It has been said that the last product Crown Victoria, the death of the Ford Panther platform represented the extinction of species, US sedanus body-on-Framus , the last of the dinosaurs. Keep in a biological frame of mind, it seems that the BOF American sedan is not going away, but transformed. Its trunk developed into a bed of the open cargo and varieties with ground clearance seems to have been particularly adaptive
This is the closest analogy I can come up with to describe how 2014 Toyota Tundra CrewMax Plantinum leads -. It reminds me of big American cars that were on the road when I got my driver's license in the early 1970s, and it should. He build the body-on-frame, double A arm suspension front, a live axle on leaf springs in the rear seats flat as a sofa, and a powerful V8 engine in the front just like those old land yachts of yesteryear. Oh, and it's great.
In fact, this comparison does not respect enough the tundra as I drove for a week. Even with the ground clearance of a pick-up and the extra height of a 4X4 vehicle spec'd, Tundra handles better than any large American sedan was back in the day. I'm not saying that you should take the autocrossing, just that it goes where you point the traffic.
Since I was driving a 4X4 truck discharged essentially, that the ride was not as smooth as 1974 Mercury Marquis Brougham my father should be expected. Unloaded pickups can tend to get a little bouncy bouncies. Still, it was comfortable and came all the suspension travel in the conduct practice on the terrible roads of Michigan. You know you're going over a bump, but there is so much there to absorb that, while you are aware of craters, while the crash is going so far and it is so well dampened not even be a hindrance.
V8 is at the front of a 5.7-liter engine derived from the cam Family quad UR V8 first introduced into the Lexus LS460 in 06 . Contrary to some urban legends, no, Toyota did not buy tooling for the old Chevy small block. The engine of 381 horsepower is smooth and powerful, never lacking the gumption to move to a place in the circulation as long as there was quite large.
To be honest, it took me a day or driving the Tundra to get used to his size. Due to the vagaries of the fleet news programming, I went to a smaller passenger vehicles sold in North America, a Fiat Abarth, in one of the largest. What is it? He is barely able to hold either a standard mall or urban space for paid parking; I had about 6 inches to spare on either end in each case. One reason for this is that it is a true four-door truck. The rear seat is spacious and everything you can find in the biggest Cadillacs or Lincolns of the 1960s there is enough space for three adults with legroom, perhaps even more space than in a flagship sedan long wheelbase like a Jaguar XJL or comparable Chinese market Audi A8. Just as one might say the American sedan rose a trunk release and soil, one could say that American pickups have increased rear seats. Look around in traffic. You will not see many simple two door pickups. Everything is either a club cab or crew cab.
Speaking of crews, the idea that the Tundra will be any kind of real work truck is dissipated by a glance at the sticker. This is a truck for $ 50,000 and the only way I see it appear on a construction site is whether it is the daily driver of the guy or girl who owns the construction company or drilling, and they will not carry around fatty roughnecks on the quilted leather upholstery well.
regarding transportation, Toyota Tundra strongly promoted 10,000 lb towing capacity. I think the owners of these blinged Tundras will transport goods, but it will not be the burly workers place for them but there may be. No, a truck like this will use its 401 lb-ft of torque and five tons the value of towing capacity to carry more valuable things a $ 50,000 truck. A horse, let alone a horse trailer full of them, may exceed the value of the Tundra, like a boat. The rest of the time, the Tundra CrewMax Platinum is used as a sedan, and that's about how I tested. I had nothing to tow and 14.7 mpg on the week, I did not drive travel nearly 0 miles around The Mounds off-road park and back just to try the 4x4 system.
actually, I do not get to try this while trying to avoid a small parade in town. Cutting through a parking lot, I noticed what I thought was an unfinished building with a path leading away from where the traffic was banned, so I put it in four-wheel drive and it took more than a sidewalk and some vegetation, only to discover that it was an abandoned construction site and the driveway was closed. Yet I had the chance to try the 4x4, which worked well. As it is indeed a 4 × 4, and not an AWD system, it is intended to be used at low speed (and it has a low range, too) so on the sidewalk, you will feel the wash.
On their way to the lake, or the equestrian center, people who buy a Plantinum garni Tundra will have a very comfortable experience. As expected the price, the truck had all the latest tech toys except, curiously, no smart key, so there was no keyless entry and push button start. The steering wheel will swing up the road, the seat back when you're ready to leave, and when you leave the truck, you'll be happy for very functional steps. It's a long way up there. This explains why the front and rear passengers rose pillar grab handles for easy entry. Interestingly, Toyota must include the driver uses the steering wheel to hit the commanding leadership position because there is no support handle on the side of the cab.
