Toyota Tundra

The Toyota Tundra is a full-size pickup truck sold by Toyota, replacing the Toyota T100. It is simliar to the Toyota Sequoia, and Toyota Tacoma. The Tundra was nominated for the North American Truck of the Year award and was Motor Trend magazine's Truck of the year for the year 2000. The Tundra currently owns 5.6 percent of the fullsize market, and is built in San Antonio, Texas, and Gibson County, Indiana.

First generation (2000-2006)

Publicly introduced in May 1999 as a 2000 model, the Tundra was initially to be called the T150. However, Ford and automotive pundits felt that this name was too close to the market-leading Ford F-150, and following a lawsuit by Ford, the truck was quickly renamed as the Tundra.

Toyota countersued and forced Ford to change the name of their Lincoln LS6 and LS8 (introduced around the same time as the Tundra), as Toyota felt that it was too close to that of its iconic Lexus LS sedan. However, this lawsuit fell through, and the Lincoln was named LS.

The Tundra was larger than the T100, but still suffered the perception of being too small and carlike to pose a serious threat to the domestic pickup trucks. Although sales were double the dismal rate of the T100, the 120,000 Tundra's sold each year failed to impact sales of the surging Ford and GM trucks, though it arguably took some sales from Dodge. Still, it garnered impressive honors, including Motor Trend's Truck of the Year award for 2000 and Best Full- Size Truck from Consumer Reports. Built in a new Toyota plant in Princeton, Indiana, with 65 percent domestic content, the Tundra showed that Toyota was serious about closing the gap on the Big Three.

The grille was updated for 2003 and the Double Cab version was added to the lineup in 2004. The Double Cab model was a true crew cab with four normal doors, with interior and exterior details copied from the Toyota Sequoia. Its bed is nearly 5 inches longer than the competing Nissan Titan or Ford F-150. It is also 13 inches longer and 3 inches taller than the Regular and Access cab versions. A new engine was introduced in 2005: a 4.0 liter V6 rated at 236 horsepower and 266 ft-lb of torque, and the existing 4.7 liter V8 was updated with Toyota's VVT-i variable valve timing technology and was rated at 271 horsepower and 313 ft-lbs of torque. The 5-speed manual gave way to a 6-speed manual, and a 5-speed automatic replaced the 4-speed. With a towing capacity of just 6,800 lb (on the Double Cabs) and a 7,100 pounds towing capacity on the Access Cabs and Regular Cabs with a V8 engine, it still did not have enough muscle to compete with the heavy-duty offerings of the Big Three and Nissan. Domestic truck afficionados still derided it as a "7/8 scale" pickup.

• 
  2-door Toyota Tundra (First generation)
• 
  Rear of Toyota Tundra Flareside

Second generation (2007-Present)

A much larger Tundra was introduced at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show. It had lifted cues of it's smaller brother the Toyota Tacoma along with some cues from the Toyota FTX concept truck. The truck had many enhancements, such as a towing capacity of over 10,000 lbs, a payload capacity of over 2000 lbs, and a new 5.7 liter V8 that produces 381 horsepower and 401 pound feet of torque. The 4.7 liter V8 and 4.0 liter V6 are also avalible in the new generation Tundra.

2007 Tundra regular cab

The truck is avalible in 31 body configurations that include 3 engines, 3 cab configurations, 3 bed lengths, 2 transmissions, and 4 wheelbases. The new Double Cab replaces the previous generations Access Cab, and the all new Crew Max replaces the previous generations Double Cab, it is also built to compete with the Dodge Ram Mega Cab. The Double Cab is avalible with a 6 and a half foot bed regular bed or an 8 foot long bed, while the Crew Max is only avalible with a 5 and a half foot short bed. The Tundra also features a new 6-speed automatic transmission with a manual shift mode which is standard with the 5.7 liter, and gives it a 0-60 time of a scant 6.3 seconds, and a quarter mile time of 14.7 seconds. The 5.7 liter is a VVT-i (Varible Valve Timing with intelligence) engine, which is built to deliever power and fuel economy. The Tundra 5.7 liter 2x4's are rated to deliever an estimated 20 miles to the gallon on the highway.

