If the 270hp figure is correct, its going to present a marketing and performance problem when compared to the GM twins. I guess they cant really let it outgun the 4.6L V8, for now.

 

Current Tacoma has sat at 236 vs Frontier at 270 for quite some time. And even now the outgoing Tacoma outsells the GM twins with a 70 HP gap. So even with a big HP deficiency the Tacoma seems to do pretty well...

 

The Taco will have no problem selling. It will outsell the GM trucks which are not doing all that great.

People who buy Toyota Tacoma buy them because those buyers are loyal and has a good following.

 

it has nothing to do with V8... it is truck engine, so it is optimized for lower rpm performance, not higher end like in GS.... its redline is 300rpm lower.

 

By these two logics, then Toyota really didn't need to update the engine or even the body and the frame and let it ride for a few more years. The GM twins weren't selling well due to supply constraints, or so I read. Since then it's been gaining steam no?

300rpm drop in redline doesn't explain the 36hp drop from the GS engine. With updated DI injection and vvti systems, I would expect HP to increase or have a better power band.

 

Toyota did not change the 2.7, they are still using it. Now they have a new engin to replace the 4.0, good for them.

I don't think the frame is going to be all that much different that the last gen model.

 

Tacoma sells well with nearly $0 in incentives. The GM twins are already using thousands of dollars in incentives to match about half of Tacoma's volume. If Toyota turned on incentives they could sell even more Tacomas.

 

I'd wager part of the uphill battle is shedding the image of the first gen GM twins no matter how improved the 2nd gen is, hence the incentives. That and the Tacoma has a cult following only the domestic 1500's and up trucks could fathom

 

The sums it up. Although the Tacoma is not the best truck, (flaws such as no height adjustment for driver seat, older frame design) it does exactly what it needs to do for those who own one.

 

I tested the Tacoma and the Frontier before buying the Tacoma, the power was pretty much equal despite the HP difference for some reason I can't explain, maybe its the gearing of the trucks or something else. The Frontier has a long way to go to even come close to the Toyota quality of the Tacoma, the interior, handling, and noise levels need to be improved for the Nissan to compete with the Tacoma. I paid 4K more the Tacoma and didn't bat an eyelash to do it.

 

The original 3.5-litre 2GR engine was known to be a high-revving engine -- torque was low at low rpm. This is fine for a sporty car engine but not suitable for a truck, where you want high torque from low rpm. It seems that the new 2GR in the new 2016 Tacoma has been tuned to produce more torque at lower rpm. The old 2GR was not suitable for use in a truck but this new 2GR is suitable for truck use.

 

It's the weight, the Tacoma is 200-350 lbs lighter depending on configuration. Also, the Taco has slightly more aggressive gearing.

 

^ I think the real reason the Chevy Colorado/GMC Caynon aren't selling is they are priced pretty close to what a full size truck costs. For 2-5k more I can get a full size v8 truck, well its a no brainer as to why the GM trucks aren't selling. Plus I'm not really sold on the V6 engine in those trucks, its the DOCH 3.6 V6 from the Impala, Caddy CTS, etc, which loves to rev and has no low end torque.

 

4.0l was truck engine, so bottom end torque...

 

first they need to build more Tacomas tho... they are at limit of production, they keep raising it and still selling everything they make.