2014 Toyota Tundra: Holding The Middle Ground
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Full-size pickup trucks are a big deal in Canada, with sales figures that trail only the compact car and compact SUV segments. Consequently, it’s in the best interests of major automakers like Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, and Toyota to make sure that they stay in the mix when it comes to building competent, cutting edge trucks. By and large, these companies have answered the call, with a flurry of innovation in the pickup world having been unleashed over the course of the past few years.
I say ‘by and large,’ because the enormous investment in fielding top tier trucks hasn’t been made across the board. Notably absent is Nissan, although the aging Titan has been promised relief in the form of a complete redesign for 2015. And, in several important ways, the Toyota Tundra has been missing in action, too. Yes, the 2014 model year has seen the introduction of a refreshed version of the largest Toyota pickup on the market, but it’s a vehicle that shies away from the innovation that has come to define recent efforts from the Big 3. Toyota has elected to take a middle-ground approach to Canadian full-size truck sales and has adopted what might be the most pragmatic – if unambitious – pickup strategy of its peer group.
What’s New
When I arrived at Toyota’s San Antonio, Texas manufacturing facility (a plant that builds nothing other than the Tundra and its mid-size Tacoma sibling) and got a closer look at the full-size vehicle than I had been given at its introduction in Chicago earlier this year, I was stuck by the new direction taken by its stylists. Although I had always been a fan of the first-generation Tundra’s bold and sculpted looks, there is no question that the 2014 model delivers far more road presence. The secret is the move to flatten and bulk up the vehicle’s front fascia, a variation on the big rig styling that has been so successful for a number of other pickups in the recent past. These edge-heavy cues extend along the sides of the truck and culminate in a detailed tailgate (featuring an integrated spoiler) that ties the entire handsome package together.
More changes are afoot inside, where the Tundra’s dash has been reorganized along a simpler center-cross pattern, with controls for the entertainment and climate systems moved closer to the driver. All versions of the truck now come with the Display Audio touchscreen feature – even the stripped-down SR trim (which slots in below SR5 at the entry level) – and a fresh 1794 Edition has been added to the Tundra line-up. Named after the founding date of the ranch on whose land the truck’s plant now sits, the 1794 Edition joins the Platinum at the top of the vehicle’s luxury ladder, bringing with it tasteful and comfortable brown leather upholstery, as well as wood paneling throughout the cabin.
What’s Not
Once I dug past the 2014 Toyota Tundra’s new style, I discovered that very little of its actual substance had been altered during the course of its redesign. Importantly, this means that the Tundra still makes use of the same 4.6-liter (310 horsepower and 327 lb-ft of torque) and 5.7-liter (381 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque) V8 engines that were available the year before. Both are backed by a six-speed automatic transmission, and can be ordered with the option of four-wheel drive. You will note the absence of a six-cylinder option: Toyota tells us that the company is targeting more upscale customers who prefer V8 power and therefore have elected not to import the V6 mill available in the American market.
The decision to stand pat in the engine bay is a puzzling one, especially in light of the seemingly endless torrent of stem-to-stern drivetrain redesigns that have poured out of Detroit since 2010. Yes, the Tundra’s 5.7-liter mill was ground-breaking when it was first released, but it now feels a bit coarse and rowdy under heavy throttle when compared to its direct-injected contemporaries. Both of the Tundra’s power plants do the job, but they can’t match the efficiency or the sophistication of rival offerings.
On the plus side, a few of the truck’s unchanged elements are welcome. CrewMax buyers still enjoy an absolutely enormous interior that features some of the biggest rear-window openings in the industry. The four-door truck’s back glass also continues to disappear completely at the touch of a button, creating a turnpike-cruise wind flow effect at speed. The Double Cab is respectably roomy, and a Regular cab Tundra remains on the order sheet.
A Missed Opportunity?
The 2014 Toyota Tundra is a good truck. It’s comfortable, spacious, powerful, and capable, and it offers all of the versatility that modern pickup buyers demand. It’s still a little rough around the edges, however – suspension tuning while towing, some interior materials, and the character of its largest engine stand out in that respect – in ways that competing products at similar or better price points are not.
To me, this is the most frustrating aspect of the 2014 Tundra, because there is no reason at all why a company with the resources and track record of Toyota couldn’t have produced a truly excellent pickup with this latest iteration. The Tundra should have crashed out of the gate this year filled with fire and determination to break free from its fourth-tier sales status with a product that either eclipsed the domestics in terms of power, efficiency, and refinement or took them on with the kind of pricing low enough to lure away pickup fans on the fence. Instead, it’s status quo in a tweaked package, a strategy that would seem to condemn the Tundra to continue to soldier forward with the same level of success it has attained since the introduction of the truly full-size model in 2007.
Alternatives to the established pecking order are always welcome, and in that respect the 2014 Toyota Tundra remains a compelling test drive. It could have been – and deserves to be – so much more.
