The last time there was an all-new Tundra, George W. Bush was in the Oval Office — 2007. A lot has changed in this world of ours since then. But the Tundra hasn’t.
Say what you will about that fact, but it’s kind of impressive. Most automakers completely refresh vehicles every six years. Toyota has waited more than double that time between Tundra generations.
Soon, for the 2022 model year, the tried-and-true Tundra will be replaced by its third-gen successor. Although we don’t know a lot about it yet, we can see it’ll have all kinds of front-end lights.
What we kind have been able to piece together from rumblings on the internet is that the all-new Tundra and forthcoming fourth-gen Tacoma will ride on the same platform — à la Nissan Titan and Frontier.
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One has to wonder if that means that the Tundra will become a wimp or the Tacoma will be bloated. This is Toyota we’re talking about, though. Surely its engineers have sufficiently sorted that stuff out.
Photo: Toyota
Rumors also have it that the new Tundra will have coil-spring suspension at all four corners (a long overdue upgrade) and jettison its 5.7-liter V8 power plant for a hybrid unit. Toyota didn’t invent the hybrid (GM did). But it sure popularized the propulsion technology with the Prius. Funny Toyota has waited so long to apply hybrid tech to the pickup segment where it would be most beneficial in both fuel economy, range, and torque.
Ford’s new F-150 is currently the only hybrid truck on the market.
Toyota has not yet divulged when the new Tundra will debut, only promising it “soon.” Until then, we’ll be waiting with bated breath.
The current, older-than-sin Tundra has become the unofficial rig of full-size overlanding. No doubt the third-gen will carry that torch.
Header image: Toyota
