RYAN ZUMMALLEN: It's the face heard around the world.
That's right, guys.
We're finally here with the 2022 Toyota
Tundra, the first redesigned Tundra since 2007.
So allow me to take you on a little tour.
We're going to cover everything you need to know,
from what's under the hood, to the different trims and models,
and updated technology, and everything else that
comes along in this new Tundra.
Between the last one and this one
they made five Twilight movies.
They made six Fast and Furious movies.
LeBron James went to the NBA Finals
10 times between Tundras.
But now all of those streaks are over,
because the 2022 tundra is here, it's big,
and it's in dealerships by the end of this year.
Is it a more competitive product than the last one?
Does it hold a candle to Nissan, Chevy, Ford, and Ram?
If you're like me, I think you'll
be pretty surprised by what you find inside.
But, hey before we jump into this first look,
why don't you take a first look at that Like button, and hit
subscribe so you don't miss any Edmunds videos.
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Go check it out.
There's the base SR Model, and that is pretty bare bones.
Then you move up into the SR5, Limited, Platinum,
like this one, and the 1794.
And then often its own world is the TRD Pro
which comes with all kinds of crazy off road upgrades.
We will get to that later.
The Tundra has gone from standard V8 to no V8.
The only engine you can get now is a twin turbo 3.5 liter V6.
But it comes in one of two flavors.
There's a conventional version, and then there's a hybrid.
Let's start with the conventional V6.
That's got 389 horsepower and 479 pound feet of torque,
and it's mated to a brand new 10 speed automatic transmission.
Pretty formidable figures.
Now that that's out of the way, let's
get to the hybrid, which we have here on the Platinum.
The hybrid is going to be optional
on the Platinum, Limited, and 1794 trims,
and it's standard on the TRD Pro.
That's got a lot more horsepower, and a lot more
torque.
Made it to the same transmissions.
And one of the interesting things about this hybrid system
is Toyota decided to use a nickel metal hydride battery.
It's called I Force Max because you need an extra beefy name
for a hybrid system.
Now this is kind of a surprising choice
because lithium ion is a more advanced technology,
but Toyota said they had a few reasons
for sticking with nickel.
One of them is that even though it takes up more space,
they weren't really concerned with that,
because they could just stick it under the rear seats,
and it was fine.
A second reason is that nickel is more readily available
than lithium right now, which is getting pretty limited
pretty fast.
And then finally at the end of its life cycle,
they're more easily able to recycle nickel
than they are lithium.
So I know, there's no V8.
I know.
I know!
Personally, I don't care.
We know that this hybrid V6 system provides a lot of power,
and I'll be very curious to see what
kind of fuel economy estimates come out
when they're available.
Besides V8s, that's what old trucks are for.
Let's talk configurations.
You get to choose between two different cabs.
There's the double cab, and the crew max.
With the double cab, that will come with either a 6 and 1/2
foot bed, or an 8.1 foot bed, and with the crew
max like this one you get a 5 and 1/2 bed or a 6.5.
As far as the tailgate, it's just a tailgate.
There's no swinging out or multi-use, switching around,
all that stuff.
But one cool thing is it is 20 pounds lighter
than the previous generation, and on every Tundra key fob
there's an automatic release button.
Oh, and there's this.
So that's actually pretty sweet.
Moving on.
Now the biggest headline about the Tundra
is going to be its hybrid system,
but to me the biggest change is the fact that the Tundra now
goes from its three piece frame to one fully boxed frame just
like every other full size truck.
Toyota had been holding out and saying that that three piece
frame was the best thing for them for a really long time.
Now they've fully accepted the fully boxed life.
And that's going to give you improved rigidity, and better
overall capability.
Speaking of overall capability, maximum towing capacity
is up to 12,000 pounds on certain trims
and configurations, and maximum payload is up to 1,940 pounds.
Are those the best numbers in the class?
No.
But they are very healthy figures and will handle,
I mean, almost anything that you're going
to throw at a truck like this.
Oh yeah, and the Tundra now has standard coil springs
in the rear.
Why is that important?
Well, most full sized trucks still
use leaf springs which are super old school and great for towing
and all that, but coil springs are much more comfortable
on the road.
Currently only the Ram 1,500 is using them in this class.
Now the Tundra has it too.
So while this truck is getting much stronger,
it's also getting much more comfortable.
And the interesting thing about the new frame
and the new rear suspension put together
is that unlike the hybrid, that's
going to be on every single version of this truck.
That's a big win for every Tundra buyer.
