So, you're all well aware of it, but here is the Official Show 'n Shine thread.
It is a 2018 Toyota Tundra CrewMax SR5 4x4 with TRD Off Road Package.
The Tundra is available in two cabs. The smaller Double Cab, and the larger CrewMax. I'm 6'1", and with the CrewMax I can sit behind myself and still have 12" of knee room to the front seat.
The SR5 is the base model truck, yet a base model Tundra is equivalent to mid-trim of pretty much every other truck. With the Crewmax SR5 trim, you get cloth heated bucket seats with the driverside being 8-way power, Toyota's 7" Entune Infotainment, fully retractable rear window (defrosted, too), two sets of floor mats (summer/winter), LED DRL's, as well as Toyota's Safety Sense P. Safety Sense P is comprised of Radar Cruise Control with auto-stop (only works at speeds over 50 km/h, so for highway use only), Lane Keep Assist (warning, not actual steering), Auto High Beam, and Pre-Collision System (warns you to stop if it detects an object in front of you, and will apply the brakes if you do nothing). Oh, and this thing has a HUGE 144L Fuel tank. It will easily do 1000+ hwy kms.
The TRD Off-Road Package is a $4400 package that gets you: Navigation, Clearance Sensors, fuel tank protector plate, Power Moonroof, LED Foglamps and Headlamps, Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror, Billstein shocks, and upgraded 18" wheels and tires.
The engine on pretty much all Tundra's is a 5.7L I-Force V8 (the only Tundra that gets the 4.6L is the DoubleCab SR trim...ALL the others get the 5.7L), good for 381 hp and 401 lb-ft of torque. All 5.7L Tundra's are set up with a Class IV Hitch, Integrated Brake Controller, 7/4-Pin Wiring, and Sway Control. The truck has a tow rating of 9200lbs, and rated fuel consumption of BAD L/100kms. (18/14.2/16.3 L/100Kms, City/Hwy/Combined). You get A-Trac, which is a type of electronic LSD. But not a real LSD. Rather, it's the kind that uses the brakes to slow the spinning wheel without actually cutting engine power. I'm actually surprised that the TRD Off Road package doesn't come with a real LSD, but I also understand that this isn't a REAL off-road truck.
My initial impressions are good. Why wouldn't they be? It's a brand new truck. The interior materials are comparable to a Grand Caravan. There are lots of hard plastics pretty much everywhere, as well as some shiny Plasti-Chrome. If I was coming from a Lexus or a Ram into this truck, I'd be disappointed. As it is, I'm upgrading from a Grand Caravan, so I'm happy. It's all relative, right? Everything feels tight and well-put-together. One omission I should point out is the lack of a leather-wrapped steering wheel. At this price point, its an odd omission. The Gauge Cluster has TONS of information, as well as real dials showing fuel level, coolant temp, oil temp (I haven't figured out yet if its engine oil or tranny oil temp), and voltage. It's so nice to have real gauges for this stuff, especially when towing.
The Entune system seems to work okay. The Nav is nice, and you get turn-by-turn directions in the little TFT screen in the gauge cluster. One thing I miss about Dodge's UConnect system is that when you receive a text, you can ask UConnect to read it out to you with the speech-to-text function. I haven't found out if Entune has this; so far all that has happened is Entune has prompted me that the vehicle must not be in motion in order to read the text message. So, that's kind of annoying.
Driving it is nice. Driving position is obviously very truck-like. You sit upright and very high up. The engine makes very nice V8 noises, although it probably doesn't sound as good as a Hemi (Dodge has nailed the V8, as far as I'm concerned). The transmission is a 6-speed transmission, and it seems eager to respond, even if it has 2-4 fewer gears than ALL the competition. I drove it home in the dark, as well as to work this morning. The LED headlights (auto on, btw) are VERY bright, and illuminate the road with no issues. Other than the gruff sounds of the V8, the truck drives very quietly (especially compared to my creaky old van). Wind noise is minimal. It definitely rides like a truck, and doesn't respond especially well to broken up pavement. Ride, Handling, Fuel Economy and Interior is definitely inferior to all the Big 3 Fullsize trucks. I'll let you make your own conclusions on the Tundra's advantages...
There are a few things that I'll have to do to this truck: Winter Tires (Blizzak DM-V2's) are incoming in a couple of weeks. It will need a bedliner, and a tonneau cover. For the bedliner, I'm considering doing a roll-on bedliner myself in the spring. My Dad put one on his Colorado with excellent results. I'll decide if I want a hard tonneau cover or a soft tonneau cover, depending on cost come springtime. After less than 24hrs of ownership, I've already decided we are going to need some side steps to climb into the cab of this thing. It's a bit of a stretch for me, so it must feel massive for my wife. My daughter isn't even entertaining the thought of climbing into this truck.
Anyway, here are some pictures:
