2016 Toyota Tacoma First Drive: working the west coast lifestyle - Autofocus
For 2016, the Toyota relaunched its midsize Tacoma pickup for the first time in nine years in – of all places – Tacoma, Washington. In a way, the west coast, eco-friendly, off-road, outdoors-oriented lifestyle seems to define Tacoma buyers. And for Toyota that’s OK. Knowing its market is also why (as you’ll see) Toyota changed what was necessary in this new Tacoma (like adding a permanent Go Pro mount to the inside windshield) – but left a lot of other features alone. The first important change is a new engine option. Replacing the long-in-the-tooth 4L V6 is an all-new, 3. 5L Atkinson cycle V6 equipped with Toyota’s D-4S technology, featuring both direct and port fuel injection. This engine is already in use in the Lexus line – however for Tacoma it’s meant to relieve the poor fuel economy of the old 4L. The engine develops a peak 278 horsepower and up to 265lb-ft of torque. The Atkinson cycle is what delivers that increased fuel performance (despite this engine information at the introduction actual numbers are still not available) but its use does drop power. To combat this, the D-4S tech switches from port fuel injection (Atkinson) back to direct injection (conventional) when the driver calls for power. Source: www.autofocus.ca
