I think it should be compared to the TrailBoss like TLF did.

TRD Pro will have the Hybrid system too with I think near 500 torque. No one knows Hybrid like Toyota. But they were not out yet to compare and plus my dealer here put 10k admin on all TRD Pros from Tacoma to Sequoia. Already expensive. I was also interested in the 58 Land Cruiser but who knows when they will trickle in here or what my crooked Toyota dealer will ask for them.

 

Initially I thought it was weird that they did that until I tried to build one on the Toyota website, The TRD off road is the same price as a ZR2. I'm guessing the TRD pro would be in the Ranger Raptor and ZR2 Bison territory

 

Well they took them on the highway and rock crawling but not what the ZR2 is designed to do, go fast over rough country.

 

Not a fan of the Tacoma new interior just taking a look. That screen sucks to me, looks out of place and not natural which I think Chevy did a far better job with. But I generally like the rugged Toyota interior but not sure about new tacoma plus the Chevy integration of driver information system has won me over.

Like the hand holds and such though.

 

For performance numbers it would have been great if they could have put identical tires on the two trucks. It is surprising to many folks just how much the tire weight and diameter and tread design affect performance and MPG. When C&D does detailed tests on performance cars including track results, they often make an extra effort to use the same tires as much as possible.

 

They used the tires the trucks come optioned with…hard to argue anything would be more fair than that. Why change the tires from what comes standard just to give one truck an advantage? How many people are going to look at this and go “gee I really wanted truck X for my off-roading vehicle of choice, but truck Y is 0.2 seconds quicker to 60 so I guess I will buy that instead”?

I also don’t think I’ve ever seen C&D changing tires…they just run what the manufacturer sends over. They can make requests but there is no guarantee that will happen…they just get what they get.

 

These 2.7s in my case anyway don't start waking up until over 2000 miles, they just are different at that mileage , and my brakes are very good

 

My takeaway from all of this is that stock for stock the Tacoma slightly edges out the ZR2 on road and fuel economy while matching it on the off road trail they took them on. I'd say that's probably accurate and that a stock TRD OR Tacoma would meet 98% of people's needs off road. What happens then when a significant people lift their Tacoma, add 33" MT tires and a bunch of steel armor to match what the ZR2 comes with stock? The fact that the ZR2 that weighs 435lbs more with 285/70/17 MT tires is matching the acceleration and braking performance of the Tacoma on 265/70/17 AT tires is pretty impressive. Most of that weight difference is from larger tires and added options/accessories.

Interior is personal preference, I feel that the Chevy looks more cohesive and has some nice accents, like my yellow seat bealts and stitching. I also think the 11" infotainment is more useful and I like that the quick access bar on the left remains when using carplay, unlike the Tacoma. The features "hidden" in the infotainment screen is an easy jab from the journalists but it's never bothered me once I got used to it. I do like all the extra storage cubbies in the Tacoma, I think Chevy missed a few opportunities there.

I think the better matchup price and capability wise would have been the AT4 and TRD OR.

I was surprised to see that the 3G ZR2 had a lower RTI score than the 2G, especially chevy was touting increased travel front and rear.

 

I'm wondering if the front swaybar on the zr2 is holding it back. Looking forward to a quick disconnect kit.

 

TFL did a comparison tow test Trail boss against Tacoma Off road, Tacoma showed same performance but better mpg. Seems like there is more driver comfort in the new Tacoma. All in all they both did well..

 

Trailboss was the winner. .6 mpg is not even worth discussing. 1200 pounds is big for some and it climbed better.

Trailboss was 4k less dollars, better towing, better capacity, better trailer data information. The last 5 mins is good info for the impatient like me.

 

These guys really love the zR2, but the Tacoma off road mid level truck( not the top level TRD Pro) was the clear winner. 5mpg better milage and identical performance as the ZR2

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a46685632/2024-toyota-tacoma-trd-off-road-2023-chevy-colorado-zr2-test/

sounds like you be trading-in on a new Tacoma?

 

Nope. If I was buying brand new mid size now, it would be the Frontier . But not buying anything new, too much crap to go wrong. And quality is going downhill after Covid.

