With a marketing-friendly name like TRD T|X Baja Series, this off-road-themed Tacoma is not a concept, but a pre-production version of an eventual production vehicle. It makes its official debut at SEMA next week, and come late spring, it will be the most elite off-road-themed truck in the 2012 Toyota Tacoma line.
The Baja package will be offered as an enhancement on the existing off-road package, which already sets a four-wheel-drive Tacoma up with a locking rear differential, upgraded suspension and skid plates. To this, the Baja Series adds 265/70R16 BF Goodrich T/A KO tires (same tire model that's on the Ford F-150 Raptor), bead-lock wheels with... wait for it... a gun-metal finish, and a modest suspension lift.
Toyota says ride height is up nearly 2 inches in front and that there's an extra inch of suspension travel. Bilstein race shocks feature 60mm pistons. In back, there's a 1.5-inch increase in travel, plus Bilsteins with 50mm pistons and external reservoirs to ensure consistent damping performance in severe conditions.
Of course, there's also a TRD exhaust setup (after cat) tuned specially for the Baja Series, and we don't suppose that means it's quieter, plus an exterior graphics package. Pricing will be announced in early 2012. Toyota plans to offer this package on 4WD Xtracabs and DoubleCabs with the 4.0-liter V6, and it's under consideration for the 2WD PreRunner models.
The Raptor revitalized the niche market for out-of-the-box, desert-runner pickups, and the idea of getting that kind of performance in a smaller, Tacoma-size package is compelling. Then again, the current-gen Tacoma has been out for a pretty long time (launched in 2004 as a 2005 model), and we're guessing that most of the likely audience for the TRD T|X Baja Series has undoubtedly already done all these upgrades and more via the aftermarket.
shaddai says:
06:15 PM, 10/27/11
The current Tacoma model launched in 2004 (late) as a 2005 model.
I had an '04 Tacoma DoubleCab. That was the last year of the prior model.
Erin Riches replied to comment from shaddai
06:36 PM, 10/27/11
Darn it, you're right... our long-termer was an '05. http://www.insideline.com/toyota/tacoma/2005/long-term-test-2005-toyota-tacoma.html
shaddai says:
06:44 PM, 10/27/11
Now that that's out of the way, I want one. DoubleCab. With a stick.
ne1butu2 says:
07:41 PM, 10/27/11
"2011 seama show 2012 toyota tacoma ted tx baja series headed for production"
So, to sum up what this means, Toyota is producing stickers to put on the side of the Tacoma. Yay!
ed124c says:
07:28 AM, 10/28/11
@ne1butu2: Uh... did you read the article? I would guess not. If you look above you will see whole paragraphs about this trucks new features.
ferrari812 says:
11:21 AM, 10/28/11
shaddai - I have a double cab, V6, stick. It's a really fun truck! Especially when you pass full-size domestics! ;)
I definitely want to see how this new model drives compared to mine.
csubowtie says:
08:40 PM, 10/28/11
SOunds awesome, but I always thought the BFG Radial T/A's were better on muscle cars. Did you guys mean BFG AT KO's? Those All-Terrains are pretty awesome off-road. As for the truck, it sounds great, and reminds me of the days of Ivan "Iron Man" Stewart when Toyota ruled the off-road race scene. Except now, that's probably going to be a $30k+ truck.
sharpend says:
01:08 PM, 10/29/11
All it needs is a fish taco graphic on the hood to match the sides.