Pro truck series display their true mettle off-road
Like alligators released to Everglades
WOLSELEY BAY, ONT. • Ontario’s French River region, just an hour south of Sudbury and on ground dominated by windswept pines and deciduous trees in all their crowning fall glory, is a land of immeasurable beauty. Clear black lakes, massive slabs of granite or limestone and some of the most stunning topography in Canada combine with one obvious fact: Not a lot of people know about this gem.
It’s here Toyota chose to align its long history of trucks in Canada with its newest, most capable offroad versions, the TRD Pro models of Tundra, Tacoma and 4Runner. No, there’s not a lot of “new” in these trucks, aside from the striking Voodoo Blue colour for 2019, joining the white and black of previous years. No new engines, no new transmissions, no interior upgrades or obvious tech. But the incremental changes to the TRD Pro trucks speak not only to their excellent resale and reliability, but to Toyota’s way of doing things: Fix what doesn’t work — hence, only subtle changes.
That much was evident over the two or three kilometres of greasy, muddy, rocky and stumpy earth, where these trucks took to an off-road course like alligators released to the Everglades. How casually they brushed off steep inclines or descents, bouncing off boulders or large logs. How easily they chewed up every trail put in front of them, slicing through water, sand and silt.
Some argue the TRD Pro models don’t offer much over the standard versions, and there might be some weight to that, partly because the standard trucks do such a good job of holding their own off-road. But the TRD Pro versions give the these trucks just that much more of an edge, and they tend to look highly unique. There’s no mistaking a Pro model for anything else and their limited numbers keep them highly coveted.
TACOMA
About that snorkel on the Tacoma: Yes, the reason for a snorkel is so you can wade through deeper water and not suck water into the intake. But the snorkel on the Taco doesn’t change the truck’s fording depth (basically to the bottom of the doors), it’s only meant to reduce the amount of dirt and dust sucked into the filter by drawing air from a cleaner location than the front wheel well where it is located on other Tacomas. In fact, Toyota doesn’t even call this a snorkel, instead naming it a “desert air intake” to help the 278-horsepower V6 breathe cleaner in off-road conditions.
Other key additions for the Tacoma TRD Pro include enhanced, 2.5-inch Fox shocks with eight bypass zones in the front to handle varying road conditions. These pair with TRD springs that add one inch of lift. The rear Fox shocks are also 2.5 inches, but get 11 bypass zones and two-inch remote reservoirs. The front skid plate gets red TRD lettering, while the exhaust tip, 16-inch TRD wheels (that add one inch of track) and heritage grille are black. Inside, a sunroof and heated leather seats are standard. TRD Pro Tacomas come only as double cabs — four doors — with five-foot short boxes, priced from $52,870.
4RUNNER
Last year’s Cavalry Blue option on the 4Runner TRD Pro followed 2016’s Cement grey, so 2019’s Voodoo Blue continues the pattern of a new, individual colour for each model year. This same blue was also used on the discontinued but beloved FJ Cruiser. The colour change is one of three key changes to the 4Runner TRD Pro, the other being a move to the same Fox shocks as the Tacoma. Having driven the former 4Runner extensively, the new shocks feel pretty much the same as the old Bilsteins. They’re perhaps slightly firmer in the bends and better at resisting wind gusts, but still good on- and off-road.
The third addition is a larger, taller roof rack that will be good for holding more gear, but worse for underground or low-ceiling garages. The one-inch wider track over regular 4Runners certainly helps stability, and the 17-inch Nitto Terra Grappler tires are fantastic at handling off-road driving, along with highway and street duty. Like the Tacoma and Tundra, the 4Runner gets a quarter-inch-thick front skid plate with red TRD lettering. Still built in Japan, the 2019 4Runner TRD Pro starts at $56,580.
TUNDRA
Absent for the 2018 model year, the Tundra TRD Pro is back for 2019 after its debut in 2016, receiving much of the same body armour and badging as before, but now available in that Voodoo Blue (as well as black or white). New Fox shocks, with more bypass zones than the Tacoma and 4Runner, highlight the mechanical changes, while TRD-tuned springs add two-inches of front lift.
Like the Tacoma, the Tundra Pro now gets Rigid Industries front fog lights to go along with the LED headlamps that regular Tundras also get. Heated leather seats, a sunroof, GPS navigation and blind-spot monitoring are standard. A redesigned heritage grille, dual exhaust with black tips (that sounds more throaty than a regular Tundra), a hood scoop and revised 18-inch BBS forged aluminum wheels that reduce weight, all remain unique to the Tundra TRD Pro, which starts at $63,900 before freight and fees.
HOW CASUALLY THEY BRUSHED OFF STEEP INCLINES OR DESCENTS, BOUNCING OFF BOULDERS OR LARGE LOGS.