 

Not a fan of TFL, you can clearly see in many videos that they won’t say certain things because they don’t want to not be invited back on new releases. This goes across all manufacturers, they are not a reliable source, they are about selling clicks.

 

Agree 100% they do a lot of Toyota's also. The Nissan Frontier actually did better than the Tacoma but they had to beef up the review on Tacoma in my opinion. Frontier had far better plate protection did just as well off road and had more power than the 2023 Tacoma especially.

 

It also seems like it will be a while still for the TRD Pro to come out, you can't build it on Toyota's site. It wasn't even there in any respect a few weeks back when I was looking at trucks.

I was told by a dealer in Seattle I could "reserve" TRD OR, but who knows when it would have been coming. Since it was the Costco program, I may not have gotten shafted on the price, but I'd imagine otherwise these are going to have heft premium so they can clear out the 2023s and maximize their profit.

The ZR2 was not "vaporware" and even existed even in-state for me (although none had the right build), which is rare here. If we were one year into the new Taco, I might see this all differently.

 

It also seems like it will be a while still for the TRD Pro to come out, you can't build it on Toyota's site. It wasn't even there in any respect a few weeks back when I was looking at trucks.

I was told by a dealer in Seattle I could "reserve" TRD OR, but who knows when it would have been coming. Since it was the Costco program, I may not have gotten shafted on the price, but I'd imagine otherwise these are going to have heft premium so they can clear out the 2023s and maximize their profit.

The ZR2 was not "vaporware" and even existed even in-state for me (although none had the right build), which is rare here. If we were one year into the new Taco, I might see this all differently.

Yeah the TRD Pro and Trail Hunter are hybrid and not going to be released any time soon. Which means to me the Toyota dealers who are the worse in the world will be asking ridiculous prices, such as 10k over MSRP. Toyota sucks like that.

No word on when the TRD Pro will be released.

The entire idea of a ZR2 compared to a TRD Offroad is a waste of time totally two different trucks and purposes.

The off road portion was fake nonsense and not real world, just barely off road. Truly disappointing of Car and Driver. They think trim cost equalizes the differences. How ridiculous. Even the TRD Pro will not compare to the ZR2 or Desert Boss or the coming Rhino.

This image says everything about how useless the comparison was.

 

Up coming Tacoma hybrid will be a powerful mother

 

I really want gm to put a better motor in the new Colorado and canyon. Yeah sure it’s torquey but there’s no reason it should get v8 gas mileage

 

3.0 Duramax would have been sweet in my opinion.

 

They can make engines as efficient or as powerful as they want, but until trucks stop getting bigger every year whatever they gain on the powertrain they lose in weight and aerodynamics.
The 2023 ZR2 is the same weight and height and a whole 4" narrower than a 2014 silverado 4x4 ccsb with LTZ package.

 

Test them using the H.O version

 

I think this test was not a good comparison to be honest. I guess I can understand why they choose a ZR2 versus a Z71 (not "off-roady" enough) or a Trail Boss (interior not "ritzy" enough) , but geez, they decide to go all out and get the heaviest, slowest, most expensive Colorado you can buy, and then compare that one? Terrible. The test should have been versus a nearly "bare bones" ZR2 (which comes fairly equipped anyways) or an optioned Trail Boss, which would have been lacking in the interior department versus the Toyota, but still would have been fair and cheaper.

They talk like the interior of the Colorado is pretty bad versus the Toyota. I call BS on that one. On looks alone I'd take the GM twin's interior over the Tacoma interior and it's tacked on screen and tonka toy styling.

I agree with a reply above, that a better comparison would be versus the Canyon AT4 since it's got what the Z71 doesn't offer, which is a nicer interior, with Trail Boss like off-road capability.

One point I will agree on (sort of) is that the 2.7 doesn't seem to perform as stout in the real world as it's on paper numbers (430lbs torque) would indicate. That said, the ZR2 in this test was hundreds of pounds heavier, bigger tires, and I think it may have been even taller.

 

Yeah the Colorado interior is superior by far in my opinion especially that ugly tablet Toyota seemed to throw in there as if they ran out of time. Only thing I like better interior is the hand hold for passenger pretty cool place for it.

