Anything you can do, I can do better.
That’s the mindset that all car companies work to. Which is why, whenever a brand releases a successful new model its rivals will rush a competitor out to meet them in sales battle. Which is why, after years of car company executives claiming that America’s upsized pickup trucks weren’t worth the cost and complexity of importing and selling here, they now all do it.
READ MORE: How to win a Toyota Tundra and caravan
Ram was the first to give it a go, found almost immediate success and is now inundated with rivals like the Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150 and the car we’re reviewing here, the Toyota Tundra. The Japanese brand was late to the party, but in typical Toyota fashion was determined to take a slow and steady approach to ensure it got the program right the first time. It reportedly spent six years working with the Walkinshaw Automotive Group, which is behind the right-hand drive conversion of the Ram and Chevrolets, in order to ensure the Tundra in Australia lives up to its standard of quality and reliability.
So, was it worth the wait?
We recently drove the Tundra Limited to find out if Toyota has lived up to its own standards, but if it also offers something to make it stand out in what is becoming a surprisingly crowded market for these Yankee utes.
Obviously the Toyota name carries a lot of weight in the Australian ute market thanks to the decades of success for the HiLux. But just because the smaller ute is beloved, that doesn’t mean people looking at these newer American-sourced models will be automatically won over. The Ram 1500 and Chevy Silverado have the advantage of being here earlier, while the F-150 is more well-known and has a reputation as the American favourite to lean on. So, as its way, Toyota has found a way to set itself apart from what’s on offer, and that comes in the form of its hybrid powertrain.
While Toyota Australia has made a success of hybrids without a fancy name, Toyota USA calls its hybrids i-Force Max. The grandly named system pairs a 290kW/649Nm twin-turbo V6 petrol engine with a 36kW/250Nm electric motor for a combined output of 326kW/790Nm.
The Tundra is capable of towing up to 4500kg, which is an extra tonne on top of what the HiLux can manage. So even though there will be big ute buyers that miss the sound of a V8, this hybrid V6 offers up all the performance you need, even in something this big.
And it certainly is big, capable of going inch-for-inch against what Ram, Chevy and Ford offer. The Tundra is actually built on the same fundamental underpinnings as the LandCruiser 300 Series, the so-called TNGA-F ladder-frame platform. However, for the Tundra it’s been stretched by 850mm in length and 70mm in width at the rear to make the pickup as practical as can be.
It measures 5995mm long, 2040mm wide and 1985mm high, which makes for an imposing figure on the road. It looks the part too, blending some traditional Toyota styling elements but also scaling itself up to look the part in this ‘tough truck’ market.
The size does make it challenging to drive in Australia’s smaller urban environments, but the more time you spend behind the wheel the more comfortable you become. You will need to learn its size and where you can and can’t take it, because it doesn’t fit into every car park or parking space; certainly not easily.
The flipside of the bulk is what a spacious interior the Tundra offers up. It’s incredibly roomy, with space for five adults, which really does make these big American pickups feel more like a comfortable SUV rather than a workhorse.
This extra space along with the greater towing capacity are the key selling points for these kinds of utes and the Tundra ticks the boxes on both fronts.
Where it is surprisingly disappointing is some of the smaller details. For example, the air-conditioning controls are still set-up for a left-hand drive vehicle, so the passenger-side temperature button is the primary control and adjusts both sides, rather than the driver’s side. It’s a small thing, but given the air-con is something you’ll use regularly, it is something that could become frustrating to owners long-term.
Of course, the other major challenge for convincing people to buy a Tundra is the price, with the Limited starting from $155,990 (plus on-road costs). That’s a lot of money for a ute, even one as big and practical as this one, but it also positions it higher than its rivals. Ford’s F-150 line-up is priced from $106,950 and tops out at $140,945, while the Chevy Silverado 1500 starts from $130,500 and the Ram 1500 range starts at $141,950 for its new six-cylinder model.
That could explain the relatively slow sales start (especially by Toyota’s usual high standards) for the Tundra, which is a firm fourth behind the Ram, Chevy and Ford; in that order.
But it’s also simply a matter of this big American pickup market only being so big in Australia and sometimes what you offer isn’t obviously better than what your competition is doing…
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