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Writer's Notes
Test Car: Toyota Tundra SR5 Access Cab 4x4
Curb Appeal: Loads of it---but only if you're a "truck person."
Asphalt Rating: The 4.7-liter V-8 has great low-end torque as well as plenty of power for passing.
Real World: Practical for loads of cargo or towing, but not much room in the back seat for adults.
Handling: Very respectable, even with the off-road package and higher center of gravity.
Safety: Dual front airbags with a cutoff switch for the passenger side; three-point harnesses in all outboard seating positions.
Comfort: The captain's chairs (versus the front bench seat) are the way to go.
The 60/40-split rear seat offers three-point seat belts and adjustable headrests in the outboard positions, child-safety anchors in all three locations and a fold down center armrest with dual cupholders.
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I once gave a friend a card that said, "You might be a redneck if your idea of going 'formal' to a party is to take your black truck." He told me it was the best card he'd ever received.
"Why's that?" I questioned. (I had wondered if he'd be offended by the "redneck" reference.)
"Because it's just me," he said.
"Meaning?"
"I'm just a truck guy."
It was a comment I'd heard from others, both men and women. Apparently there is a subset of Americans who classify themselves as "truck people." I'm not talking about big rig drivers or enthusiasts who modify their pickups to look like the famed Big Foot monster truck, although some of them fall into this group.
Truck people, so my friends who own pickups tell me, are a special breed, who like the "freedom" driving a truck offers---from being able to carry large impulse purchases home to towing horse trailers and boats and nearly everything in between. It was easy to see how owning a car was so limiting when you put it that way.
So when I pulled myself up into the running-board-free 2002 Toyota Tundra SR5 Access Cab with four-wheel drive and an off-road package, I wondered where the freedom of being a pickup truck owner for a week would take me. To start with, I certainly had much more of a bird's-eye-view from the driver's seat.
As an automotive writer, I test drive a lot of vehicles, but it had been a while since I had driven a full-size pickup. Images of years past recalled bouncing along on the freeway, with an uncomfortable hum from the tires feeding back through the steering wheel. I was pleasantly surprised to find driving the Tundra wasn't that way at all.
First introduced in 1999, the Tundra is really a youngster when it compared to its competitors in the full-size pickup segment, but that hasn't stopped it from being Toyota's fourth best-selling model, with sales of 108,863 in 2001. Clearly, Toyota is doing something right.
Equipped with the 245 horsepower, 4.7-liter V-8 engine, our test model was well powered with solid low-end torque and good acceleration at passing speeds. The V-8 engine, which Toyota calls i-Force, was the first double-overhead cam, 32-valve V-8 offered in the segment. Fuel economy is estimated at 14 mpg city/17 mpg highway. Standard in the base Tundra is a 190 horsepower, 3.4-liter, double-overhead cam, 24-valve V-6 engine with a five-speed manual transmission or an optional four-speed automatic.
Up front, the Tundra is available with a 60/40-split bench seat or two captain's chairs with a two-level center console in the middle, as in our test model.
The optional four-wheel drive system on the V-8 Tundra features a shift-on-the-fly electronically-controlled transfer case with dash-mounted buttons to select two-wheel-drive as well as high- and low- four-wheel drive modes. The off-road package, offered on both two-wheel- and four-wheel-drive Access Cab models, comes with progressive rate springs, Bilstein mono-tube high-pressure gas shocks with an off-road tuned suspension, BF Goodrich all-terrain tires and aluminum alloy wheels as well as front and rear mudguards, fog lamps, overfenders and special Toyota Racing Development badging. Although many times on-road comfort is sacrificed in vehicles with off-road packages, our test model gave a surprisingly comfortable ride on pavement.
Like most pickups, the Tundra comes in enough configurations to make your head spin. The decisions go on and on: two-wheel or four-wheel drive, a two-door regular cab with an 8-foot bed or a four-door Access Cab with a six-foot-three-inch bed, V-6 engine or V-8, standard or automatic transmission, off-road package or not…One thing is for sure: truck people definitely can't be indecisive.
The popular Access Cab is considered a four-door model and, while it does have interior and exterior door handles, the front and rear doors overlap---meaning that you must open the front door before you can open the rear door. Ingress and egress from the front and rear seats in the Access Cab was relatively easy, however rear seat legroom was minimal even with the front seat pulled quite far forward. As a result, the rear seat is probably best used for small children or to carry cargo that needs to be in a locked or protected area.
The 60/40-split rear seat offers three-point seat belts and adjustable headrests in the outboard positions, child-safety anchors in all three locations and a fold down center armrest with dual cupholders. A storage compartment under the rear seat cushion offers a place to store valuables out of sight, while the cushion itself can be folded up to provide extra cargo space.
Up front, the Tundra is available with a 60/40-split bench seat or two captain's chairs with a two-level center console in the middle, as in our test model. Seating was quite comfortable, while the deep storage pockets and multi-level center console offered stowage for most small items, although larger items, including purses and shopping bags tended to float around whether positioned in the front or rear of the cab. Standard comfort and convenience features include power windows, mirrors and door locks, cruise control and a tilt, chrome-style steering wheel. Optional equipment for the SR5 includes captain's chairs with center console, Audio system with cassette and CD or in-dash CD changer, four-wheel ABS with daytime running lights, off-road package and limited slip differential.
At the end of my week with the Tundra, I thought back to the card I gave my friend and understood why he loved it so much---there was definitely something very cool about driving a big, bold pickup and if you think that makes the owner a redneck, well, then you just aren't a truck person.
---Story by Tara Baukus Mello
© 2002, Tara Baukus Mello, All Rights Reserved.
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