2007 Toyota Tundra
To absolutely no one's surprise, the new made-in-Texas 2007
Toyota Tundra is significantly larger than the one it replaces. That's not much
of an achievement; after all, Toyota only had to have the CAD systems juice
every dimension up about 5 percent to get that job done. What is surprising is
how clearly the new Tundra breaks with traditional Toyota truck philosophy.
After 72 years building straightforward, simply decorated, relatively unadorned
and conservative trucks, Toyota is now in the stylish truck business.
There's an argument to be made that this paradigmatic design shift by Toyota
really took place with the introduction of the 2005 Tacoma. Could be. But even
the Tacoma is nowhere near as agonizingly self-conscious as this new Tundra.
Self-conscious though it is, there are elements of the new Tundra that can only
be described as brilliant. And other parts that have to count as bizarre or
disappointing.
The big part
Exactly how big is the new Tundra? That depends on which Tundra is being
measured - Regular Cab, Double Cab, and mucho macho CrewMax. Excised from the
lineup is the extended Access Cab that had been a staple of the Tundra line
since its introduction back in 1999 (and this writer has owned one since 1999).
By eliminating the extended cab model and adding a monster-spec crew cab, Toyota
is aping the Dodge range of Rams. However all 2007 Tundras are, at least
nominally, half ton models while Dodge restricts it's Godzilla, the Mega Cab, to
3/4- and one-ton models.
The three Tundra body styles come riding atop three different wheelbases. The
Regular Cab Short Bed (78.7-inch long bed) model has 126.8 inches between its
front and rear axle lines while the Regular Cab Long Bed (97.6-inch long bed),
Double Cab Short Bed (78.7-inch long bed) and CrewMax (66.7-inch long bed)
stretch that to 145.7 inches, and finally, the Double Cab Long Bed (97.6-inch
long bed) runs a vast 164.6 inch wheelbase.
In contrast the Dodge Ram 1500 comes in wheelbases starting at 120.5 inches for
the Regular Cab Short Bed, then 140.5 inches for the Regular Cab Long Bed and
Quad Cab Short Bed, and beyond that is a 160.5-inch wheelbase for the Quad Cab
Long Bed. The 2500-series Mega Cab rides on the 160.5-inch wheelbase.
When it comes to overall length the Tundra is 209.8 inches long as a Regular Cab
Short Bed, 228.7 inches long as Regular Cab Long Bed, Double Cab Short Bed or
Crew Max, and 247.5 inches long as a Double Cab Long Bed. The various Dodge Rams
are 207.7, 229.7 or 247.7 inches long.
Go through all the specs one by one and it's apparent that the Tundra is right
next to the Ram in every one - sometimes a little bit smaller, often a little
bit larger. Dimensionally, it's pretty much the same story with the Ford F-150
and Chevrolet Silverado. And it's a significantly bigger truck than the 2006
Tundra which as a Regular Cab or Access Cab measured 218.3 inches long over a
128.3-inch wheelbase and in largest Double Cab form stretched out 230.1 inches
over a 140.5-inch wheelbase.
In short (as if there's anything short about this big Toyota), the Tundra is now
fully as gargantuan as the domestic branded competition.
And it matches that size with some awesome capability. Payloads range from 1,410
to 2,080 pounds and every new V-8-powered Tundra can lug at least 10,100 pounds
behind it. Of course the domestic brand trucks can haul a heck of a lot as well.
In fact the capabilities of all these trucks are at some point academic since
very few of the owners will ever approach them.
The brilliant stuff
Two of the three engines available on the new Tundra are slightly tweaked
versions of familiar engines installed in the outgoing Tundra. The third engine
is new from crankcase to throttle body and probably the finest gasoline-fired
V-8 ever installed in a pickup. And the world is full of great truck engines.
Base powerplant for the new Tundra is a version of Toyota's DOHC, 24-valve,
aluminum block and heads, 4.0-liter V-6 which, in part thanks to VVT-I variable
valve timing, is rated at 236 horsepower at 5200 rpm and a peak 266 pound-feet
of torque at 4000 rpm. The entry level V-8 is Toyota's, DOHC, 32-valve, iron
block, aluminum heads 4.7-liter V-8 which, in part thanks to VVT-I variable
valve timing, is rated at 271 horsepower at 5400 rpm and a peak 313 pound-feet
of torque at 3400 rpm. Both these engines are sweet natured in their power
delivery, smooth in their operation and relatively efficient in their use of
fuel. And both come lashed to a standard, perfectly mannered five-speed
automatic transmission.
