Input for SR5 vs TRD Off-Road

I wasn’t aware there are larger axles? That part sounds good

 

SR5 has the best grille of any trim. If it has everything else you want/need the I would choose it based on that grille.

 

I can't imagine wanting a locker unless wanting to do some serious off-roading. These sr5 trucks are so good already...at least compared to my 4wd tundra. Where i had to definitely put the tundra in 4wd, the tacoma handles the same conditions in 2wd....it really surprised me this past winter.

 

Thats debatable. Imo, the sr5 grill sucks.

 

I bet if you took a poll, you'd lose. TRD Pro is definitely the nicest grill.

 

Not too fussed to take a poll on my own opinion.

 

"Stuck with" a push button start?

How so?

The push button start is awesome. You never have to take your keys/key fob out of your pocket. What's so wrong about that?

After having a push button on my Tacoma for the last 4 months, it seems downright barbaric to drive my wife's car with an old fashioned key.

 

True and I am sure the SR5 grill is dirt cheap compared to the pro grill, which is an advantage. The reality is that all these grills are just cosmetic, being cheap plastic. Just how much do you want to pay for the better looking ones. The chrome looking off road grill is certainly the ugliest.

 

That's the only thing I wish my SR had but I wasn't spending an extra few grand on that.

 

I really am glad I went SR5 (and slightly used at that to save a bit more $$). You can alter these trucks however you want and most of the time going aftermarket gets you a more for your money.

Good luck with your purchase, they grow up so fast

 

The OR has a black interior. The SR5 has a multi shade grey interior.
Not too important, but the SR5 interior has 5 different shades of grey. Always looked weird to me.
On the other side, I liked the keyed ignition on the SR5.

 

I have a stock TRD OR 2020.

If I had to do it again, I would probably land in an SR instead. I use the locker time to time, but all the times I have used it, I didn't need it. I haven't actually used the trail control at all other than to dink around and see if it works. It works. Haven't ever actually used it yet off road.

The only benefit I have gotten of the TRD OR over the SR is the keyless entry shenanigans, I can get in and push the button, key stays in pocket. It's a minor thing at most, so for me was that worth all that to get from the SR up to the TRD OR? Meh.

OH. Power rear window. That's fair. That's a cool one but again, worth the uptrim? Meh.

TL;DR - Get the SR5 if you don't see the base SR being enough.

 

I've never used MTS (would need to pull out the manual to figure it out), and I've only used the locker momentarily at times -- times where taking a better line would have gotten me through anyway. The locker is nice to have, but not everyone needs it. There's some cool videos out there of MTS in action, and it is nice to know I have it if I do need it.

IMHO, the difference in price between an SR5 and a TRD is a decent value for everything you get, if you want or need that stuff. An Off Road is very capable in stock form. If you are going to change a lot of it immediately, though, using the SR5 as a base saves a lot of money on stuff you are just going to pull off. That said, you can always sell what you pull off. If you are going to wait for a few years and change stuff as you go, the Off Road may be a better choice.

A steel front bumper and winch, even with synthetic line, is going to add a lot of weight. You may or may not be OK with it on the stock suspension. As you see in this thread, some people are fine with it, others not so much. There's not enough difference in the SR5 or Off Road suspension to make a difference here, and with either I would budget for a suspension upgrade along with the bumper and winch.

Tough decision, neither is a bad choice. Good luck on your hunt!

 

And you can easily add a remote start to the keyed SR5s, nice add for mine!

 

My first Tacoma was an OR. My new one is an SR5 primarily as I knew I wanted an air locker vs factory e-locker which would require an axle change in an OR.

 

My 2020 sr5 interior is black with burnt orange accents. Its one of the things i was sold on.

 

I appreciate the feedback. They had an Army Green TRD OR already sold in the back lot and I fell in love with it. I think I like it abit better than cement so I put down a deposit for the next one in!

 

To clarify, my 2017 SR5 had the cement interior. The headliner, a pillars, door/dash inserts, and seats were all different shades of grey. Just weird that Toyota did that.

 

Don’t underestimate the off-road traction control on the OR and TRD Pro (ATRAC/MultiTerrain-Select). It will get you out of jams and it’s not a nanny control. It’s more of a simulated front and rear locker with advantages and disadvantages. I get a lot more use out of it than my rear locker mainly because I can leave it engaged at all times without affecting steering. Adding front and rear lockers after the fact might cost as much or more than the OR upgrade. That said, it doesn’t sound like your use case would require one often.

 

Get a SR5 Trail Edition. Those have black seats, the cement seat fabric will show all the dirt you track into your truck.