Toyota also made the new Tundra useful for many construction workers, by including extra large door handles, deck rail system, integrated tow hitch, and headrests that can fit a worker with his hard hat on. The Tundra also includes a limited slip differential, locking rear differential, Down Hill Assist Control (DAC), Hill Side Assist Control (HAC), and tailgate assist. Toyota also included a 400 watt/100 watt power outlett mounted in the bed, for all models that come with the Toyota Racing Development (TRD) package.

Some other changes Toyota included in the new Tundra are tow mirrors, a 27 gallon fuel tank, available 20 inch alloy wheels, extra-large door handles, integrated tow hitch, backup camera, bluetooth, large center console(big enough to fit a labtop), extra-large disc brakes, and the aformentioned 6-speed automatic transmission.

The all new Tundra is assembled in two different locations, both inside the United States. The Standard and Double Cabs are assembled in Gibson County, Indiana, while the Crew Max are assembled in "Truck Country" San Antonio, Texas. Toyota Motor Company will assemble around 150,000 Standard and Double Cabs, and only 70,000 Crew Max's in 2007. In 2008 the production of the Crew Max will increase by 20 percent, as well as the Standard and Double Cab's.

Sales

The Toyota Tundra has been on the market for more than half a decade, and it still has done little damage in sales to the Big 3. According to Autodata the Tundra has already captured 5.6 percent of the full size market. While sales have risen from 2006, in March 2006 Toyota sold 11,754 Tundra's and in March 2007, Toyota sold 13,447 Tundra's, but has not taken a signficant market share from the Ford F150, Chevy Silverado, and Dodge Ram. The Wall Street Journal reports the new larger Tundra has "gotten off to a slow start" despite discounting. This may be due to a launch that was much worst than expected for Toyota. Toyota may fall short of its modest goal to sell over 200,000 Tundra's from Feburary 2007 to Feburary 2008.

Hybrid

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe has stated that he would like to develop a hybrid electric version of the Tundra. However, Toyota faces several technical challenges that it must overcome before it could bring such a vehicle to market.

According to Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Toyota is considering developing a gasoline electric hybrid Tundra, for sale in North America around 2010.

Toyota may also introduce a diesel electric hybrid system for the Tundra. In Japan, the Toyota Dyna and Hino Dutro are light trucks produced by the Toyota Group that use diesel electric hybrid systems. The Hino Ranger is a medium to heavy duty cab-over truck that could also provide hybrid technology for the next generation Tundra.

Nascar

In 2004, the Tundra joined the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and got its first win at Michigan International Speedway on July 31 that year. In 2006, the Tundra got Toyota's first manufacturer championship winning 12 of the 25 races. The model also got the driver and owner championship with Todd Bodine and Germain Racing.

Trivia

• Some prototypes of the Tundra were given to racing legends Ivan "Ironman" Stewart and Rod Millen.

• A Toyota Tundra was featured in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines along with fellow Toyota Lexus SC, and in 2003 the truck was also available in a special edition inspired by this movie and called Tundra T3.

• A Double Cab version of Tundra was unveiled at the 2003 Chicago Auto Show and joined the Regular and Access Cab models in the 2004 lineup.

• The boxing reality series "The Contender" used a Toyota Tundra in both seasons as a training vehicle and as a grand prize give away along with cash to the winner.

• Starting with episode 2 of the ongoing NBC reality show Treasure Hunters, each team was given a Tundra for use throughout the game.

• In the Fox TV series 24, a 2nd gen Tundra can be seen being driven by Jack Bauer and Doyle during the 10:00-12:00 episodes of the show.

• Toyota supplied a pair of Tundras as the lead and follow cars for the 2007 buggy sweepstakes at Carnegie Mellon University.

External links

Commons: Toyota Tundra – Sammlung von Bildern, Videos und Audiodateien

• Toyota Tundra Official Site
• Toyota Truck Club - Forums and More.
• Toyota Tundra Questions
• Toyota Tundra Road Test