4th Gen Tacoma (2024+)

Well, it seems that everything I have mentioned the past few years is holding through and that feels great, since I really wanted to keep owners as informed as possible. Toyota indeed revealed this vehicle in December 2021 and thankfully some sources confirmed that for me back then. Part of me still had my own skepticism occasionally, which erred on the side of caution and questioned as to why Toyota would reveal this 99.9% identical to the production vehicle?

That EV truck show was indeed what I expected it to be upon first sight (despite a few Toyota insiders on the stupid side claiming it didn't match). None other than an excuse to tease incoming ICE product, under the veil of something else and without being too official about it. The Tacoma is not getting a BEV anytime soon, which I have gotten confirmation of that today from my leading insider. He is the guy that let me know back in December 2021, this was the new Tacoma.

Go to 14:32 (This was what sold me on this just not being a one-off truck, per that digital driving footage.)

I had mentioned Toyota surmised that all of their competition had already been designed and thus, no risk to them to show the new vehicle that early. But, I don't think anyone has this before in this fashion. You either have an auto show concept of sorts that far out or you keep that withheld from public knowledge, until several months out. Our Ranger's final design was exposed some 3.5 years before it first went on sale in 2022 and in terms of USA, it was 4.5 years. Toyota is brave to have felt confident enough to leak it, risking Chinese copycats beating them to market.

The truth is, the wheel was not reinvented here. I mentioned as well that, all TNGA vehicles going back to 2017 with the current Camry, have been extremely evolutionary and the sole exception to that rule was the 2022 Tundra and 2023 Sequoia, plus some new nameplates. Toyota deviated from the design language of the outgoing Tundra and chose to take the current Tacoma, then somewhat base the Tundra on both that and the 4Runner. Grew the proportions and butched it up a bit more to give it a more aggressive appearance. The Sequoia of course followed, because it's a Tundra SUV.


Come Tacoma design work under 920B at CALTY circa 2020, the decision to evolve the Tacoma and not choose a revolutionary exterior proposal won out, because it allowed for a family look without alienating existing buyers, of a vehicle selling so much at that point, you would be crazy to change too much.



TL;DR the Tundra and Tacoma, were designed to be an evolution of the current 3rd generation truck which is a record seller.

The truck is all new, as nothing outside of some powertrains is carryover. So please folks, careful with the "facelift" speculation. It is not a refresh/facelift, unlike the P703N Ranger, Colorado, Canyon, and worst of all, the Frontier.

Those are redos of their existing frame basis, while this debuts on the TNGA-F architecture. The first ground up redesign since October of 2004.





Just a careful evolution over the years, while also still borrowing from an old tyme favorite, something I noted about the headlights in a January 2022 post here. All generations seem to borrow this trapezoidal headlight shape. It's a design signature, made more obvious this time around.






(Typically I don't do this, but several months ago this YT channel did these renderings.) A lot of Indians work on the 920B program both here and out of India, so I consider it likely that the additional info came from one of them to be so close.

 

I think they are going to either be hybrid or full electric, not full ev only within 5 years

 

Actually I think it's the best looking Tacoma design of all the generations. Put some armor on it and it will be gorgeous!

 

I think only with Solid State batteries will a BEV Tacoma show its face.

 

Are those far side wheel blobs just penciled in? Their placement has been bugging me for some reason.

 

Love the idea of a hybrid powertrain for better efficiency and torque. Have a feeling that means death of the manual though

 

I've had many manual vehicles...an 89 Toyota pickup with a 22RE and a 98 Tacoma V6 and now a Land Cruiser automatic. As far as wheeling goes, auto's are the way we go. I'm thinking for the possible new torque this has to handle it will be a great auto.

 

I agree - autos are better/easier to offroad. Can't beat that connection to the vehicle though. I like knowing exactly what is happening and when. Driven a few newer vehicles in auto and found myself constantly urked by the unpredictability/jerkiness of the transmission. Maybe I just wasn't driving the right autos..

A manual with the proper gear reduction isn't too bad to handle offroad..

 

Damn it now I’m starting to want one if that’s indeed how it’s gonna look. Still gotta see if it’s cheap quality like the new tundra and cracking seats and rattling loose interior panels / pieces. I will say my wife has the new 14” Toyota infotainment system in her 2023 Lexus RX350h, it’s a royal pain in the a** to use and if it goes (it controls hvac, Bsm, etc.) its $10k + to replace.

 

Im guessing only the Pro will have the hybrid and it will be used for a boost in power, not MPG. Would be nice to see hybrid manuals like Honda did in the Insight and CRZ though.

 

Feels like Toyota is lagging severely in the MPG department. Might be personal bias, but feel like that is what is driving the move towards smaller displacement/turbos/hybrids.
In today's world when smaller engines with turbos and electric motors attached can achieve the same if not more power and fuel economy seems like a no-brainer. Typically this all comes at the sacrifice of more heat and maintenance, so curious how the Toyota reliability holds up through this

 

They already have that. Its actually the base engine in the Rams and has been since 2019

 

They've had hybrids since 1997. They've had turbos for god knows how long. I dunno when they first did both together and Toyota engineers to me are top of the heap in my book. I'm 25 years a Toyota owner. Never been disappointed.

 

There being smart just like Ford did with the F 150. Changed 90% of the truck but kept a similar look

 

Everyone here is banging on about turbos, no manual, and first year vehicles being deal breakers... HVAC on a fucking screen would be a deal breaker for me. What a terrible user experience that is.

 

Yep you can only adjust the defrost manually and like volume. It’s crazy, here’s a close up.

 

Looks good except that egregious fake vent under the headlight…just why??

Reminds me of this goofy electrical tape strip on the Camry

 

Where I think they are lagging behind severely is payload and towing. The Colorado and the Ranger both have it beat and I hope this next Gen changes that. If not, it really doesn't look that much different than the current gen. So capabilities will be a big factor for me at least.

 

Looks very similar to the EV concept they announced a while back. I'll be excited if that turns out to be correct.

 

There's a fake one already on the 3rd gen and let's not forget the fake hood scoop.