SPEAKER 2: You have to go make a phone coil?
RYAN ZUMMALLEN: Oh my God.
SPEAKER 2: Sorry.
RYAN ZUMMALLEN: We're done.
SPEAKER 2: Yeah.
RYAN ZUMMALLEN: First things first,
as soon as you get into the new Tundra
you can immediately tell that it's a new vehicle.
There is no rehashing here.
This does not feel like a carryover.
It feels like something fully modern and different.
We are in a limited trim right now.
And just for starters, I am going
to hold off on commenting on the quality
of the interior materials and comfort and things like that.
These are pre-production models.
Let's wait until we get full production versions
in the first drive coming up before we
get our verdict on that.
But a few things that I can talk about are the new controls,
and some of the other interior features in here.
You've got a brand new steering wheel design
with big clear buttons, and that continues over here
into the center console switchgear area.
Really big switches with nice little ridges on them
so they're easy to grab, and clear icons
that make it easy to see what you're looking for
and what you're grabbing.
I also like this giant volume knob.
There is no tuning knob anymore.
That all goes to the screen.
Down here you also have selectable drive modes,
which is new for the Tundra.
But just in case you want to switch up your driving
style based on the conditions, that's right there for you.
And then on the SR 5 trim and up, they all
come standard with a tow package that's
going to include this integrated trailer brake controller.
Towers, you guys know what I'm talking about.
That's very helpful and I like the positioning.
It's right under the Start/Stop button.
And really nice to look at.
One of the things Toyota is really proud of
is this configurable center console storage unit.
So there's a tray up top, and then another tray below it,
which you can slide back.
And the purpose there is instead of opening the big giant thing
all the way up, you can just reach in
and grab whatever you're looking for and get it out.
And then when you're not using it just close it back up
and now it's fully closed.
How much more convenient is this?
I don't know.
To be honest, we'll have to wait until we
can get a model all the way in for a full testing process
to really tell you that.
It's kind of a neat trick, it's nowhere
near the modular storage that you have in a Ram 1,500.
But we'll wait and see how usable it is in the real world.
Now let's talk about the elephant in the room.
This giant screen, which is the size of an elephant.
So the headline here is that all Tundras
are going to come with standard wireless Apple carplay,
and wireless Android auto.
One of the other big bits of news
is that Toyota upgraded its audio multimedia software.
That's the whole operating system that runs the screen.
And that comes standard on every Tundra as well.
So you either get it in a condensed standard 8 inch
screen, or obviously it's just much larger on this big 14 inch
screen, which is huge, and it feels huge in here,
but that's really nice in a lot of ways.
One of the things I really like so far
is playing around with these maps.
They are very easy to move around and zoom out and zoom
in.
Pretty cool feature.
But a concern that I have when it comes to Toyota screens
is that often in models that we've tested,
as soon as a tiny beam of sunlight hits the screen,
the entire thing is washed out and you can't see anything.
I've asked Toyota about that.
They've said they don't expect that to be a problem anymore
because they worked with a supplier
to create glare resistant surfaces on it.
I think I'll be the judge of that.
We'll see how that goes when we're finally able to get one
outside and drive it.
Another important update is an upgraded voice activation
system.
There are a whole bunch of different prompts
that you can use to get it started.
And then a wider range of commands
that it can respond to as well.
Hey, Toyota.
TOYOTA COMPUTER: What do you want to do?
RYAN ZUMMALLEN: Do something cool.
TOYOTA COMPUTER: This feature is not available.
RYAN ZUMMALLEN: All right, well, you get it.
Now we'll be able to do a full in-depth review of all
of these features and how they work in the real world
once we can get it back home.
But for now let's hop into the back seat.
OK, so before I hop inside, there's
one thing that I want to show you guys.
And that is this under seat storage area.
The first reason being that it's pretty good size.
I can put my laptop bag in here no problem,
with lots of room to spare.
But the second reason that I wanted to point this out
is because with the hybrid system,
this is where the batteries go, so you don't get any of this.
It's just a flat covered space here
that you can't use for any storage.
But with that out of the way, let's
pop it down and climb inside.
So pretty good space in here.
As you can see, I got a lot of leg room.
I can stretch my legs out.
Even with the sunroof.
I'm 6 feet tall and I've got nice headroom back here.
You can get comfy.
And I'm sitting behind my own driving position.
Say Hi.
Hi.
Geez.
Oh yeah, and one last thing is this rear window
is actually a power window.
Can you get that for me, bud?
Oh sure, boss.
