22/23 Trd Sport vs Offroad

What up guys. I currently have a 19 Trd sport, and I love the thing. It's in Barcelona Red, and I think the thing is just plain sexy. Its one flaw, though, is that it's a 2WD. I want to get into offroading, so I've been looking at trading her in for a 4x4. Mainly hitting jeep trails up in North GA and the Appalachians. I want to get an identical TRD Sport 4x4. I'm reading about the TRD sports, though, and I see that the TRD offroads have a lot more features for offroading. Mainly rear lockers. The suspension doesn't matter much, as I will probably modify that regardless of what trim I get. My problem is while the ORs have nice features I really love the look of the Sports. If I switch to the OR, I'm gonna miss seeing my sport in the driveway lmao.
My questions are
1. How necessary are the ORs extra features? Anything else major that's missing on the TRD sport other than a locker?
2. Doesn't the TRD sport have Auto LSD/ATRAC? Shouldn't that makeup a little bit for not having a locker?
3. Overall, do you guys think I will regret not getting the Offroad?

Note: Before anyone says it, theres only one TRD Pro available near me, and the dealer wants 60k and my firstborn child for it, so that's not an option.

 

Not sure what you mean when you say you love the look of the sport. Is it the hood scoop? If so, get the OR with the locker (which you really may never use anyway) and swap the hood for the scooped version. Problem solved.

 

Also Multi-Terrain Select (MTS) and Crawl Mode in the OR. Crawl mode can be very handy in tight situations. MTS can handle snow/sand/loose-rock/etc.

Looks do not matter to me ... especially not the skewp, which drops HP by 10.

But I have decided that once I can offroad my daily-driver more, pinstriping and other appearances will be less relevant. Regardless, bed stiffeners to stabilize the bed offroad (I have TotalChaos) and engine/transmission skid to protect the underbelly (I say YES, others say "TRD PRO skid is more than enough).

 

The Scoop is a lot of it. I like the painted fenders and bumper as well. Yea I could just swap the hood on a TRD offroad but I'm trying to find out what else it's got other than a locker that matters because I could add a locker to a sport. Theres not much snow or sand in GA so Idk if MTS would matter much for me.

 

Lots of sports owners off road without missing out on the OR features. Some capable tires is all you’ll need, especially if you’re just getting into things. I wouldn’t sweat the label on the rear bed side all that much. Just my .02.

 

You may not use sand/snow/crawl right now, but having is better than wanting later. Hoods can always be swapped. even customized/colorized/bedazzled. Though a bedazzled OR will likely draw certain criticism from others here ...

If you have the funds, put them into "functional" rather than "pretty".

 

You probably will be fine with the sport with 4x4. I live in AZ with a good amount of places to go off roading and only used my locker 2-3 times. If you really like the look of the sport.

 

If the offroads came in a DCLB up north here I would of gone that route. However I in no way regret buying a sport and it sees quite a few trail km's. You can make an off road look like a sport but it's pricey.

 

1. The rear locker is a neat feature, although many people go wheeling without it. You can always just put in an aftermarket air rear locker on a Tacoma that doesn’t come with the rear locker from factory, should you come across a situation that needs lockers.

The automatic TRD Off-Road also comes with crawl control and multi terrain select. IMO that isn’t necessary. The manual TRD Off-Road doesn’t come with those features as it just has the rear locker.

2. The Tacoma TRD Off-Road does too. IMO, nothing replaces lockers.

3. The aftermarket is massive, so IMO it’s not the end of the world if you end up with a SR/SR5/TRD Sport. Just get a 4x4.

I’d start with a 4x4 with good 1” up tires (265/70R17 or 265/75R16), sliders, and skid plates, and go from there

 

That’s not entirely correct. The manual has a locker and A-TRAC which is essentially MTS in rock mode.

 

I did say the manual has a rear locker.

I wasn't talking about if it does have A-TRAC or not on the first question. But I did say all Tacoma TRD Off-Roads do have A-TRAC on the 2nd question.

Maybe my wording didn't come off the right way

 

I have taken my SR 4x4 on a few trails in the Appalachians as well as some swamp trails in coastal SC. There were a couple times I thought I would need a locker, but as yet she has not. Not even close, really. That didn't stop my wife from exiting the vehicle a couple times in some sketchier sections.

I have a 2 inch lift and AT tires. I have hit the factory steel skid plate on mud and clay, which it luckily sufficed for. Armor and clearance have been my biggest concerns. A better skid and sliders are my next upgrade.

A 4x4 shop can drop in a used OR third member for around $1k. That's the cheapest way to get a locker if you decide you need it. For now, I feel confident with my recovery boards.

There are definitely trails where I'd want a locker. But trails like that with rocks and boulders would sketch me out about damage too much to even try, so I plan to armor up first.

For "safe" trails where damage risk is low, tires, 4x4, and recovery boards will keep you moving.

 

I had the same problem with inventory selection in the northeast. Having a LB was a priority for me, but those were not only rare, but pretty much non-existent in OR trim level.