TRD Sport vs TRD Pro ride on pavement

Sorry, another poster that does not have experience with a TRD Pro, but I have had over 4 years behind the wheel of a TRD Sport. The suspension is very firm. Definitely set up more for road use.

 

When I bought my Sport, I had a 30 mile round trip commute to work (all freeway). For a truck, I love how it handles on the freeway. You will definitely know you going over speed bumps in parking lots with a Sport.

 

False the Pro and Sport both share the 30mm sway bars. The Off-road/SR is 28mm. The Pro and Sport both ride stiff, hard to say which is actually stiffer.

 

So, on a Sport keep the sway bar and switch to O.R. shocks for a happy medium between handling and ride ?

 

The issue is there are not trucks to test drive on the dealer lots right now, that is the problem. And in the past if you wanted to test drive a Pro, it was as if you were asking to test drive a Bugatti Chiron.
I reminded them it is a production truck and oh by the way I can go test drive a Land Rover Defender or for that matter a Land Cruiser with ease, makes no sense for a $50k production truck.

 

That is an interesting idea. BTW how are Bilstein 5100, I hear alot of people switch to those, if they do not want to go full bore with Fox, ICON or King.

 

If this is the case, then I am guess the Pro would handle the pot holes, ruts, etc. better then the sport since it is kind of design for this when going off road, no?

 

Agree. It really is a cruddy time to buy right now, if you are in a position to wait that might be the best choice.

People really make the differences between these trucks seem like comparing a Yaris to a Tundra. You could probably achieve a satisfactory ride by purchasing an SR5 and just changing the shocks.

 

Also if you take price out of the equation for a minute, is there any downsides to going with a Pro over a Sport? Thoughts. I have narrow down to these two models, so I need to figure this out without test driving both.
It seems like you can equip both with the same options, ie. leather seats, moonroof, upgraded stereo, etc. So besides the looks and let's put that aside for a minute. It does do some degree come down to ride and handle on the road. Obviously the PRO will be a beast off road.

 

Seeing there's not been that much PRO owner input yet, I thought I'd chime in about the PRO ride. Disclaimer, I've not driven either the sport or OR and my truck is 100% stock.
The PRO suspension rides firm, but confident. On a smoothly paved road, it is perfect and does not sway side to side and the nose dive on braking is not that bad. On rough roads, you will feel every bump on the road, but not in a bad way. It is very communicative with driver input and you know exactly what the suspension is doing. Rough bumps in the road will be translated into the cabin and seats, but, again, not in a bad way. When going over rough bumps, it does not "bounce" uncontrollably and is very competent for handling rough roads. The PRO also has smaller rims, meaning wider sidewalls when the tires also act as a bump-absorbing element.
Remember, the PRO was designed for not only rock crawling but a lot of trailblazing with fast off-roading, meaning the suspension must be able to absorb bumps but also provide adequate firmness to maintain tire contact and control. From what I've heard, the PRO suspension is firmer than the OR.

 

The only possible downside with going PRO is the shorter bed, but that depends on your needs. Also, the sport may get better fuel economy. But, the PRO attracts a lot of attention from people driving F-150s because they probably didn't expect Toyota to crank out such a good looking truck.

 

Last I checked the Tacoma's all share the same body style.

 

A lot of the styling changes are small on the PRO but they combine together to make a completely different-looking truck IMO. The all black LED housing, the slimmer fog lights, black hood scoop, the obligatory grill, the blacked out badges, and other things come together to suit make the PRO the PRO. Just my two cents, that's why I think the PRO grill doesn't suit just any trim. The grill looks really good paired with the factory LED housings.

 

I want the shorter bed and gas mileage is not a deal breaker for me. Thanks for your feedback.

 

Hmm that might work. Need someone to try it out hah.

 

Interesting. Do you have the source for the info?

 

That was me what I went off-road on my stock sport suspension.

 

I checked the part numbers on parts.toyota.com. The Pro and Sport have the same part number and the off-road has a different one.

OR: 48811AD050
Sport and Pro: 4881104130

EDIT: the SR5 has the same part number as the Sport and Pro.

Two oddities: the site configuration only allows a auto transmission for the OR and accepts a manual for the SR5.

All part numbers are for 2020.

 

Thanks.

Well I was wrong boys.