When the previous gen Tundra came out in 2007, Toyota looked at the benchmarks at the time, and exceeded all the metrics I mentioned. That generation of Tundra hauled more, towed more, and was more powerful, courtesy of the all new 5.7L V8. It was THE benchmark for half-tons. Then a couple of years later, all the other manufacturers released new generations of their trucks and the Tundra was left behind. Literally the ONLY thing the Tundra had going for it after that was stellar reliability. Over the last decade and a half, all the other half tons got better and better, while the Tundra remained at its mid 2000's capabilities.
Once again, Toyota finds itself in the position where it can see what the other manufacturers are doing, and potentially beat them, at least for a little bit. I'm not saying Toyota needs to surpass them so much that they'll hold a commanding lead for years to come, but they at least need to 'beat' the current generation of trucks, so that they can be somewhat competitive over the next decade and a half that they'll offer this half ton.
