Toyota Builds Raptor Mini-Me
Ford's Raptor has sort of turned the continent's truck market on its ear. Exposing the deep seated desire for regular Joes to turn into dune-busting baja maniacs if they so choose, the unique SVT product has clearly had an effect down the road, where Toyota's engineers have obviously been working on their own mini-me version of the burly F-series.
And the result is this: the Tacoma TRD T/X Baja Edition. Although we might prefer the simplicity offered by the Raptor name tag, the Tacoma's chops seem to be in keeping with the spirit of a Baja-prepared prerunner, with a 2" suspension lift, BF Goodrich T/A KO off road tires, Bilstein race shocks, a locking differential, and bead-lock inspired wheels. Under the hood, the perennial 4.0L V6 prevails, and can be backed with either the six speed manual or five speed automatic gearbox.