It's the biggest engine that impresses the most however. Branded as the iForce
5.7 to the public, it's known as the 3UR-FE within Toyota. Designed around the
same structural architecture as the "1UR-FSE" 4.6-liter V-8 used in the Lexus LS
460 that was introduced last year and assembled at Toyota's plant in Huntsville,
Alabama, this is Toyota's first aluminum block and aluminum head truck V-8. It's
also the most American truck engine the company has built with the aluminum
engine blocks and heads cast by Bodine Aluminum (owned by Toyota) in Troy,
Missouri.
Like the Lexus 1UR-FSE, the 3UR-FE features cast-in iron cylinder liners, dual
overhead cams, four valves over every cylinder and VVT-I variable valve timing
on both the intake and exhaust valves. However while the Lexus engine uses
direct fuel injection, the Tundra engine uses conventional fuel injection. But
the big difference is, naturally, displacement. Both engines have 94-millimeter
cylinder bores, but the Lexus engine's stroke is a short 83 millimeters while
the Tundra engine's stroke is a long 102-millimeters. It's that long stroke that
has the I-Force 5.7 making 401 pound-feet of peak torque at 3600 rpm while the
LS 460's engine makes it's 367 pound-feet of peak torque at a dizzier 4100 rpm.
On top of all that throw in technologies like an "Acoustic Control Induction
System" that uses butterfly valves inside the intake manifold that in two stages
can adjust the length of the intake tract based on throttle position and engine
speed, tubular stainless steel headers feeding an stainless exhaust system, and
the result is a total of 381-horsepower. That makes the I-Force 5.7 the most
powerful engine ever sold by Toyota in North America… car, truck or forklift. It
beats the LS 460's 1UR-FSE by a whole horsepower.
There are a lot of excellent truck engines out there - the 315-horsepower,
5.3-liter Vortec V-8 in the Chevy Silverado, 317-horsepower, 5.6-liter Endurance
V-8 in the Nissan Titan and the 345-horsepower, 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 in the Dodge
Ram to name three - but the Tundra's I-Force 5.7 has them covered with more
power, an utterly seamless delivery of that power, and eerily creamy smoothness
that's almost spooky in its Lexus-ness. Then on top of that Toyota pushes the
new engine's advantage by pairing it with a standard six-speed automatic
transmission.
Using advanced manual counting technology (one-one thousand, two-one thousand,
three-one thousand) during the press introduction of the new Tundra, a
two-wheel-drive 5.7-equipped Regular Cab Short Bed ripped from 0 to 60 in just
about six seconds flat. Except for high-performance sport trucks like the Ford
SVT Lightning and Dodge Ram SRT-10, the new Tundra is likely the quickest
factory pickup ever built. And unlike the SRT-10 or Lightning, it retains all
the usefulness a truck should have while being blisteringly quick.
The combination of the I-Force 5.7 and the six-speed automatic transmission is
simply… brilliant.
The good stuff
While the new Tundra features an all-new frame, all-new suspension system and
all-new everything else, there's nothing surprising in the engineering of its
structure and chassis. The frame is a conventional steel ladder structure with
fully boxed rails for the front half and C-channel members on the back half. The
front suspension is double A-arms and coil springs whether the truck is a 4x2 or
a 4x4 and the rear suspension is a solid axle on leaf springs. There are four
discs behind the standard 18-inch wheels (20s are an option) and ABS, electronic
brake-force distribution and electronic brake assist are standard on all models.
The new Tundra drives as if it were a smaller truck than it actually is. The
rack-and-pinion steering isn't particularly quick, but it's precise and does
provide some feedback to the driver. The ride, even on 4x4 models, is well
controlled and there's not too much nosedive under braking. No truck this size
will squirt through openings like a sports car, but even when hauling trailer in
Kentucky crosswinds the driver never has trouble managing the Tundra's behavior
and decorum. Is it a better chassis than that of the new Silverado or any direct
competitor? That's an argument best left up to future direct comparison tests.
