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By Matt NaumanTheMercuryNews.com
January 14, 2005
The construction quality is top notch. Both engines are solid, and appropriate. It's bigger inside and out. The new design is eye-catching, yet devotedly functional as it should be. Inside is a comfortable, well-designed space that's thankfully simple rather than doodadded up. Funny how this week's test-drive vehicle, the Tacoma X-Runner, is destined to be both the least popular model and wildly popular. I should explain. It'll be the least popular because Toyota is planning to limit production to about 3,500 units a year out of 160,000 or so that'll be made. And it'll be wildly popular because it's just so cool. The X-Runner, so-called because it has an added X-shaped frame that makes it more rigid, is a tuner truck that's straight from the factory (New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.) That's tuner, as in after-market parts that turn a production vehicle into something more personalized. Here that means a suspension that's lowered (about an inch) and stiffened, lower body panels that match the truck's radiant red paint, a pronounced hood scoop, 18-inch alloy wheels and Bridgestone Potenza 255/45R18 tires. On the inside, it has a six-speed manual transmission complete with an OBX Racing Sports shift knob (think small and metallic) and OBX pedals, too. The overall impact is startling. Bright red and very low - at 6-feet-1 I tower over it - this truck is all about style and image. Meant to turn heads, it certainly did as I drove Bay Area highways. What it isn't is very functional. Sure, it has the standard composite cargo bed (factory installed, which is neat) with Toyota's new, versatile tie-down system. But the back seat isn't fit for adults. The seats - which are reached via hidden doors that open rearward - are poor excuses for seats. They're simply padded back and bottom covers. Room in the back seat isn't the problem, but comfort is. The seat bottoms fold up to reveal storage boxes below. This back seat is good for stuff, and not so great for family and friends. The vehicle's towing capacity of 3,500 pounds matches the other Tacoma models, but the angle of approach (19 degrees vs. 27 to 35 degrees on other Tacomas) and departure (again, 19 degrees vs. 20 to 26 degrees) reveals that you just don't want to weigh this truck down or attempt to negotiate it over rough terrain. It's designed for Hot Import Nights, and not the Hollister Hills off-road park. (For the record, just before driving the X-Runner, I spent a few days in a loaded Double Cab 4x4 V-6 Cab Tacoma. Comfortable front and back, and made for carrying both people and cargo, this truck fits the traditional definition of a pickup more closely. Jammed with options, from a JBL stereo to a Toyota Racing Development off-road package to a flip-over bed extender, this truck had a $30,575 price tag. Good as it was, and it was very good, it remained a regular truck, vs. the tricked-up X-Runner.) On the road, you can feel the appeal of the X-Runner. With the special suspension set-up, which includes firmer, shorter springs and Bilstein gas shocks in addition to slight modifications to the rear stabilizer bar and the steering, the impact is noticeable. The ride is hard and fast. Power comes from the standard 4.0-liter V-6. It replaces a 3.4-liter version used in 2004, and now makes 245 horsepower. (An all-new 164-horsepower, 2.7-liter four-cylinder is offered on some other models, but not the X-Runner.) Compared with another tuned-for-the-factory truck, the Chevy S-10 Xtreme that I drove about five years ago, the Tacoma X-Runner is more fully realized and better built. And it adds some sizzle to one of Toyota's workhorse brands.
Find a USED 2005 Tacoma for SaleFind used car inventory in your area.
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