When Toyota first announced it was coming out with a full-size pickup truck to go head to head with the big boys from Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, the question arose as to whether an import could truly compete as a heavyweight. The answer is in: The new Toyota Tundra is now ready to take on any American-made pickup truck -- on all levels.

Superiority? Toyota is pulling no punches by introducing one of the biggest, strongest, and most capable vehicles in the segment, as well as investing billions in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in the heart of truck country-San Antonio, Texas. Significance? With Toyota looking to more than double its presence in the hotly contested half-ton marketplace, the Tundra represents one of the most highly anticipated new vehicle launches in many years -- car or truck. Value? The new Tundra offers three different powertrains (one V-6 and two V-8s), with the 5.7-liter V-8 a high-tech wonder and torque monster -- and is among the most powerful engines in any half-ton configuration. Toyota's platform has the entire segment covered with three different bed sizes, three separate wheelbases covering five different cab and bed configurations, combined with three different trim packages (Tundra Grade, SR5, and Limited) in 4x4 and 4x2 drivetrains -- 44 different truck flavors to interested buyers, from work truck to luxury touring.

Offering that kind of variety right out of the gate is impressive and ambitious; in fact, some might say too ambitious. The recent launch of the new Tundra has not been without a few hiccups. Several months ago, an early output of camshafts in the 5.7-liter V-8 were failing. Toyota tells us they traced down all the affected parts to a specific batch and have since made the corrections to the design. No failures have surfaced since. More recently, there have been some reports of transmission shudder under certain low-speed conditions, which dealers have traced to a torque converter issue. Toyota says these incidents were isolated and have also been resolved. And finally, there's been chatter on the Internet concerning tailgate problems, which Toyota is in the process of tracking down. Our guess is many of these stories spread like wildfire, given the lightning-rod effect this new truck is having with enthusiasts and the speed with which an Internet item can travel. With all that said, let's take a deeper look at what's special about our 2008 winner.