The steel wheels say “work truck,” but adaptive cruise and push-button start were the stuff of luxury cars only a few years ago.
The 2024 Toyota Tacoma is here, and it’s much improved over its predecessor, delivering new looks, more tech, and better dynamics. One of the most significant advancements comes via the new powertrain, a turbocharged 2.4-liter inline-four that comes standard on even the base SR trim level.
We got cozy with an extended-cab SR during our first drive of the new Tacoma. Painted a resplendent refrigerator-repair white and sporting steel wheels and plastic bumpers, the base-model Tacoma certainly looks the part. Last year, such a truck would likely have left the dealer with a breathless, 159-horsepower 2.7-liter engine under the hood. But for 2024, the SR gets a 228-hp version of the turbo four, with all 243 pound-feet of torque available from just 1,600 rpm. Better dynamics are a given, then, but what might take shoppers by surprise is how well-equipped the base truck is, even at its $32,995 starting price.
One of the Tacoma’s biggest wins over its competitors is a comprehensive suite of active safety and driver assistance technology. Called Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, it includes forward collision warning, pedestrian and cyclist detection, automatic emergency braking, and lane departure prevention, as well as adaptive cruise control, lane tracing, and automatic high beams. Getting those features on a Chevrolet Colorado balloons its $30,695 price by $2,415.
The Tacoma SR also gets a decent 8.0-inch infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as keyless entry and pushbutton start, a surprise given the $40,000-plus Jeep Gladiator makes do with a normal stick key. Another shocker: The 2024 Tacoma extended cab no longer has a rear seat or clamshell half-doors, making it a strict two-seater. In place of the old truck’s jump seats are a lockable cargo bin and open storage, and the passenger seat flips forward to reveal mounting points for mobile office hardware and tie-downs for added storage.
In addition to the cheap-and-cheerful model we drove, the Tacoma SR will also be offered in a four-door Double Cab configuration, and both body styles will offer four-wheel drive. Furthermore, the Double Cab 4×4 offers a no-cost manual transmission, which includes a power boost to 270 hp and 310 lb-ft from the 2.4 turbo. In its most expensive configuration, the Tacoma SR costs $38,395. That feels like a lot for a base truck, but then again, base trucks are no longer the stripped-out workhorses they once were.
If that’s more your vibe, well, you’d better move overseas and buy the adorably stripped-down Toyota IMV 0.
