Toyota's newly revised 2014 Tundra hits all the right notes. It's got a crunchy exterior, with a soft, chewy center. It's tough and manly, but soft and cushy when it needs to be. The exterior, for instance, has a taller, more aggressive grill and a new spoiler on the tailgate give the full-size pickup a hard-core, industrial look. Inside, the hugely spacious interior, standard backup camera, Bluetooth upgrades, and, of course, road-trip worthy seating give the Tundra a downright cozy feel.
I tested the 1794 edition, which is named in tribute to the ranch (founded in 1794) on which Toyota's San Antonio Tundra factory is located. This version plays up San Antonio's western theme with saddle brown leather and suede coating the seats, and it offers heated/cooled power front seats, dual-zone A/C, backup camera and parking sonar, and Entune premium JBL sound system with navigation.
The seats get mixed reviews: if you're not i nto the whole western theme, you're probably not going to dig the color. If you can get past the color, the Lexus-grade leather on the seats feels great, and the back seat in the 4-door double cab was downright cavernous. Nobody's going to be fighting for shotgun in this thing. The 7-inch hi-res navigation screen is quick to respond to touch commands, and the Bluetooth connection is fast and seamless. The engine noise is reduced to a murmur, thanks to the new hood insulator design, sound-absorbing dash, and body mounts under the dash and rear panels. Wind noise, however, does tend to pick up at high speeds.
Don't be fooled by the plush interior, though--the Tundra's got guts. The 4x4's 5.7-liter V-8 generates 381hp, and it's got some wicked get-up when the bed's empty. You hit the gas, and it'll push you back in your seat; much zippier than I expected from a 5,900-pound truck. It rides smoothly, without the shaking and rumbling usually associated with driving a full-size truck.
My main beef with the Tundra is the floaty steering, especially at slow speeds. When you get up to speed, the steering seems to tighten up, but under 20mph, the steering wheel has a tendency to feel oddly disconnected.
The gas mileage isn't great either; at 13 city/17 highway, its thirstier than the comparable Chevy Silverado High Country; on the other hand, our test vehicle's $47,885 msrp priced a lot friendlier, as the High Country usually sits in the mid-$50k range. At any level, though, it's still a solid choice for the cowboy on a budget.
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