Tested: TRD Performance Tundra Gets Loud Quick
With the first step on the accelerator, I almost thought I was driving a prop car from "Speed and Furious"
To be honest, when I pressed the start button, a low roar from the 3.4-liter V6 twin-turbocharged engine woke me up in my ears. The TRD Performance exhaust system is crazy-it grunts at idle speed and explodes at around 2500 rpm, like someone setting off a big firecracker in the back of the car. When stepping on the red line, the sound changed from "rumbling" to "roaring" and finally turned into a metallic scream that made people's scalp-tingling. The old man in the parking space next door looked out and his expression was probably "Is this thing legal?" To be honest, I started laughing the first minute I sat in-this inexplicable happiness is probably the reason for the existence of the American big pickup truck.
Motivation? It wants to drag the entire earth away
The torque of 437 horsepower, 583 N·m, coupled with the extra push back feel of the hybrid motor, allows this nearly 3-ton giant to 0-96 km/h in just over 6 seconds. Don't laugh, this is something that can hold two oxen in a cargo bucket. In sports mode, the throttle will bounce when it gets neurotic. I suspect that Toyota engineers poured Red Bull into the ECU. However, you will need to be patient when following the car at a low speed-the gearbox occasionally thinks about life between 1st and 2nd gears, and then suddenly it hangs in with a clang. When the front of the car is lifted, my colleague in the back seat almost spilled coffee on my head.
The chassis is as hard as a gym trainer's biceps
The TRD Pro version uses FOX's 2.5-inch inner bypass suspension combined with the rear axle's composite blade spring. The good news is that when you cross the speed bump, you will feel all four wheels take off at the same time and land firmly, like riding in a modified Baja racing car. The bad news is that every crack and manhole cover in the city tells you through the seat,"Hey, there's a hole here." I drove 40 kilometers home, and the comfort in my waist was about the same as riding a horse. But if you really drive this car to jump in the desert, this hardness is a life-saving straw-comfort and performance can never be achieved at the same time. Toyota chose the latter. I respect them as men.
Interior? Three universes are advanced compared to the previous generation, but there is still a lot of plastic
When you get in the car, the first thing you see is the 12.3-inch instrument panel and the 14-inch central control screen. The clarity can count the ants on the navigation map. The red-and-black color-blocking seats are embroidered with TRD and feel like racing barrel seats, but in fact the cushions are hard-your butt will protest when driving long distances. The storage space is ridiculously large, and a watermelon can be stuffed into the central armrest box. However, the plastic part behind the steering wheel creaked and did not match its $60,000 selling price. In addition, the JBL stereo turns the engine louder, so you have to turn the volume to more than half to cover the exhaust when listening to the song. Forget it, the person who bought this car probably didn't want to listen to Mussorsky.
Driving like driving a roaring mountain
The steering feels really heavy, so heavy that the girlfriend complains,"Are you practicing your arms in the gym?" But this is the TRD Pro style-precise, heavy, and feedback. The first half of the brake pedal is soft, but the second half is suddenly clamped. When you first start using the brake, you will blush. Fortunately, when running at high speed, it is as stable as if it is pressed on a rail, and the downwind noise at 150 kilometers per hour is only smaller than the exhaust sound. I tried to turn slightly hard on a country road, with an unexpectedly small roll and even a slight slip in the rear wheel-the electronic stability system would immediately intervene, like a serious mother shouting,"Be quiet."
Finally, I want to say: Is it worth it?
The price of the 2026 Tundra TRD Pro is close to US$70,000, which is more expensive than a normal Tundra by a Corolla. But what you buy is the legitimate roar of the original factory, off-road capabilities that require little modification, and the capital to impress others at every traffic light. The shortcomings are also obvious-the fuel consumption is about 14 liters per 100 kilometers (if you can't control your right foot), and the back of the rear cushion is too straight, which can straighten the passenger's cervical vertebrae over long distances. But when you hear the entire parking lot shaking when it starts cold, you will think those little bugs are nothing. This car is not made for reason, it is a love letter to the adults who have an 18-year-old boy in their hearts. Moreover, this love letter was written using the voice of V6.
