2014 Toyota Tacoma

SPECIFICATIONS

1. Engine: 4.0-liter V6 with 236 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque. 2. Transmission: Five-speed automatic or six-speed manual. 3. Fuel Economy: 16 mpg city/21 mpg highway. 4. Pricing: Starts at $18,735, though our Double Cab 4x4 model costs $28,645.

PREVIEW

Once the Tacoma was loaded with the necessaries, set out for the road and the great white north on a roughly 500 mile round trip.  Of course a trailer was needed to retrieve the sled, so we hooked up an 18-foot car carrier to the back of the truck that weighs about 3,000 lbs. by itself. While this much trailer was wholly unnecessary for a snowmobile, it offered a good test of the Tacoma’s hauling capability. 

Hitching the trailer up in the morning went smoothly. The Tacoma offers generous hook ups for safety chains and a standard two-inch hitch receiver, both of which work well. The trailer light connections on the other hand sit underneath the bumper. That makes the connector hard to reach and susceptible to damage when the truck leaves the pavement.

INTERIOR

The rest of the innards offer a no frills experience. Dominated by black plastic, the Tacoma has a simple user experience, though the infotainment system’s small buttons and convoluted controls can be frustrating.

After reading everything above, you may think that the Tacoma isn't all that popular, but you’d be wrong. In fact, it’s the most popular truck in the segment, though that is more due to the fact that it has no true competition. That, however, will soon change with the both the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon set to go on sale this year.The Tacoma looks big from the outside, but the interior doesn't feel as spacious as you might assume. Front seat room is adequate, but packing just 32.6-inches of rear legroom, it falls short of the Nissan Frontier’s 42.4 inches of back seat legroom. But the Tacoma does elicit one strong trait outside of its capable hauling ability, and that is off-roading.

UNDER THE HOOD

Our tester was a 4x4 Tacoma double cab outfitted with a V6 engine that makes 236 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque. This is the largest engine option for the Tacoma, and its power is adequate. When fully loaded, the trailer/snowmobile combo we had hitched up to the rear of the small Toyota weighed about 3,600 lbs, sitting about 2,800 lbs shy of the truck’s 6,400-lb maximum tow rating and the truck handled it with ease. Accelerating to highway speed wasn’t the least bit taxing on the engine, which feels torquey down low.

Once up to speed though, the five-speed automatic transmission hesitates a little if you ask for more power. Accelerating to pass is also slow.  Running around empty, the power from the V6 feels great, with solid throttle response. On the other hand, the brake pedal feels squishy and doesn’t grab with the confidence that a truck should have.

Fuel economy is rated at an average 18 mpg for the automatic 4x4 V6 Tacoma, but our time with the truck returned 15 mpg, mostly due to the fact that weight was on the back of the truck the entire time. Regardless, considering the leaps that have been made with half-ton fuel economy, this little truck simply doesn’t offer the sort of numbers it should.