Need help with my purchasing decision.

Next week I will be buying a '13 Tacoma, i was torn between it and a Mustang GT 5 years ago and went with the stang. Totaled the Mustang about a week ago and I am definitely going with a Tacoma this time around...

To the purchasing issues:
-I know I will be offroading, most likely will do a smallish lift with new tires/wheels.
-I really like the base paint trim and hood scoop of the sport.

It looks like my options will be:
-Get the sport package, purchasing a locker when I get new wheels/tires.
or
-Get the offroad package, and purchase a scooped hood/painted trim when I get new wheels/tires.

I was hoping for some opinions on what the best course of action for me will be, both money-wise and performance-wise. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

You have to look at what your really missing.

ARB Locker + 8.4" Diff in the sport, a lot of people recommend that, you get to keep all the traction control modes and Auto-LSD. Plus get AIR.

Offroad, has DAC,HAC, A-Track, E-Locker, Tow hook, and 16" wheels that the Sport does not.

Sport has, Skewp, color matched grill, bumper, side mirror turn signals, 17" wheels.

Some will argue the 8" diff is weaker then the 8.4" in the sport. However no matter what you do, you will never have A-Track which is a better version of TRAC. I am guessing a lot of crawling gets done with A-Track enabled.

IMO if you want to do moderate to extreme Offroad, get an Offroad, with the hood skewp from the factory, just spend the money to do it, then plasti-dip or paint/replace the grill/bumper.

 

What are DAC and HAC???

OP- If I were you, I'd go TRD off road, it's got a locking rear diff lock and good looking wheels already! You could add the hoodscoop and color matched grill and bumper later, if need be. The hoodscoops look great but, serve no functional purpose so, I'd opt for the more functional package, personally.