The All-New Next-Generation Tacoma X-Runner - Now Available

Added: 01/12/2006

If you find compact pickups with sports-car abilities even vaguely interesting, then you need to know about Toyota's Tacoma X-Runner. The Tacoma X-Runner rides on a wheelbase extended by a full five inches and a track that widened by four inches. This increase in size equates to an additional four-and-one-half inches of interior shoulder and hip room. Power is provided by a four-litre, 240 horsepower V6 engine producing 275 pounds of torque merged with a six-speed close-ratio manual transmission. As if that wasn't impressive enough there's also a TRD-developed supercharger system on offer that punches out around 300 horsepower, expect a zero to sixty in around seven seconds for the standard machine and around six or less for the 300 horsepower version. The supercharger version is fully supported by the Toyota factory.

If you're someone who enjoys driving compact pick-ups able to shame vehicles masquerading as sports cars then Toyota might have a new product to interest you. The Tacoma X-Runner is everything many sports cars should be and a few things they could never be.

The ability to travel from zero to sixty miles and hour in a little under six seconds, places the Tacoma X-Runner firmly among the rapid fraternity, and if you purchase a supercharged version that's precisely what you get. However, if being a good all round machine was simply down to power then the X-Runner might not be as attractive as Toyota knows it to be.

The Tacoma X Runner is a big machine (127.2 inch wheelbase), carrying a lot of weight (3690lbs), in order to compensate for this Toyota engineers designed the chassis with a frame that features front diagonal braces and in the rear an X-brace. These reinforcements enhance frame torsional rigidity while also improving overall stability. Added to this Toyota also raised the spring rates, up by 50 percent over the standard issue. Like any true sports car the suspension has been lowered and the 18x8 alloy wheels shod with 255/45R18 Bridgestone Potenza tyres. New at the rear is a 25 mm anti-roll bar. Not satisfied with that the suspension receives Bilstein 36mm monotube high-pressure gas shocks. Brakes are 10.8 inch discs at the front and 10-inch drums in the rear. Tacoma 4x4 models use 12.5 inch discs, while the TRD has a 13-inch option with 4 piston calipers specifically designed for the X-Runner.

The standard powered Tacoma X-Runner comes equipped with a 1GR-FE DOHC V6 engine rated at 245 horsepower with peak torque of 282 lb-ft. Variable Valve Timing associated with other Toyota engines is included together with an electronic throttle control. Never to miss a trick the Toyota engineers figured drivers would want the X-Runner to not only look like it meant business but sound that way too, hence there's no mistaking the aggressive, defiant nature of the exhaust.

An all new RA60 6-speed manual handles transmission needs with power regulated by a limited-slip differential that holds 3.15:1 gears.

The X-Runner looks purposeful. Wearing the Tacoma double cab design the additional metal makes it appear even larger, that said, the Tacoma X-Runner looks good from any angle. However, Toyota were considerate enough to make certain that its rear end, the bit most other drivers are likely to be presented with, remains as smart as the front. The huge tyres simply add to the X-Runner's statement of being transport you cannot ignore.

With the Tacoma X-Runner, Toyota has built a road vehicle that can be used on the track whenever the mood takes, while the Tacoma double cab version offers the opportunity to thrill everyone with the heart to climb in for a ride. As day to day transport the Tacoma X Runner offers something different, quite unique, and it's all supported by a motor manufacturer that builds some of the most reliable products in the world today - Toyota.

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