Testing the "competition"

2022 Nissan Frontier:

I was actually impressed by this vehicle, it's basically a Tacoma clone but Nissan has done a pretty good job, and improved some of the gripes with the Taco.

The seating is very comfortable, rear seating is also more comfortable and a little more spacious, specially the knee, and foot area. The handling is similar although the steering wheel is heavy, which I thought I was gonna hate but it wasn't bad at all. The cabin is way quieter than the tacoma and one thing to note, the engine actually sounds pretty decent when not flooring it, almost like the deep tone of V8 in a luxury car with good sound deadening, meaning very muted but still deep, certainly more than the taco lol

Powertrain wise, the frontier felt better than my 93 octane kdmaxx tuned Tacoma. The 9 speed is very responsive with the downshifts and it has good torque downlow although I suspect there won't be much of a 0-60 difference when flooring it but the power curve is definitely better.

The main bad stuff for the frontier imo is that the backup and 360 degrees cam don't look too HD and the taco and ranger will have a new Gen in about 1-2 years and will probably leave it in the dust tech/powertrain wise but as it sits, it's a positive improvement powertrain wise, compared to the Taco.




Hyundai Santa Cruz:

This one was definitely a surprise. The vehicle has pretty good interior room for it's size, the rear seating area is slighty roomier than the frontier/taco & the rear seat position is so much better due to the seats being higher with plenty of head room. The interior is very luxurious and all the tech including the 360 degree cam and highway driving assist which steers for you, make it a almost tesla like semi autonomous driving machine.

The power train is extremely good, the dual clutch transmission is quick as lighting and makes the Taco look like a turtle, 310 pound feet of torque arrive at 1700rpms so it gives the illusion of being more powerful even lol and The handling is sporty as hell and makes it fun to drive.

Putting ego aside, I suspect the Santa Cruz would fill up the shoes for many many Taco owners who don't heavily off road or carry lots of stuff in the bed..

The bad things are that unreliability is unproven, and the looks can be very polarizing, but if you can live with the bed size and do light off roading like most do(overlanding type of stuff), I think it's a great truck and the interior is certainly ahead of the Taco in terms of tech and size.

A nice set of tires, 2 inch lift and it would look pretty decent tbh

 

@ MODS y'all got hacked again!

 

I didn't even know Santa Cruz was a thing. Wonder what one would look like with a softopper

Out of curiosity op, you doin test drives for a company or just personal curiosity

 

It's a joke! You know, like the funny kind?

But... Different...

I guess...




A while back I know some of the mods got targeted by a buy scam, I was implying that a mod of a Tacoma forum wouldn't happily suggest considering alternative platforms.

 

Also, not a huge Nissan fan, but that truck looks mighty nice.

 

I have been using my Taco for work for the last 3 years, it has served me well and just recently crossed 100k miles, however I am possibly getting a company vehicle soon and I was considering a new Taco.

I have already had 2 3rd gens and I don't know if I wanna drop $40k for the same old powertrain, My perfect vehicle would be a Taco with more power, preferably a V8 but that is never happening lol perhaps I will keep the Taco and get some fun sports car.

 

The Nissan looks good. They make a nice truck, I had no issues with my '91.
The Hyundai isn't a truck, more like a Honda Ridgeline/Subaru Baja love-child. No thanks.

 

Did the lack of a telescoping wheel bother you?

 

I feel like if I was looking for a truck right now, I'd be looking hard at the Nissan. But idk anything about em really

 

I’m just waiting for them to bring back the “hardbody” badge. I always thought that was fun. I think it would go over well in 2021.

 

I thought it was informative and entertaining myself. A nice change of pace from the stupid bullshit threads that keep coming up over and over again.

 

Can the Santa Cruz really be considered competition? I'm beginning to think there needs to be another market segment or classification for the Ridgeline/Maverick/Santa Cruz.

Something like "Lowes Utility Vehicle."

 

If your under the impression that 90% of the people in tacomas use them fully, you're living in la la land. Same with 4 runner. Its old moms and dads going to the office trying to play dress up. They've left jeep and come to Toyota. 3rd Gen tacos and whatever gen 4runner they are on are playyyyyed out and for office workers and grandma's. Seriously, take a look where and when you see them and who is driving.

This truck is perfect for most of them and sounds like better than the tacoma if you don't mind a shorter bed. The taco usually comes in the shortbed anyways and that's worthless to anyone who actually works and stores things in their bed, might as well cut another foot off.

 

I was just pointing out big differences in the body-on-frame construction and a solid axle. Now that the new Tundra is rumored to go with coils in the back, I can't throw leaf springs on the list.

Nothing to do with the people driving them - hell, there was a Ridgeline in the neighborhood that was always driving around loaded to the gills with stuff from contracting jobs.

 

Couldn't be more right... My wife is car shopping and loves the 4runner. Not at all the right car for her and would never be anything more than a grocery getter but happy wife happy life.

Op, go drive the Colorado and Ridgeline and report those here too. Ridgeline is ok but drives just like the Odyssey mini van

 

makes more sense, sorry for the confusion on my part! I would still argue the santa fe and new maverick are still not much different than the taco. they aren’t as small as the marketing teams pretend. The tow rating is a big gap but anyone towing over 4-5k on a taco knows it’s a mistake, so it isn’t really as big an advantage as people might want to pretend. the springs on tacoma’s are a joke, and that’s well known.

Father has a ridgeline and both him and my mom love it. does everything they need.