are centered around better go dirt road romping capacities and more tough looks. Less amazing variations can be had with the base 2.7-liter four-barrel motor, however the Tacoma TRD Pro comes exclusively with the bigger 3.5-liter V-6 making 278 hp and 265 lb-ft of torque. A six-speed manual or six-speed programmed transmission is accessible.

The V6 Tow bundle is likewise standard on the 2017 Toyota Tacoma Manual Transmission Pro model and incorporates a Class-IV towing collector, programmed transmission cooler (if material), motor oil cooler, power guiding cooler, 130-amp alternator, four-and seven-pin connectors with a converter, and trailer-influence control.

2017 Toyota Tacoma Trd Review

Manual-prepared Tacoma TRD Pro models include the automaker’s Active Traction Control four-wheel-drive footing control framework, which utilizes the ABS framework to control energy to the front and back wheels without diminishing motor force.

2017 Tacoma Trd Off Road Specs

Propelled Interior

As able as the solid new 2017 Toyota Tacoma Manual Transmission is all things considered, its lodge is shockingly agreeable, with advantageous elements and upscale materials. Pleasant things incorporate a multifunction calfskin wrapped guiding wheel, a tilt/extending directing segment, Black cowhide warmed front seats with TRD logos on the headrests, four-way customizable driver’s seat with lumbar bolster, four-way flexible front traveler seat, TRD shift handle, Bluetooth without hands telephone controls, TRD Pro floor mats, Entune Premium Audio with App Suite and Navigation, and an assortment of TRD-particular trim pieces.

Security is fundamental, as saw by Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, Blind Spot Monitor and Rear Parking Assist Sonar. 2017 Toyota Tacoma Manual Transmission likewise includes simple instrumentation, a 4.2-inch shading Multi-Information Display (MID) with a tilt gage and coordinated inclinometer, and also shows for the odometer, outside temperature, normal efficiency and trek mileage.

The 2017 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro expands on where the last model left off with significantly more go romping equipment and hardware. Search for the rough terrain apparatus to go discounted this fall.