Driven: The New Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro Flips the Script From Simple to Super

The Toyota Tacoma has always been the safe play. You want good resale value? You got it. Want reliability? Look at the badge on the grille. Want simplicity? It just ditched rear drum brakes last year. And while my only evidence is anecdotal, I believe that’s why the Tacoma has topped the segment’s sales charts for more than two decades running. So what happens now that Toyota has flipped the script and turned the Tacoma TRD Pro into a complex hybrid performance pickup?

It’s too early to call, but at this stage, it’s impressive. I have no idea how the electrified 2.4-liter turbo engine will hold up in the long run, nor am I sure how durable the red leather is on the interior. But you know what I can tell you? The front seats have friggin’ air shocks in ‘em. That’s crazy. 

There are other trims for people who prefer a typically tame Toyota, but the TRD Pro Taco isn’t it. It’s the one to compete with the Ford Ranger Raptor and Chevy Colorado ZR2, except it has more torque than both of ‘em. You pay for that, too, as it’s also the most expensive of the bunch. It’s a departure from the Tacoma you and I have always known, for better or worse, and it’s here for a good time if not for a long one.

The Basics

For the new generation, the Tacoma shares more in common with its Tundra big brother than it ever did before, and it’s even evident in the truck’s styling. While they have their differences, like their headlight designs and side profiles, it wouldn’t be hard to confuse the Tacoma for a Tundra from afar. Both of them are all angles with sharp lines jutting out everywhere, from the front fenders and doors to the bedsides. The Tacoma is smaller but not by that much, and they even ride on the same body-on-frame platform these days.

And if you showed someone the interior, it would be almost impossible to tell the Tacoma and Tundra apart—especially the hybrids. Both TRD Pro models have red upholstery throughout (Tacoma also comes in black), plus a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 14.0-inch infotainment display. Thankfully, buttons and switches still adorn the lower half of the center stack. The only difference—which is a big one, I admit—is the crazy pneumatic suspension in the Tacoma TRD Pro’s seatbacks.

Driving the Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro

The Tacoma lineup offers two powertrains: a gas-only 2.4-liter turbo four and a hybrid version of that same engine. As you might expect, the TRD Pro model comes exclusively with the latter, meaning it makes 326 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque. An eight-speed automatic transmission handles the shifts and sends power to the rear or all four wheels through a true two-speed transfer case. It’ll run around on electric power only for a while, but once the ICE kicks in, it growls. It’s kinda fun if you’re a 12-year-old like me.

Having just tested a new Land Cruiser with this same powertrain the week before, I was curious if the Tacoma TRD Pro would be so… boring. I mean, it doesn’t look like it would be, but I almost loathed the 2.4-liter hybrid in the other application because it was that dull. I’m glad to report that isn’t the case with this peppy pickup, which supports my statement that Toyota tuned all the fun out of the Land Cruiser so people would still have a reason to buy the 4Runner.

Sorry, sorry. I’m here to talk about the Tacoma. It’s good in every scenario where it fits with its wide haunches and tall body straddling every gully from here to the coast. I was thankful for that height more than once while driving it around my family’s creekside property as I never once got it to drag its belly—an impressive feat where I live. The terrain is pretty much all gravel that’s often loose, and with some pretty deep pits, I’m able to test out a rig’s ground clearance as well as its approach angle, departure angle, and suspension articulation.

You can see what that looks like here in the TRD Pro. I’m a pretty tall feller at six-foot-five and climbing back in from taking these pictures took a mighty stretch. It didn’t phase the truck, though:

I had the Tacoma’s transfer case in 4LO there with its Multi-Terrain Select system set to Loose Rock mode. It’s almost like it was made for this! That MTS tech controls wheelspin at low speeds by modulating the throttle and brakes automatically. It’s handy if not entirely necessary much like Crawl Control, the off-road cruise function for going up and down steep grades that’s vastly improved for this generation.

Nothing around my humble abode could really stump the TRD Pro. That’s what you want when you own a $67,000 truck, of course, but it also proves the truck’s excessiveness. Unless you live near the desert (or drive a semi, I guess), when will you ever need air-sprung seats? You won’t, and I couldn’t truly test those high-performance thrones at high enough speeds to tell how big of a difference they make. I assume they could save your back while bashing through the Baja, but will anyone in the middle of the country ever need them? Probably not.

