2004 Toyota Tundra Double Cab Road Test

While the Tundra interior is complete in terms of instrumentation and equipment, it has little appeal in my view. Why? Its design is uninspiring and overall it relies too much on hard plastic surface materials. To

Stylistically, the Tundra is an attractive, yet conservative "wall flower." (Photo: Toyota Canada)

pull died-in-the-wool domestic truck fans away from their Ford, GM and Dodge products, as Toyota hopes to do, the brand will have to work on the curb appeal and interior fashioning of future Tundras. Toyota also competes with Nissan in its quest to convert the orthodox domestic buyer, and the new Titan pickup offers edgier styling, both inside and out, and can brag about larger dimensions, greater engine output and a better executed interior.

But beauty is only body panel deep, so to speak. Purchasers who base their selection on empirical findings may find the Tundra's ride and handling, or reported reliability and better than average fuel economy more suitable to their personal style. But those more reliant on emotion to guide their selection process may pass over the Tundra in favor of the big-rig Dodge Ram, the rakish new Titan or the

Be it snow covered off-road trails or dry highways, the Tundra is very genteel and easy to handle. (Photo: Toyota Canada)

redesigned F150. Stylistically the Tundra is an attractive, yet conservative "wall flower," not a heart pounding looker - and at the school prom we all know that the one who dances first is also the one that dances last, before being taken home. But the prom queen doesn't always make the best life partner.

And neither does the best looking pickup truck, for that matter. If you want further empirical evidence to support a Tundra selection, you'll need to take it out on a test drive. To say the big Tundra Dual Cab drives like a car is not an overstatement. I had the pleasure of piloting the Tundra through winding backroads and heavily rutted, snow covered off-road trails in one of Canada's most spectacular mountainous regions. On the highway or about town, the Tundra is very genteel and easy to handle.