Poll: Tacoma with Solid Axle and Turbo Diesel

According to wikipedia they've sold roughly 1.4 million tacoma trucks 2000-2008. Tacomaworld has 28,476 members as of posting this, or roughly 1.9% of the market from 2000-2008. That leaves out pre 2000 trucks that members own, 2009-2010 trucks, and assumes that every member owns a Tacoma. In marketing terms, I assure you there's probably nobody that is in a position at Toyota to make that decision who cares about 1.9% of the market. There would need to be a whole lot more proof of demand than just TW members. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't see it happening based on what we say.

 

Diesel Raptor!

 

I know that TW does not represent the majority of Tacoma owners. However, your calculations can't take into account other websites, that I'm sure have discussed this same topic. And when they (Toyota) do marketing surveys, they take a sample poll because it's obvious you can't ask every possible consumer what they would want to see in new models of vehicles. But there needs to be a representative sample of possible consumers for this product. It typically would be a group of less than a thousand ranging in age and sex to get a statistically accurate sample. Then they would take the raw data and create a bell shaped curve through a simple equation, to give an estimate of what others would want on their Tacoma. So really 1.9% of the market could be representative of the rest based on statistical data that is gathered from surveys and polls. However TW would not be the ideal environment for such a survey because it is obviously not your typical consumer base. Most Tacomas do not see lifts or anything more than a slightly larger tire than factory. But, if there is enough push in these types of forums it might get marketing researchers to add it to a poll or survey. Sorry for the long winded explanation of how statistics and poll/surveys work I have an AA in business so I had this drilled into me lol.

 

Yeah that's the part I was getting at. I would think that such a truck would be prohibitively expensive in order for Toyota to make money selling it to the market that would buy it.

 

I don't see how a solid axle would cost more to make. IFS is more advance in it's technology, were SA has been around for a very long time and is still used on many larger trucks.

 

It wouldn't cost a lot to make, but manufacturing costs are not the only thing that they have to deal with. They have to reconfigure an assembly line and reprogram robots to do the work. That costs money, and it could impact the assembly time of the non SA trucks, which would cost them money. They have to pay people to develop parts to fit the axle. They have to test and make sure that they aren't going to have problems before the warranty period is up. They have to pay the people to do the market research. It's not that it's complicated, it's that it's a new feature. There's always a cost associated with implementing a feature that changes production that is greater than the cost of the feature. You then have to come up with a price that makes putting that feature in the truck profitable. I mean look at it (God I can't believe I'm typing this on this forum) the Raptor. Everyone gripes about, "Well it's really mid travel and it's so expensive, I could do a LT tacoma for the same price." I think the same thing would happen with a narrowly marketed Tacoma with very specialized parts.

 

I would like a SAS... but a Turbo Diesel is a must!

 

I would love both the solid front axle and the diesel. And if I could only have one, I'd want the diesel. Diesel's rock! Great longevity, power, fuel options (biodiesel), efficiency, more tolerant of water crossings... I could go for days.

I'd have paid an extra 3 to 5k for a diesel. SFA... maybe $500 to $1k.

One of the things that amazes me is that no manufacturer produces a compact pick up with a SFA. If you want a trail worthy, non-full size vehicle with a SFA, your only choice is a Jeep, which has the unfortunate short coming of not being a truck. Sigh.

 

You should be Baned for typing "that" word in this forum LOL jk. No there are many good points to your argument. It would take some re-tooling and reprogramming for it to work. But I think if we see the Tundra be more competitive with some of the other large trucks a solid front axle for it wouldn't be far behind or even a the diesel engine for that matter. And usually a trickle down effect happens for Toyota vehicles. I wouldn't mind paying $40K for the truck I would keep forever, but Toyota just has to build it first lol.

Good discussion thank

 

Yeah man, stuff like this is really interesting to me. I used to work as a customer facing engineer for a major telecom manufacturer, and we dealt with that crap all the time. Customers would say, "Man if it had feature x we'd buy 100 of them," and we would go to the product line manager and request it. Then PLM would say, "How much revenue can you get from the feature?" Then we'd come back with a figure, they'd look at implementation cost, and say, "Well, probably not." It's not until the sales figures got to a pretty decent percentage of their annual market share that it started getting traction, and the only customers that had that kind of clout were the carriers. They could basically say, "I want the product to cook eggs," and the PLM would concede.

 

At the current cost per day of driving my truck, I would need a bullet through my thick skull if I even considered buying a new truck. I need to drive my truck for at least a year or two before I think about that. Please if I break this promise, will someone please do an intervention! Please!

 

I think the diesel is a very realistic option and probably will be available sometime soon for its efficiency and popularity in other countries. The solid axle will probably never be brought back. Think about it from the average consumer's point of view. Not only is a solid axle a giant step back as far as technology, but it also will compromise ride quality. Imagine how much Toyota would get flamed by all the auto reviewers like cars.com or consumer reports. They just won't do it to satisfy the 1% of people that wheel their taco hard enough to require a solid axle at the expense of the other 99% of average drivers that don't.

 

Personally, I'd really like a turbo-diesel option.

But when it comes to suspension, 4-wheel independent please!

 

I don't care what fuel it runs as long as its relatively cheap and easy to fix. Diesel can be dirty so I don't really care for that.

 

I've seen a few hi-lux turbo diesels, they are very nice, but not available to our market????? I've been very tempted to put the Great Inagua police truck in the back of a C-130 every time I go there

 

GI....I'm sure glad I don't have to go there any more. It's not nearly as cool when the cutter drops you off.

 

I vote for both the solid front axle, that it seems many of us concur is a valued asset on a future Tacoma, and also the diesel, that surprising to me is in general disfavor to most of you.

The diesel Hilux Raptor.. basically the same truck as the Tacoma but with a diesel engine is so superior it's no contest.

1st, have you seen the movie District 9. Yeah, pretty sweet trucks right.. they were Toyotas Hilux (the diesel version of the Tacoma)

http://www.markettoyota.co.za/Specifications/toyota_hilux_4_0_vvti_d_cab_r_body_raider_at_(2009).aspx

You do use your Tacoma off-road, right.. a diesel engine gives much better torque.

Do you commute? A diesel gets at least 20-30% better MPG then a comparable gas engine.

Also, a diesel can usually run alternative fuels with little or no modification (jet fuel, fryer grease, biofuels, etc)

http://www.dieselgiant.com/why_diesel.htm

http://news.carjunky.com/why_diesel_is_the_way_to_go_c125.shtml

US Law requires super clean diesel engines, the most stringent regulations on the planet.. so dirty diesels are a thing of the past.. think 1980's vehicles.

http://www.epa.gov/diesel/

 

turbo diesel would be awesome....like that vw diesel car gets like 45 mpg or something no joke and a diesel engine would last like a million miles

 

I find the idea of a turbo diesel tacoma to be very appealing however I'm kinda sceptical that a solid axle would be something a large enough number of buyers would want for Toyota to justify the effort/cost as a factory setup.

I for one lack the balls it would take to off road a brand new truck with a solid axle any harder then what I'm doing right now with my IFS truck. There's only so much I'm willing to risk with my $25 000 daily driver.

Maybe TRD or an aftermarket company could look into engineering a solid axle retrofit for 1st and 2nd gen tacoma