Furthermore, the truck's new 2.7-litre, 4-cylinder, 16-valve, DOHC, VVT-i base engine provides 164-horsepower at 5,200 rpm and
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| The truck's new 2.7-litre, 4-cylinder, 16-valve, DOHC, VVT-i base engine provides 164-horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 183 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 rpm. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
183 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 rpm, besting the former 2.4-litre Tacoma engine which produced 142 horsepower and 160 lb-ft. of torque. My temporary Tacoma tester came with the standard five-speed manual transmission with overdrive, but can also be had with a four-speed ECT automatic. I generally find that five-speed manuals in trucks tend to have quite long and springy gear throws, but not the Tacoma. It is quite an agreeable truck to drive, especially in the city. When stuck in gridlocked traffic, the clutch wasn't too tough to push in and the shifts were not too far apart.
What also made the Toyota Tacoma a pleasant city truck was its suspension. Every Tacoma comes with sturdy front double-wishbones and coil springs, and solid rear axle with a compliant multi-leaf spring suspension. I wasn't wobbling left, right and centre when I hit a bump or a jump on the road,
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| While the front upholstered cloth bucket seats were comfortable, the same can't be said for the small backseats. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
and wasn't aching when exiting the truck after a good while behind the wheel. The front upholstered cloth bucket seats were comfortable to be strapped into because of their generous support, but I can't say the same for the rear seats, if I would even call them seats. I would rather call them a glorified padded lid for the multipurpose storage compartment which lies underneath. While the lid-seats are functional, having been fitted with safety restraints, the upright seating position isn't comfortable at all. I would not want to put adults, or for that matter kids, into the back seats for an extended period of time. The Tacoma line does offer a Double Cab model, however, which comfortably seats three, without the bench-like qualities.
