2005 Toyota Tacoma X-Runner

[BMWDave]

By Autoweek
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2005 Toyota Tacoma X-Runner
From Funky to Workhorse: A truck to please everyone
AUTOWEEK
Published Date: 8/22/05
LIKES
Strong V6
Good ride and handling
Impressive brakes
DISLIKES
Big turning circle
Beepless keyless entry
Easily chipped paint
OTHERS CONSIDERED
Dodge Dakota
Nissan Frontier
Chevy Colorado

In an e-mail describing his new Toyota Tacoma pickup, a reader included a photo of his new X-Runner, the pimped-out, sportiest Tacoma. The picture showed a middle-aged guy beaming proudly next to his salesman and his truck, as if he had reeled in a record-setting marlin.

The X-Runner is one of 18 available configurations of the redesigned, bigger and more powerful Tacoma, and the guy who sent us his photo isn?t the only middle-aged X-Runner fan: A 40-something staffer wrote, ?All things considered (especially the $24,000 sticker price), I?d say this is a pretty good bargain. This little truck with wide tires and lowered stance handles and rides better than you?d expect, though not quite car-like.?

Younger drivers like it, too, with one 20-something staffer commenting, ?Along with its racy looks, you get a pretty peppy engine and a six-speed manual that lets you squawk the tires shifting into third. And the truck hustles around corners almost as briskly as many sporty cars.?

X-Runner gets a new dohc 4.0-liter V6 with variable valve timing that makes 245 horses and 282 lb-ft of torque. That?s 55 more hp and 62 more lb-ft than last year?s less-fuel-efficient V6. The other Tacoma engine is a new, cleaner 2.7-liter dohc four-cylinder, also with VVT and producing 164 hp and 183 lb-ft?14 more hp and six more lb-ft than the old I4. Toyota recommends 93 octane for the V6 and 87 octane for the four-banger.

Double Cabs are powered by V6s, while Regular Cabs use four-cylinders. Access Cabs also get four-cylinders, except for V6s in the X-Runner and some Pre-Runners.


The rival 2005 Dodge Dakota offers a standard 3.7-liter V6 making 210 hp and 235 lb-ft. The Dakota also sports a 4.7-liter V8 rated at 230 hp and 290 lb-ft, and a new 4.7-liter V8 cranking out what Dodge says is 250-plus hp and 300-plus lb-ft. Tacoma?s other competitor, the Nissan Frontier, comes with a choice of two 3.3-liter V6s; one is rated at 180 hp and 220 lb-ft, the other at 210 hp and 246 lb-ft. Nissan adds an ace up its sleeve with a NISMO Frontier offering 265 hp and 284 lb-ft from a 4.0-liter 24-valve dohc V6.

The Tacoma?s V6 engine noise is subdued on the freeway. The sound is smooth, rather than loud or sporty. For a V6 with only 245 hp, it has plenty of bottom-end torque and pulls well from low revs. Our 20-to-40-mph and 40-to-60-mph times, both achieved in second gear, show that the torque peaks at low rpm. Second gear is good for 60 mph, while you have to hit third for the quarter-mile. The gearing is tall; at 60 mph, the engine is only turning about 2000 rpm, and the Tacoma?s leisurely throttle response feels especially truck-like.

On the first drag strip run, with a 2500-rpm launch, the X-Runner managed 0 to 60 mph in 7.44 seconds, and ran the quarter-mile in 15.90 seconds at 87.6 mph. Its best runs came after we allowed the truck to cool. We then raised the revs to 3000 rpm and slipped the clutch slightly to avoid wheel hop, shifting via the precise, short-throw shifter at the 5500-rpm redline. Our best 0-to-60-mph run came in at just 7.06 seconds.



Through the slalom, our first run produced no surprises, and the X-Runner turned in quickly while the rear remained planted. It posted a quite respectable 43.7 mph, which matches the 2004 Mercedes SL500, the ?05 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Limited and the ?04 Cadillac XLR.

The X-Runner is also in good company when it comes to braking, stopping from 60 mph in 116 feet, same as the original (?03) Porsche Cayenne and three feet shorter than the ?04 XLR.

Comfort-wise, the X-Runner rode so smoothly it made one tester think the speedometer was reading too high; thanks to sound insulation and road isolation, at an indicated 85 mph you don?t feel like you?re going that fast.

By the end of our test, we agreed with the enthusiastic reader who e-mailed us his photo, though he exaggerates slightly when he says, ?It gets around corners with the finesse of a Miata.?

Not quite, but as he says, ?You can put stuff in it! What more could you ask for??

[TBR]

"Tacoma?s other competitor, the Nissan Frontier, comes with a choice of two 3.3-liter V6s; one is rated at 180 hp and 220 lb-ft, the other at 210 hp and 246 lb-ft. Nissan adds an ace up its sleeve with a NISMO Frontier offering 265 hp and 284 lb-ft from a 4.0-liter 24-valve dohc V6."

Balantly incorrect information, like the quote above, makes me wonder how trustworthy this source is.

[ifcar]

That's a sign of not checking facts. <_<