Even if you sit very high, with exceptional visibility, it is good that the Tundra has a support system parking. Although it will not park the truck for you (and trust of all those who think they deserve a driving license if they can not parallel park), it notifies you when you get close to things as ephemeral as the vegetation. This comes especially handy because you do not have a prayer to see where the front wing offside really ends. One of these, the bird's eye view camera gives you that Audi would have been nice to have.
The large screen-based infotainment system touch-working and highly praised Chrysler U-Connect system. My Android phone Samsung has worked seamlessly and reliably in both modes with Toyota and telephone audio solution. The navigation was easy to use and never screwed up, and there are enough real buttons for things you want to change now. The air conditioning system worked perfectly in the summer heat. I especially like the way the winds "eyeball" on the dashboard can aim where you want.
I like to take 3D photos of historical sites around Detroit, but one of my rules (and to avoid taking pictures of '69 Camaros' 57 Chevys and Carts Isetta perfectly restored car shows) were to refuse to take pictures of the decrepit Packard plant on the east side of the city. I do not ruin porn and if I did, I'd be more creative than the shot that left the factory or the empty Michigan Central Station, another favorite of photographers and lazy editors. However, while I had the Tundra, it happened on the anniversary of the end of the Packard production in 1956. Some see the Packard plant as emblematic of the decline of the domestic auto industry and some vehicles represent the strength of Japanese manufacturers - Japan Inc. take on Detroit Corp., if you will - the Toyota Tundra. That's why I decided to use the well-known unfinished overpass where Packards traveled from one part of the plant to another as a backdrop to my photos for this review.
The historical reality, of course, is that Japanese and other foreign automakers has nothing to do with the disappearance of Packard.
first Toyota dealership in the United States opened in October 1957 over a year after the last true Packards were made in the summer of 1956. To be more precise, while the last true Packards were made in 1956, the brand name and some hideous sheetmetal were slapped on some already looking Studebakers funny following the merger of these two companies.
Toyota and other Japanese brands do not really get a foothold in the US market until late 1960. To most small cars that got good gas mileage, car companies Japanese on the US market benefited from the oil crises involved in 1973 and the Yom Kippur war 1979 entry US diplomats in Iran. It does not hurt that they used intelligent engineering, packaging and marketing of the first generation Honda Accord. As US automakers seemed to go to make the standards of the automotive world to make unreliable shit in the 1980s, Toyota, Honda and Nissan have become favorite brands. Then, Toyota has dominated everyone with their "genius fat" Corollas and Camrys in the early 190s
Buoyed by the success of the Camry and Corolla with consumers in the 190s and flush with cash, the early 21st century, Toyota has decided to go after the last bastion of the domination of the market segment for domestic automobile companies :. full size vans
sure, the original Tundra was an American sort of pick-up 7 / 8ths scale, but in 03, when Toyota announced at Auto Show Chicago he would run in NASCAR truck series, it was clear that Toyota was serious about selling trucks to Americans. Then, in 06, also in Chicago, Toyota has finally introduced a Tundra truly full size who participated on an equal equality with GM, Ford and Dodge / Ram. To do this, the Japanese manufacturer has also American truck as they could. The Tundra was designed to billions of dollars, more R & D Toyota Center in Ann Arbor, west of Detroit, with an entry of style from Toyota Calty facilities in California. While the engine was designed in Japan, block and heads are cast in the United States and, like the rest of the truck, it is also assembled here. The Tundra is placed in a facility in Texas built with an even bigger investment than the design center to A Squared. Not coincidentally, Texas, is the largest American minivan market.
When they introduced the Tundra fullsize really there about ten years, Toyota executives were under no illusion that they would get "Ford guy" or "Chevy guy" on their trucks. brand loyalty is almost as strong as it gets with truck buyers. However, at the time, Toyota has made a point of how approximately 6% of the pickup market moves from model year to model year based on that the more recently introduced a redesigned truck. These buyers tend to be companies making dollars and cents decisions on fleets and they are not influenced by brand loyalty. Toyota was designed for buyers, hoping to expand from there. This expansion may be on the horizon. A quick check to goodcarbadcar.net shows that the market share of the Tundra for 2014 was 5.7%, within earshot of that 6% of base.
Photos by the author. You can see the complete gallery here.
Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth , a realistic perspective on cars and car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this article interesting, you can get a parallax Cars In Depth view. If the 3D thing freaks you, do not worry, all the photo and video players used on the site have mono options. Thank you for reading - RJS
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