2024 Toyota Tacoma Hands-On Preview: Adds Hybrid and Trailhunter, Keeps Manual

New Tacoma will come in eight trims; TRD Pro is a standard hybrid, arrives early 2024.

Toyota late Thursday evening debuted the 2024 Toyota Tacoma on Hawaii’s big island. You might think coming all the way out here for a reveal is a little extra, but you underestimate the importance of the Taco. (AutoGuide is also here to drive the new 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander, which you can read/watch about in the near future.)

Think of the Tacoma as Toyota’s F-150. Actually, this mid-sizer is a bigger deal than that; the Tacoma snatches up over 39 percent of its segment, and the Blue Oval’s best-seller only manages 32 in the full-size market. Pfft, slacker. The Tacoma is the best-selling vehicle in Hawaii—not truck, vehicle. Needless to say, this is an important model for Toyota, and the Japanese brand is coming correct with eight trims, a new hybrid powertrain, a wild patent-pending seat—and some classic features for a healthy dose of fan-service.

The Tacoma now sits on the same TNGA-F platform as the Tundra and Sequoia, and as you’d expect, there’s more than a passing family resemblance now. You see it in the functional air intakes right under the squinty headlights. This is still recognizably Taco town, though: the body is narrower, with shorter overhangs reinforcing the Tacoma’s more adventure-ready attitude. In fact, Toyota’s California-based Calty design team officially calls the design theme “Badass Adventure Machine.” So you know, there’s that. There are no less than eight trims, including SR, SR5, Limited, and four different TRD models. Toyota brought for early prototypes for us to poke around: TRD Sport, Limited, TRD Pro, and a whole new Trailhunter trim—more on that further down.

In person, the fourth-gen Taco feels familiar, but modernized. There’s that big hexagonal grille (which Toyota calls a nod to the Hilux), the blocky wheel arches, and the Tundra-aping, slotted-style LED taillights. That’s a good pull from big brother; less appealing is the big chin spoiler that demolishes ground clearance on the Sport and Limited. Toyota didn’t provide us any measurements, but the overall package doesn’t feel much larger than before—a good thing, in our view. That’s based on the four-door Double Cabs on show, though. Did we mention the return of the two-door? Yes, it’s back as the XtraCab. Folks wanting a two-door truck have had precious few choices these last few years, so if you want it, Toyota’s got it.

Under the skin, Toyota has improved chassis rigidity as well, with a reinforced boxed steel frame. Rear leaf springs continue on the SR, SR5 Xtra Cab, and TRD PreRunner. Higher up trims gain a new multi-link coil setup, however. Toyota’s also ditched the rear drum brakes, equipping all Tacomas with discs—and there are larger front and rear rotors based on trim. The Limited debuts the first Tacoma application for Toyota’s Adaptive Variable Suspension too, which should make the chrometastic fancy truck a more relaxed on-road companion. Toyota will also offer an electronic front stabilizer disconnect system.

Big news under the hood too, as the Tacoma expectedly waves goodbye to the ol’ V6. In its place is Toyota’s new workhorse, the 2.4-liter turbo-four cylinder, rebranded as i-Force here. In the base model this will produce 228 hp and 243 lb-ft of torque. All other models bump those numbers up to 278 hp and 317 lb-ft when hooked up to the eight-speed auto.

But remember that fan service we were talking about earlier? Yeah, the six-speed manual returns. It trims 8 hp and 7 lb-ft, but also shows up with auto rev matching and an anti-stall feature. That makes Toyota the company to offer more manuals than anyone else. The TRD Sport on-hand came just so equipped, and even though I couldn’t drive it for obvious reasons, I was able to shift. It felt nice and positive—just like the 2023 model I drove a few months ago.

This being Toyota, of course there’s a hybrid, too. It adds a 48-hp electric motor sandwiched into the transmission, bumping outputs to 326 hp and a massive 465 lb-ft of torque. As Toyota highlights, that’s nearly double the old V6’s peak. Progress, baby.

Maximum towing capacity is 6,500 pounds with the i-Force auto. Toyota is still ironing out payload capacities, but did reveal the hybrid can haul up to 1,709 pounds.

The rough-and-tumble TRD Pro returns to crown the lineup, and it comes packed with the hybrid i-Force Max as standard along with the latest FOX Quick Switch 3 adjustable internal-bypass shocks and red TRD upper control arms. It sits a full two inches higher than the SR5, and is three inches wider. Of course, you’ll also find unique, rugged styling cues outside, including an integrated light bar, fog lamps, ARB rear metal bumper, and TRD front aluminum skid plate. 33-inch Goodyear All-Terrain tires round out the package.

Inside the TRD Pro features a unique dampened seat, which Toyota is calling the IsoDynamic Performance Seat. The goal is to dampen body movements and keep the driver’s head level to focus on the task ahead. The system is adjustable too, as drivers can set them based on weight, height, and preference—or even turn it off if they see fit. The whole system looks wicked cool and we can’t wait to see how it performs out in the wild.

Speaking of the wild, say hello to Trailhunter. Presented first as a concept last year, this latest Toyota trim debuts on the new 2024 Tacoma. This factory-built overlander features unique Old Man Emu forged shocks co-developed with ARB, along with a whole smattering of extra gear like a metal rear bumper, bed utility bar, and an available bed rack. There’s a high-mount air intake up front, and those same 33-inch tires down below. Available in either 5- or 6-foot bed lengths and equipped with the hybrid as standard, the Trailhunter features its own unique bronze design features to set it apart.

Toyota will debut a new accessory program with the Trailhunter, offering over 100 dealer-installed accessories for further customization.

Look, I was not a fan of the last Tacoma interior. I could forgive the basic feel—some folks just want a simple work truck—but the seats were rough. No longer: the seats in all four trucks here are comfortable, plenty adjustable, and in the higher trims, powered too. Toyota promises three times the amount of under-seat space in the second row of gas models as well. There’s a lockable storage space in the two-door—but sadly, there wasn’t one for us to poke around.

The cabin design is very Tundra: think blocky, with plenty of contrasting materials and body-colored highlights. I’ll withhold judgment until I see an actual production model, but even these early builds feel so much more modern and substantial than the current truck. There’s a chunky auto shifter and two different front center console designs. Both prop the wireless cell charger upwards; there’s a nice little plastic wedge to hold it in place, but the screen will still be a distraction. Toyota has dropped in its two modern touchscreens, either 8.0- or 14.0-inches depending on trim, but has mercifully kept many physical controls, including the chunky climate knobs. Thank you, Toyota. Higher trims also bring in a digital instrument cluster. Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 is standard across the board, massively improving the Tacoma’s driver assist suite.

The 2024 Toyota Tacoma will arrive before the end of the year, with the i-Force Max models showing up early 2024. Based on our brief time with this quartet, Toyota’s done a great job modernizing the package in a segment that has seen a whole bunch of new metal lately. We’ll see if it holds onto that 39 percent.

Discuss this and other 2024 Toyota Tacoma news on 4thgentacoma.com.

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