Small trucks are slowly getting bigger and bigger

I purchased a 2016 Nissan Frontier Pro 4x because it is slightly smaller than the 3Gen Tacoma. The Frontier reminds me a lot of the 2006 Tacoma Sport 4x4 I use to have.

 

Actually it's not nearly as big. Your Taco is 208.1" long and 74.4" wide. The 2002 Tundra is 217.5" long and 79.3" wide. The big difference between full size and mid-size is the ability to put a 4x8' sheet of plywood in the bed between the wheel humps. No midsize except the Ridgeline can do this and all the older full size trucks could, so let's put an end to all this talk about todays mid-size being as big as an old full size. There are no facts to support these cliams.

 

+1 Ridgeline

Sure that bad boy shouldn’t be in the full size category?

 

So 9 inches shorter and 5 inches thinner. That's pretty damn close between a Tundra and a Tacoma... A half inch longer than the length of my hand and an inch wider than the width of my hand. Compare that to the current Tundra and the current Tacoma.

EDIT: Facts to support claim.

2017 Tundra 229-248″ Long, 80″ Wide
2017 Tacoma - 212-226″ Long, 74″ Wide

2002 Tundra - 218″ Long, 75-79″ Wide
2002 Tacoma - 179-203″ Long, 67-70″ Wide

1995 Tacoma - 173-199″ Long, 67″ Wide

I see a trend...

 

This makes me want to stash away my 3rd gen and get a beater truck as a daily driver.

Between bloated vehicles and all this driver control and active braking crap and all the nonsense they're throwing into cars anymore, I want no part of it

 

1971 Hilux.

 

Surprisingly enough, a summer job I had back in High School ( Approximately 1970-1971) was as a lot man at a Toyota Dealer in Clearwater, Florida, prepping new and used cars for delivery. I remember washing and detailing MANY of these Pickups. I always thought the turn signals on top of the fenders were kind of cool looking! Oh, if only I knew then what I know now...

 

I have a king cab Frontier Pro-4x, it's the smallest truck you can buy in Canada & the US. Compared to a 3rd gen access cab it's 7" shorter overall and 2.5" narrower. Curb weight, cab height and ground clearance are a wash between the two trucks. I had a 2nd gen Tacoma previously as well, really liking the Nissan for the time being!

 

Thanks my man!

 

88 Accord was my first ride, 5 speed manual. I have a lot of good memories with that car.

 

Holy hell, a friend of mines wife just got a 4x4 TRD runner for $37k

 

In the visitor center at the San Antonio plant. No cameras allowed on the tour of the plant though.

 

That is pretty much what I found out in the difference in dimensions. Pretty much the same if you were to compare the GMC twins (Canyon/Colorado). So far, so good after one year of having the Nissan.

Someday I may get back into a Tacoma. That would be about 9 years from now. I tend to keep vehicles 8-10 years.

 

That is only because your Tundra is an access cab and your Tacoma is a double cab. If you compare a 1st Gen Tundra Access Cab to a 3rd Gen Tacoma Access cab, you will find the Tundra is bigger in almost every dimension.

2017 Toyota Tacoma
SR5 V6 4x4 Access Cab 127.4 in. WB

INTERIOR
Front head room 40 "
Rear head room 35 "
Front shoulder room 58 "
Rear shoulder room 57 "
Front hip room 57 "
Rear hip room 52 "
Front leg room 42.9 "
Rear leg room 24.6 "
Standard seating 4
EXTERIOR
Length 212.3 "
Body width 74.4 "
Body height 70.6 "
Wheelbase 127.4 "
Curb 4,305 Lbs.
Gross weight 5,600 Lbs.

2005 Toyota Tundra Specs
SR5 V8 4dr 4x4 Access Cab

INTERIOR
Front head room 40 "
Rear head room 38 "
Front shoulder room 62 "
Rear shoulder room 63 "
Front hip room 59 "
Rear hip room 57 "
Front leg room 41.5 "
Rear leg room 28.6 "
Standard seating 6
EXTERIOR
Length 218.3 "
Body width 75.2 "
Body height 71.3 "
Wheelbase 128.3 "
Ground clearance 11.2 "
Curb 4,785 Lbs.
Gross weight 6,300 Lbs.

 

I understand your premise but there are other reasons:
1. CAFE. Why make a vehicle bigger and heavier when, as a manufacturer, you are going to get penalized by doing so? Also, CAFE equations take into account the vehicle footprint. Larger is not better.
2. Safety, specifically, small offset frontal crashes. Side impact crashes. More airbags. All these take more physical room. You use the Miata as an example. You can make a small vehicle safe, if it still offers what the customer expects. I don't think the target demographic of our trucks would want, say, a truck the size of a first gen Tacoma with a smaller interior to accommdate all the safety aspects that a third gen offers.

So bottom line, I will clarify that a combination of required safety features plus offering the features that will make the vehicle sale-able are why the vehicle size grows.

 

1st gen is best gen.

 

Getting bigger! One of our best family cars was a 1978 VW Rabbit Diesel for my parents and my 2 other brothers!

I got ride of my '94 Chevy K2500 suburban Turbo Diesel for my DCLB Tacoma. People said the stupidest things about turning radius, off roading, etc about the DCLB........ No problems here and it's 5" longer than the Suburban, though shorter in height and narrower in width.

 

I'm going to assume that is a full size Tundra graphic on the wall??

 

Using your numbers, I would say that a vehicle that is 96% as long and 94% as wide is "nearly" as big as the bigger vehicle.

Regardless, even the 1st gen Tacomas were pushing the boundaries of being considered "small" trucks relative to the first compact trucks, but they were a "perfect" size for a family that wanted a small truck. It could seat 4 reasonably comfortably, but had it been any smaller I don't think that would have been the case...of course comfort is subjective. If I could have bought a brand new 2004 Tacoma DC TRD OR 4x4 for say $26-28K instead of my 2017 DCLB TRD OR 4x4 for $35K last June, I would have. Ideally it would have been a DCLB with a MT, but I know that never existed. A boy can dream.

 

Yes sir. Supposed to be.