 

My bad, its the H.O.

 

The same could be said for the Toyota H.O hybrid. Crazy torque and HP for a midsize and so far the few that have been tested are averaging 25-27 mpg. Still not as good as the 2.8 diesel though.

 

Better data IMO, although I'm not the biggest fan of 0-60 tests, this starts to make more sense, given the smaller tires on the Taco TRD OR.

 

This was a weird comparison. For every single comparison point, they were very close to being equal; performance differences in either direction were usually measured in single digit percentages. (The only exception is fuel economy, for which the Taco has a significant edge.) Or, it was all personal preference: "Chevy's interior is uninspired" and the Taco's shifter "looks like a mini millennium falcon!" Cool, but I actually prefer the Chevy's interior, so...

 

The Toyota is ugly so there is that.

 

I have had my 23 ZR2 since December. I love the ride. No complaints on the interior. Infotainment system isn't nearly as bad as everyone states it is. Fog lights and trip counter are quick and easy to use. Keeps the clutter down. Performance has not been an issue. The integration of the infotainment screen is clean. The Toyota looks great, except for the screen. I don’t regret my decision on purchasing the ZR2. Love the truck. To each there own.

 

Taco very Jap looking inside and out

 

If they picked a base zr2 and put the same tires on them it wouldn't even be close. The zr2 would be significantly quicker in every acceleration test and the mpg would have been much closer.
Plus, this is stock for stock comparisons. The glaring defienciency of the tacoma is that you cant fit 35s without major surgery. 35s is where you start offroading these days. It calls itself an off road model with 32s. Lol. Thata like a cheat code for the epa and for magazine tests, but not realistic.
This is coming from a huge toyota fan. I've built and modified several and taken them over the rubicon.

 

If they picked a base zr2 and put the same tires on them it wouldn't even be close. The zr2 would be significantly quicker in every acceleration test and the mpg would have been much closer.
Plus, this is stock for stock comparisons. The glaring defienciency of the tacoma is that you cant fit 35s without major surgery. 35s is where you start offroading these days. It calls itself an off road model with 32s. Lol. Thata like a cheat code for the epa and for magazine tests, but not realistic.
This is coming from a huge toyota fan. I've built and modified several and taken them over the rubicon.

Did you miss the comparison of the Tacoma and Trail boss with same tire size ect. The Colorado did not blow it away at all, and no bias as one of the testers owned the Colorado.

 

There's also only so much air and fuel you can cram into the cylinders. If you know the displacement, CR and boost-psi, you can get a pretty good idea of how much power is on tap. Toyota would have to be seriously under-rating the power...but for that to be the case, they'd need to be making significantly more boost, and just look at how much boost the 2.7 is under. It's not impossible, but for that to be the case you usually need a bigger turbo that won't respond well at lower speeds, unless you go to more exotic means to help spin it up, and so on. Again, it's possible, but it would be reflected in the turbo size and operating PSI, it would be much higher, to match or exceed the 2.7 with smaller displacement. The 2.7 isn't an end-all, but I watched the engineering discussion on savagegeese with one of the engineers that worked on it and it's definitely purpose built and a lot of thought went into it. I'm sure Toyota's 2.4 is well thought out, they are almost always well thought out, but again, it would have to be significantly under-rated AND making significantly more boost. OEM dynos would help to paint the picture.

 

Great summary. Im wondering if the factory tuning has torque limiting in the first couple gears or something. I have a jb4 on order. Excited to see how it does with some E30+.

 

I will give it to the tacoma for having the rear links and coils. For having leaf springs the zr2 rides great, but coils are definently superior in many ways.

 

Leafs go on trucks, coils for cars and soccer mom suvs

 

TFL did run the new Tacoma Limited they had against Andre’s Trail Boss and the Colorado walked away from it. Both trucks were faster then a last generation 3.5 Tacoma they had.

 

The 2023 and such Tacoma with 3.5 is a snooze fest and its like sitting on the floor board. Will probably last 50 years but nothing fun about them in my opinion!