Design Car Toyota Tundra

Design Toyota Tundra

Almost as if the T-100 had served some perceived apprenticeship, Toyota introduced the still-larger Tundra in 2000, with an available 4.7-liter V-8, and in 2004, a Double Cab model with four real, front-hinged doors. Tough and, for many consumers, pretty right-sized, this Tundra lasted through 2006.

Then, with the apprenticeship presumably complete, Toyota allowed itself to build a full-on, whopper-sized pickup for 2007, figuring on three things: that, with 14 years of in-market research complete, Toyota now really understood what truck buyers want; that existing customers weaned on the T-100 and first-gen Tundra would embrace this new beast; and that Toyota’s reputation for build quality would draw plenty of Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, and Dodge customers into the fold.

Interior Toyota Tundra

It seemed almost mercenary that the new Tundra was to be built in San Antonio, as if imparting the truck with some sort of homegrown geographical pedigree and credibility.

Enter the refreshed 2014 Toyota Tundra, the first real opportunity to right those wrongs. The question: Would Toyota take another swing at the grandstands or merely tweak what it has?

Engine Toyota Tundra

The answer: tweak. Those who dislike the 2013 Tundra will probably dislike the 2014 less, and those who like the 2013 will probably like the 2014 a little more. But there’s nothing here to substantially change anyone’s mind. The Tundra is still a good truck. Toyota did address one complaint uncovered through research, and that is that the current Tundra looks, in Toyota’s words, “too round” and “too bubbly.”