Towing With the 2024 Toyota Tacoma Turbo Four: Better Than the V-6?

For 2024, Toyota has brought the Tacoma into the mid-size towing game with more horsepower, more torque and a new transmission. Toyota is realizing how important towing is to the mid-size truck segment and now has an integrated trailer brake controller and dedicated Tow/Haul mode. It also has the Trailer Backup Guide and Straight Path Assist features that debuted in the latest-generation Tundra.

Related: Is the 2024 Toyota Tacoma a Good Pickup Truck? 6 Pros, 3 Cons

Having recently tested the towing capabilities of the previous Tacoma TRD Pro, as well as the 2023 Nissan Frontier Pro 4X and 2023 Chevy Colorado Trail Boss, it was time to see how well the redesigned Tacoma tows with its 278-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine and the same trailer as the others.

Trailer and Route

With a 6,300-pound towing capacity, the 2024 Tacoma Limited has a rating 100 pounds shy of the 2023 Tacoma TRD Pro I recently tested. The trailer in this test had a total weight of 4,770 pounds. While the weight is roughly 25% below the max tow rating of this Tacoma, the trailer’s frontal area of nearly 80 square feet is huge for a mid-size truck; frontal area measures how much of the trailer is impacted by wind resistance, with excess frontal area increasing strain on the tow vehicle. In previous tests, vehicles towing this trailer have returned appreciably lower fuel economy when compared to much heavier trailers with lower profiles. The tongue weight of the trailer as tested was between the industry standard of 10% and 15%, at 520 pounds.

The route is a short course that presents freeway, highway, flat ground and steep grades. The change in elevation from roughly 4,500 feet to just over 6,200 feet gives tow vehicles an opportunity to really work. There’s a short freeway section, with the remainder mostly four-lane roads with 45-55 mph speed limits and grades approaching 10%.

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Connecting the Trailer

While some modern vehicles are a bit difficult to install a hitch into, the Tacoma is easy and straightforward. The 4- and 7-pin trailer wiring outlets are easy to reach by the license plate. The distance to the pinhole from the mouth of the receiver is only 1.5 inches, while others are 2 inches, or even 2.5, but this assists in keeping the trailer hitch away from the rear bumper. This is especially useful when an adjustable-height trailer hitch is used in the rise. I did have issues with this in the 2023 Frontier Pro-4X.

While I used an adjustable-height ball mount for this test, Toyota recommends using a sway control device for trailers above 2,000 pounds and a weight-distribution hitch for trailers over 5,000 pounds. I would also recommend using a weight-distribution hitch with built-in sway control whenever towing a recreational vehicle. (I’m a mechanical engineer and former product engineer for Progress Mfg. Inc. in Utah, makers of the Equal-i-zer hitch and Fastway Flash ball mounts.)

For both the new Tundra and Tacoma, Toyota uses an off-center rearview camera. When connecting to a trailer, this can distort the view and cause misalignment if not programmed properly. I had this issue in my towing test with the Tundra, though it has since been resolved. Again, this issue appeared in our test Tacoma, but since it was fixed in the Tundra, I expect it to be a non-issue going forward in the Tacoma, as well.

Towing Performance

At an as-tested 278 hp in the Limited trim, the Tacoma’s power remains the same as the previous generation’s naturally aspirated V-6. However, torque is up significantly to 317 pounds-feet and comes on much lower in the rev range than the previous generation. The 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine is now paired to an eight-speed automatic versus the outgoing model’s six-speed. This powertrain performs at a completely different level than the outgoing system. The difference is noticeable even when the truck is unladen, but when loaded, the Tacoma can finally compete with its peers.

Merging onto the freeway on an uphill on-ramp was easy; max throttle was in the 75% range to reach 65 mph before merging into traffic. Once on the freeway, maintaining speed was a non-issue. The truck hovered around 2,200 rpm and handled small inclines, like overpasses, without needing additional throttle. There was a little side-to-side movement on the freeway, but nothing out of the ordinary for this class of truck pulling this trailer.

Hitting the steeper grades was another easy task for the 2024 Tacoma. Rarely exceeding 3,000 rpm and holding a single gear for most of the climb was a pleasant experience; nothing felt stressed in this portion of the test.

Returning down the hill, the Tacoma performed ok. There isn’t much in the way of engine braking due to the standard configuration of the turbo. However, using cruise control will apply the truck and trailer brakes to keep the vehicle speed in check. The factory trailer brake controller did an excellent job at applying the right amount of braking force to the trailer.

Toyota offers the needed vehicle information in the gauge cluster. This includes oil temperature, trans temp, battery voltage, oil pressure and coolant temp; some of this information wasn’t available in the previous generation.

Gas Mileage

According to the truck’s onboard trip computer, fuel mileage for this route was 9.5 mpg. This is about 2.6 mpg worse than the previous-generation Tacoma I tested; however, the truck’s computer could be off. Keep in mind this is a short test and many factors are involved in accurate fuel-economy testing. However, having more power on hand has to come from better efficiency, more fuel use or both, so it would make sense that the much better driving turbo engine would use more fuel.

Towing Takeaways

Finally, Toyota is moving away from the anemic 3.5-liter V-6 and six-speed auto. It no longer feels like a fight to climb a hill while towing. In the 2024 Tacoma, overall towing feel and confidence is now on par with the best in the class.

More From Cars.com:

• How Much Can Hybrid Pickups Tow?
• Towing With the 2023 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro
• Towing With the 2023 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X: How Good Is It?
• How Well Does the 2023 Chevrolet Colorado Trail Boss Tow?

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