2016 Toyota Tundra 1794 Edition: Almost There

If you’ve ever read a non-domestic pickup truck review before, they usually come to the same conclusion: it’s a great effort, but there is still a ways to go before a foreign brand truck is on par with one of the American brands. I always ask myself if there is an inherent built-in bias toward the Big Three.

I mean, how could Toyota or Nissan after all these years continue to come up short when attempting to take on the Big Three? These automakers are capable of making some of the best cars in the world so why can’t they also make the best trucks? Time to find out.

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I was very impressed when I first sat in the Toyota Tundra 1794 Edition at the Montreal Auto Show two years ago. In fact, I liked it more than any of the other pickup at the time. The interior was essentially on par with a Lexus, with beautiful leather seats combined with wood panelling on the dash, shifter and steering wheel. Some of the plastic trim and buttons fell a little short in the quality department, which was a bit of a surprise, but overall it was very nice and very comfortable.

The 1794 edition is basically the Tundra Platinum with extra cowboy branding to have it compete with The Ford F-150 King Ranch or Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn editions. Toyota came up with this name because it’s the founding year of the former ranch on which its San Antonio assembly plan is located.

Toyota employs a touchscreen infotainment system which gets the job done, but remains a little rudimentary. It took some getting used to, but after a while it was fine. I will point out that the climate control information is on a small panel that is angled slightly down toward the floor which is perplexing. The taller the driver is, the more difficult this information is to discern because the viewing angle is cut off. Another point of contention for me was the lack of a pushbutton engine start which should be standard equipment.

Under the hood of the 1794 Edition we find Toyota’s 5.7-litre V8 which produces 381 horsepower and 401 lb.-ft. of torque. Starting it produces the deep throaty sound that any V8 should. This being a Toyota and Toyota being known for fuel efficiency, I had hoped they’d be able to make a similarly fuel-efficient truck. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here as the Tundra’s observed fuel economy was 17.7 L/100 km. It’s better than the 19 L/100 km I observed in the Ford F-150 with the 5.0-litre V8, but still too high.

Interestingly enough, there are no diesel or V6 engine options for the Tundra. It’s almost as if they are trying too hard to fit in with the truck crowd and couldn’t envision having anything else but a V8. What’s ironic is that Ford has come out with much smaller powerplants such as their 2.7-litre EcoBoost V6. Toyota should follow suit and revamp the engine options on the next Tundra.

On the road, I found the Tundra to be very pleasant and relaxing to drive. It feels light and has great steering and braking response, particularly for a truck. The six-speed automatic transmission is smooth and never hesitates. Switching to four-wheel drive is similarly a breeze using the dash-mounted dial. In terms of daily driving comfort, Toyota has the Tundra right on par with the Big Three. Contrary to most reviews of the Tundra which describe a harsh ride, I have to say that the ride is very nice and the truck drives smaller than it is. I’ll accept being in the minority opinion on this one because I enjoyed the ride, plain and simple.

I didn’t get the chance to tow anything, but for those who need to, the truck has a max payload of 1181 kilograms (2600 pounds) and a max towing capacity of 4772 kilograms (10,500 pounds).

The 2016 Tundra 1794 Edition comes in at $59,810, which is $440 more than the standard Platinum trim level. That $440 gets you chrome front bumper caps, silver bumper centre, chrome grille surround, woodgrain and leather steering wheel, woodgrain shifter, premium leather seating and 20-inch wheels.

While the 2016 Tundra is a very good truck and a valiant effort to unseat the Big Three, there are still a few items to be worked out. Watch out for the next generation, however, because one more iteration ought to bring Toyota to parity with the Americans.