Automotive

All-new twin turbo-hybrid Toyota Tundra "born from invincibility"

View 15 Images
After months of teasing, Toyota reveals the third-generation Tundra
Toyota
Out with the V8, in with a twin-turbo V6 and i-Force Max hybrid
Toyota
There's just no end to that grille
Toyota
After months of teasing, Toyota reveals the third-generation Tundra
Toyota
The new Tundra maxes out at 437 hp
Toyota
Rear under-seat storage
Toyota
Available 12.3-in digital instrument panel
Toyota
The 2022 Tundra debuts with up to 12,000 lb towing, up from 10,200 lb on the outgoing model
Toyota
2022 Toyota Tundra Platinum
Toyota
Toyota offers 5.5-, 6.5- and 8.1-foot bed options
Toyota
Available 14.1-in touchscreen infotainment system
Toyota
The new Tundra will go on sale later this year
Toyota
The new Tundra is ready to swallow you whole
Toyota
Inside the new Tundra TRD Pro
Toyota
Three-seat rear bench
Toyota
Back in 2016, a 2007 Toyota Tundra owned by Victor Sheppard hit 1 million miles
Toyota
View gallery - 15 images

Toyota has been dragging its feet when it comes to committing to pure-electric vehicles, but it's long been a hybrid leader. So while the full-size pickup truck competition is starting to go electric, Toyota is biding its time with a stop at hybrid power. It's not a half-hearted effort, though, as the twin-turbo V6 hybrid powertrain on the all-new 2022 Tundra is the powerful range-topper. The third-generation Tundra also adds a raft of other tech upgrades, including a robust standard driver-assistance package, a new 14-in infotainment system and an upgraded suspension with adaptive damping.

Usually a line like "born from invincibility" is pure marketing b.s., but in the case of the Toyota Tundra, it does come with some backing evidence. Beyond sharing its lineage with some of the most relied-upon, go-everywhere vehicles of all time, most notably the Land Cruiser, the Tundra itself has been known to make it all the way to the million-mile mark. It's not quite immortally "invincible," but it's absolutely engineered to keep pushing onward, no matter what type of ground surface stretches out in front of the tires.

Back in 2016, a 2007 Toyota Tundra owned by Victor Sheppard hit 1 million miles
Toyota

That grille, though. We've long admired the strong, geometric grille lines on the Tundra and Tacoma – rugged and prominent without becoming oversized or ungainly. That admiration ends today with the introduction of way too much grille on this new-generation Tundra. Toyota continues its love affair with the front grille (can't forget this air-vacuuming monster) by stretching the new Tundra's mouth out to below the headlamps, highlighting it in certain variants with a thick, heavy metal surround, and deleting the bottom of that surround so that the black mesh bleeds into the black bumper. It's the same kind of jowly front-end treatment Toyota gave the 4Runner, and it's a big step down from the current-generation Tundra face, in our opinion.

The remainder of the new Tundra design is a more modest evolution from the Gen-2, gaining more definition and strength at the wheel arches, hood and lower sides. The glasshouse shows a modern, wraparound look courtesy of black-out A-pillars and hockey-stick metal trim on some models.

The new Tundra maxes out at 437 hp
Toyota

The new Tundra won't win any beauty contests, but that's not really what it's about . The third-generation truck gets plenty of upgrades to improve its role as a rugged, powerful work/adventure multitool. Toyota leaves the big, inefficient V8 behind in favor of a new twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 and 10-speed automatic transmission that team for up to 389 hp and 479 lb-ft (649 Nm) of torque, up from the 5.7-liter V8's 381 hp and 401 lb-ft (544 Nm). Without offering mpg estimates, Toyota says that the new twin-turbo V6 is highly efficient, so we expect some marked improvements on the current Tundra's dismal 13-mpg city/17-mpg highway EPA figures.