Instead, people who buy these will need to carry stuff and maybe even people in the backseats. That’s undoubtedly the TRD Pro’s biggest flaw because with those bulky front chairs, there is absolutely no room to sit behind them. Midsizers aren’t that roomy to begin with, and once you add in furniture like this, you might as well forget it. Just take the backseats out and mount a cooler or something. Or, if you insist on getting a top-tier Tacoma and you need to carry people in the backseat, get the Trailhunter. That thing is chock-full of off-road accessories and has the same hybrid powertrain, just without the seats that are cool in concept but less than ideal in everyday execution.

I also towed a side-by-side with the Tacoma TRD Pro, which was a super experience. The Can-Am Maverick R is 2,250 pounds on its own without any gas, and the utility trailer it was parked on weighs right around 1,500. Toyota rates the truck’s max towing capacity at 6,000 pounds so we were well underneath that at only 4,000 or so. Still, it’s a load that owners will realistically tow and there was plenty of power for interstate cruising. Can you imagine saying that about the old, anemic V6? I can’t. And better yet, it was perfectly stable. I had fun cosplaying as a well-off jerk for the day and if I actually were one, then hey, I’d probably cop both of these machines, too.

The Highs and Lows

Y’know, as much as I didn’t like the 2.4-liter turbo hybrid in the Land Cruiser, it’s one of the best parts about the Tacoma TRD Pro. The loud exhaust roars like a big cat when the gas engine kicks on, and it’s just as much of a caricature as the rest of the truck. Since it isn’t full-time 4WD like the Land Cruiser, it’s quick to throw gravel when you have it in two-wheel drive, and it can crawl at low speeds or haul at high ones with a load on the back. This powertrain just suits the Tacoma so much better.

I just wish people could sit in the backseat. I would feel bad asking anybody to ride behind me if I was driving—even my six-year-old son. Sure, the air shocks are a cool gimmick, but the trade-off just isn’t worth it if you drive the truck every day.

Tacoma TRD Pro Features, Options, and Competition

The TRD Pro and Trailhunter sit alongside each other as flagships of the Tacoma lineup. Clearly, the TRD Pro’s focus is on wide-open performance, which is why it gets Fox QS3 internal bypass shocks with rear remote reservoirs rather than the Trailhunter’s Old Man Emu suspension that’s meant for lower speeds. That also explains why it’s the only trim with those IsoDynamic front seats. The TRD Pro’s LED headlights also get a unique signature while the 18-inch black alloy wheels are trim-specific too.

As far as options go, the TRD Pro is pretty much loaded from the get-go. My tester had a few extras including mud flaps ($200), a bed mat ($70), a bed rail Go Pro mount ($56), a dash cam ($499), and a trailer camera ($1,550). You could probably survive without those, save for the mud flaps if you care about your rig’s paint.

This Toyota mainly competes with the Ford Ranger Raptor ($57,065 base) and Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 ($51,195) as it’s in a league above the more pedestrian but still good Nissan Frontier Pro-4X. Of those, the Tacoma TRD Pro is the priciest by far. Thankfully, it makes the most torque with 465 lb-ft compared to the Ford and Chevy’s 430 lb-ft. It’s right in the middle in terms of hp, making 16 more ponies than the Colorado’s 2.7-liter but 79 less than the Blue Oval’s 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6. It’s the only hybrid of the bunch, but its suspension is also the least advanced given the Ford’s Fox LiveValve shocks and the Bowtie’s Multimatic DSSV dampers.

Fuel Economy

Driving the Tacoma TRD Pro, I wasn’t all that impressed with the fuel mileage. Looking at this sheet helps me realize that it could have been a lot worse, though. It’s still pretty thirsty for a hybrid, but it clearly has the leg up on the gas-only Ranger Raptor, Colorado ZR2, and Frontier Pro-4X. It should be noted, though, that the Frontier is the only rig with a naturally aspirated engine and it got second place.

Value and Verdict

When I tested the previous-gen Tacoma TRD Pro in 2023, I said it was a solid truck you should skip. People hated me for it then, but my argument was that for $50,000, it’d be better to wait for the next-gen truck with hybrid power and other modern hardware (y’know, like disc brakes). Looking back, it’s hard for me to say if I was right.

On the one hand, I think this new high-po Tacoma is way more fitting of the TRD Pro badge. It’s a true competitor to the Ranger Raptor and Colorado ZR2 whereas the old one just wasn’t that exciting. It was simple, though, and I have a feeling most folks will miss that a few years down the line. Plus, it’s so much more expensive now—the 2023 Tacoma TRD Pro that I drove stickered for $51,229 whereas this 2024 model is $67,974. Wow.

The performance is there, no doubt, and it’s darn near a midsize super truck. You just have to pay to play, and my guess is if you’re in the market for a pickup like this, you can afford to.

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