But it's clear that, at the very least, this massive Toyota's road manners are
fully competitive.
In place of a traditional limited slip differential, the Tundra has adopted an
"Automatic Limited Slip Differential" that works with the standard stability
control to provide "computer-controlled cross-axle torque management that allows
some wheel-spin." Whatever. It seems that a traditional mechanical, clutch-type
LSD would be simpler. Time and more exposure under more extreme circumstances
will tell whether the Tundra's system works under more severe circumstances.
The bizarre stuff
Never has any full-size truck from any manufacturer tried as hard to look
impressive as the new Tundra. From the massive trapezoidal grille in front,
through the wedge shaped cabs and onto the bulges along the flanks of the deep
cargo boxes, this is a truck whose designers were determined to be interesting
whether the person looking at the machine were 30 feet or an inch away from it.
There's a strong science fiction theme to the styling - the original Battlestar
Galactica to be specific - that won't please everyone. And it's a startling
break from the previous Tundra that was so conservatively drawn.
Those design themes continue inside the Tundra where the instrumentation lives
burrowed into deep individual tunnels for the tachometer and speedometer, while
the audio system (and optional navigation system) has it's own distinctly
colored center stack just above the straightforward ventilation controls.
Compared to the easily scanned instrumentation in the outgoing Tundra, this new
dashboard is fussy and somewhat inelegant. It's not bad, but like the exterior,
it's trying very, very hard to be interesting.
There's a lot of good in the interior - loads of places to store stuff, a truly
vast center console, and the CrewMax is dang near a limousine with a bed - but
why is Toyota trying so hard?
The disappointing stuff
For what seems like decades, Toyota has been the quality standard against which
other mainstream forms of transportation must be judged. However in the new
Tundra there are some apparent places where the quality of material (at least on
the pre-production vehicles driven at the press event) seems iffy. The dash top
and top of the doors seem to have been cut off rather than molded with plastics
harder than one expects of a Toyota. The massive door latch handles don't have
the heft to be satisfying when they're used.
Of course there's a lot of good material in this new Tundra's insides, the
question is why doesn't all of it seem better than the old Tundra's? If Toyota's
going to set lofty standards with their previous vehicles, it's up to the new
ones to live up to them.
Toyota's goal is to double Tundra sales from 100,000 a year to 200,000 a year
with this new vehicle. With growth in the full-size truck market slowing during
these times of high fuel expense, that increase in volume for Toyota will have
to come from the hides of Dodge, Ford, Chevy, GMC, and Nissan. And Toyota, being
the cash-rich behemoth that it is, can afford to price the new Tundra
aggressively to grab that market share.
But at the same time, it seems that Toyota doesn't have the confidence to be the
conservative player it's always been. If this truck were as cleanly styled as
the new Silverado on the outside and as un-fussy inside as the truck it's
replacing, that and the brilliant I-Force 5.7 would probably be enough to
guarantee Toyota grabbing the market share it seeks. The truck they're putting
on the market however, is more polarizing than that. Some people are simply
going to hate it. And some are going to love it.
Me? I got home from the press event and found my old Tundra where I'd parked it
at the airport. It has 80,000 miles on it now, hasn't given me a lick of trouble
yet, it still drives well and the paint has retained most of its original
luster. The best advertisement for buying a new Tundra when it's finally time to
replace my 2000 is how spectacularly well my old Tundra has held up and
continues to thrive.
But I like my old truck's size and easygoing character better than the new
truck's bulk and intimidation. So I'm in no hurry to get rid of my old truck.
2007 Toyota Tundra Double Cab SR5
Base price: $29,000 (Est.)
Engine: 5.7-liter DOHC V-8, 381 hp
Drivetrain: Six-speed automatic transmission, rear-wheel drive
Length x width x height: 228.7 x 19.9 x 76.0 in
Wheelbase: 145.7 in
Curb weight: 5145 lb
EPA City/Hwy: 16/20 mpg
Safety equipment: Dual front, side and curtain airbags; four-wheel anti-lock
disc brakes
Major standard equipment: Power windows/locks/mirrors; cruise control; CD player
Warranty: Four years/50,000 miles