Those looking to further improve efficiency can pair the V6 and 10-speed with an i-Force Max electric motor-generator system that comes in a bell housing between the V6 and transmission. The hybrid system pushes max output up to 437 hp at 5,200 rpm and 583 lb-ft (790 Nm) at 2,400 rpm, offering low-speed EV driving for city use, boosted torque low in the rpm range for off-roading, and responsive linear power delivery during highway driving. Battery power comes stored in a nickel-metal-hydride pack tucked below the rear seats.

Out with the V8, in with a twin-turbo V6 and i-Force Max hybrid
Toyota

The Tundra comes built atop a new high-strength boxed steel ladder frame and does its hauling in an aluminum-reinforced composite bed. Below that bed, Toyota pulls out the aged leaf springs, swapping in a coil-sprung multi-link suspension system. Toyota credits the new suspension with helping to increase max towing by over 17 percent to an even 12,000 lb (5,440 kg) and payload to 1,940 lb (880 kg). Both the rear and the front double-wishbone suspensions come standard with twin-tube shocks, and TRD versions feature shocks from Bilstein and Fox. A newly available rear air suspension system features three height seatings and leveling functionality, and a new adaptive damping system available for the first time on the Tundra adjusts damping to current road or ground conditions.

Boosting safety, the Toyota Safety Sense 2.5 driver-assistance suite comes standard across the entire Tundra line. Highlights of the package include Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, Lane Tracing Assist with corrective steering, and Pre-Collision System with pedestrian detection.

Inside, the Tundra debuts Toyota's new Audio Multimedia system with an improved HMI (human-machine interface) that encompasses sight, touch and voice control. The system comes with an 8-in or available 14-in touch display and includes a physical knob for good old fashioned grab-and-twist volume control. The 14-in touchscreen works seamlessly to show feeds from the available rear, side and front-view cameras, assisting in identifying off-road obstacles and keeping an eye on an in-tow trailer.

Toyota offers 5.5-, 6.5- and 8.1-foot bed options
Toyota

The new Tundra will come in a number of sizes and trims, including a newly available CrewMax cab with 6.5-foot bed configuration that allows buyers to enjoy the most spacious interior and a large bed. The new TRD Pro will only be offered with the i-Max Force hybrid powertrain, which will be available as an option on Limited, Platinum and 1794 trims.

Toyota will begin assembly of the 2022 Tundra at its San Antonio manufacturing plant later this year. It will release pricing closer to launch.

Source: Toyota

View gallery - 15 images
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
4 comments
WB
Still as tone deaf as ever ...the ice dinosaur looking at the ev meteorite coming in... Toyota will be no more in half a decade ...
BlueOak
“That grille, though.” Exactly. Hard to take a truck seriously, with a grille that looks like it escaped a cartoon, haha.
ljaques
Too little, too late as far as an electric Tundra is concerned. Not enough battery, ugly-as-sin grille, untidy lines on the truck, silly trim, and the idiots quit making conventional cabs. You can only buy the long frame and have to accept 4 doors. That's why I'm still in my '07. When I bought my Tundra, I hoped to buy a hybrid. They didn't make 'em. I got the 4.7L small V-8 and would have been happy with an old 3L I-4 Hilux engine, I think. The V-8 has more than enough power...at 13mpg city/18mpg hwy. I wouldn't want the extra maintenance and common engine lags with the turbos, not to mention that the trucks nowadays are triple the price I paid back then. If my engine dies, the Tundra gets Tesla battery packs and an electric motor to power it. I drive very little nowadays, but I love that truck.
Bob B
@WB Hyperbole much? If the entire U.S. auto fleet magically switched to EV's overnight, the power grid would melt down the next day. There is a lot of infrastructure work that needs to be done to support the change and Toyota is rightly betting that hybrids will be the order of the day for some time to come. Not to mention that fact that nobody is yet building an electric truck that can do real truck work day in and day out without major inconveniences. Sure, they can act as soccer mom transporters, but they still aren't capable of hauling a real load hundreds of miles each and every day.