Thanks, pal.
Oh, yeah, no problem, chief.
[SIGHS]
The TRD Pro.
[SIGHS]
The first exciting thing about the new TRD Pro
will be obvious to anybody who had driven a previous TRD Pro.
Those versions had three glaring omissions,
and they've all been fixed in this version.
All three of those features not available on the Tundra at all
until now when they're standard on the TRD Pro,
and they also come on the TRD Off Road package.
A huge win for Tundra buyers.
Number one, a locking rear differential.
They finally got it in the Tundra TRD Pro.
Now the second one is multi-terrain select,
so you can choose different kinds of conditions
you're going to be going through,
and the truck will adapt for you to those conditions.
The third thing is crawl control.
So just like hill descent control
will automatically gradually take you down a descent,
crawl control will do the same thing,
but all you do is switch it on, and it will automatically
scratch and claw the tundra up inclines.
Obviously super helpful on a trail.
Hey, good job Toyota.
Welcome to the party.
On top of all that, let's talk about some of the other bonus
features that you get on the TRD Pro.
After all, this is the off-road edition of the Tundra.
First and foremost, one inch of front
lift to obviously help you get over rocks and other terrain,
as well as 33 inch tires and an assortment of skid
plates underneath the body.
In addition, at all four corners you get Fox shocks.
And one thing we would love to tell you
is the ground clearance of this truck.
Unfortunately Toyota does not have that number just yet.
They have told us that the approach and departure
angles are improved over the previous version.
So that's obviously going to help
you get through rough stuff without scraping your front
or rear bumpers.
There are a few ways to quickly tell TRD Pros apart
from other versions of the Tundra,
besides these giant badges that are all over the place.
But one of them is these wide fender flares
that are styled in this different textured kind
of pattern.
From far away they kind of look like forged carbon.
And from up close they look [MUTTERS]..
The TRD Pro also has a wider front track or distance
between the front wheels.
And with that combined with the fender flares
that makes the truck extra wide.
So with that, Toyota is actually required
to put these five amber lights across from side
to side to indicate that this is about as wide as a vehicle can
get on public roads.
And that combined with this light bar,
which is standard on TRD Pro, means
that you are definitely going to recognize this truck coming
from a distance.
Another thing to remember about TRD Pro
is the hybrid powertrain comes standard.
So there is a lot to digest about this truck.
If you're comparing this to other options
already on the market, think Nissan Titan Pro-4x,
Chevy Silverado Trail Boss, maybe even Ram Rebel.
But we won't really know how this stacks up
until we get it into an off road condition,
and are able to get behind the wheel.
So for now, I can only compare it to the previous generation
TRD Pro, and this seems like a much improved
version in that sense.
So we've asked you to digest a lot of information
about the 2022 Tundra, and you've been doing great.
But there's a ton more to talk about.
And instead of spend a lot of time on it,
I'm just going to hit you with some rapid fire facts
that I personally find interesting.
First is the shock absorbers actually being
mounted outside of the frame.
So they're tucked up way against the wheels and tires.
I'm a fan of that because it keeps it nice and out
of the way of nasty rocks.
One of the other things, these air vents under the headlights
are functional on both sides.
They each feed into a different turbocharger.
That's pretty sweet.
One interesting thing is there's a power air
dam under the front lip that will come down or come raised
back up depending on if you need better aerodynamics for fuel
efficiency, or need it to come up because you need max
cooling for towing, or you just need it out of the way
because you're off roading.
That's pretty sweet.
Lastly is that the 2022 tundra moves
from older hydraulic power steering to electronic power
steering.
And that is going to--
conceivably anyway-- give it a more modern feel on the road.
We'll have to test it out to know for sure,
but it seems like a pretty safe bet.
After our first introduction to the 2022 Tundra,
it's clear that Toyota went to great lengths
to produce an improved truck in nearly every way.
Now the hybrid powertrain is probably
going to get all the headlines, but in my estimation,
the combination of the fully box frame, coil springs,
and electronic power steering is just as important,
if not more important than the hybrid itself.
After all, that's going to improve
ride comfort, modern feel, and capability
in every single Tundra, and that's
what you want in a truck, right?
For loyal Tundra buyers out there,
this probably looks like a dream.
But for the Ford, Chevy, and Ram faithful out there,
are you seeing a reason to switch?
We'll know more about exactly where
this stands in a few weeks' time once we get behind the wheel,
but until then leave us a comment,
and let us know which one you're riding with in this latest
iteration of the never ending truck wars.