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First Drive: 2019 Toyota TRD Pro Trucks

Oct 15, 2018 / by jeff Wilson

First Drive: 2019 Toyota TRD Pro Trucks

By Jeff Wilson

October 15, 2018

2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro

Nothing else in the automotive realm has quite the reputation for indestructible durability as Toyota’s trucks.

Don’t mess with success

In the most inhospitable places on the planet (geographically or politically), you’ll find Toyota trucks, dutifully going about their business. Whether jungle or dustbowl, disaster relief or war-torn protection service, Toyota’s rugged beasts are deployed to do what most other machines simply can’t be trusted to survive.

I’ve personally seen Land Cruisers – some very ancient and woefully neglected ones – relied upon by the fortunate few who own them in remote parts of Africa and Asia to drive through deserts and jungles without much maintenance. I’ve seen fleets of newer Land Cruisers bought specifically for service deep in Canada’s northern gold mines, where their efficiency and durability a few kilometres into the bowels of the earth make them worth the tremendous importation costs.

That reputation has served owners well fiscally too, where Toyota’s Tacoma regularly earns the top spot for resale value retention.

With a truck-building history as long and successful as Toyota’s, it’s understandable why change happens at roughly the same pace as continental drift. Don’t mess with success, and make sure that every change is very carefully considered and tested for impossible tolerances.

For 2019, Toyota’s body-on-frame trucks – the Tacoma mid-size pick-up, Tundra full-sizer, and 4Runner SUV – are bolstered by some subtle updates to their most rugged TRD Pro lineup. Toyota invited a small contingent of Canadian automotive media to the ruggedly beautiful French River region in Northern Ontario to experience the trucks both on-road and off.

Here are the highlights from driving each machine, as well as what’s new for the TRD Pro packages for each of the respective models as we head into 2019.

2019 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro

For those who lament the passing of the FJ Cruiser as Toyota’s throw-back to the classic FJ Land Cruisers of days gone by, plus Japan’s best answer to Jeep’s Wrangler, the 4Runner is as close as we now get on North American shores. This year, it gets a little closer thanks to the new TRD Pro line-exclusive Voodoo Blue paint. It’s the same hue offered years ago on the FJ Cruiser, and like the FJ, the 4Runner has a new basket-style roof-rack system that’s standard on this trim.

The 4Runner hasn’t seen a complete overhaul for nearly a decade. Its 4.0-litre V6 emits 270 hp and 278 lb-ft of torque. Hauling around 2,111 kg is no easy feat, made more challenging by the fact that the normally aspirated V6 needs revs to get going with any appreciable urgency, but never feels underpowered per se. It’ll haul 2,268 kg or 595 kg of payload in the back, both of which are sufficient for most drivers, and the soft throttle is a boon for off-road throttle modulation.

Bigger news for the 4Runner TRD Pro is the replacement of last year’s Bilstein shocks with the aluminum 2.5-inch Fox Internal Bypass shocks that first appeared on the Tacoma last year.

On-road, the 4Runner’s ride is luxuriously supple, with all but the nastiest potholed bumps being soaked up without much reverberation reaching the cabin. The 4Runner is not intended to be a corner-carver, and with the soft suspension and all-terrain tires, it isn’t.

But that also gives the TRD Pro some exceptional articulation for off-road crawling. Of the three trucks, it’s the 4Runner that would absolutely be my pick for serious off-road duties, whether trail-riding through the forest or rock-crawling. With a wheelbase (and overall length) a full metre shorter than the Tundra (and about a half-metre shorter than the Tacoma), it’s no surprise that the 4Runner has better break-over angles and can be wheeled around tighter spots more easily.

Plus, the SUV was fitted with the most aggressive off-road tires, a set of Nitto Terra Grapplers – although in driving each truck back-to-back over the same obstacles and surfaces, if they offered superior traction, it wasn’t abundantly evident. The TRD Pro package also adds a crawl mode feature and a locking rear differential.

The 4Runner’s interior shows off the machine’s obvious age. The leatherette seats are comfortable enough and provide electric adjustment, but the passenger space – particularly in the rear seat – isn’t as cavernous as one might expect from a vehicle this size. The TRD Pro trim eliminates the third-row seat and provides decent rear cargo space (up to 2,540 L with the seats folded).

The dashboard is covered in acres of hard, cheap-feeling plastic finished a wild variety of textures and faux metallic appearances. The controls are extremely simple and easy to manipulate with large rotary dials being the controller of choice throughout. There’s no automatic or dual-zone climate control, and the infotainment looks a few generations old now with a tiny, low-res screen. While the gear and 4WD shifters are located on the centre console, the operation of the other off-road functions is handled by buttons on the ceiling console – a placement that had several of us scratching our heads in wonder.

With Jeep having now updated the Wrangler to a higher-tech, more passenger-friendly off-road machine, the 4Runner remains the sole survivor from a past era of unapologetically rugged off-roaders that put adventure and durability above luxury. For those of us who love the 4Runner (and you can count me among them), that’s a good thing. This is an SUV that deserves to have “Utility” in its name.