2016 Toyota Tacoma - Edmunds Road Test

Edmunds.com

2016 Toyota Tacoma - Edmunds Road Test

The bed of a pickup truck is what makes a pickup truck a pickup truck. On that basis, the 2016 Toyota Tacoma is a pickup truck among pickup trucks, or words to that effect.

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5vzfe

The tailgate is also damped. Not necessary or particularly useful, but I like that feature on our tundra, you can drop the gate without it slamming down.

darthbimmer

I agree, this is a great roll call of the bed features a modern pick-up truck ought to offer.

longtimelurker

Not a fan of this vehicle, but I must admit the composite bed is the right thing to do.

metalmania

I have to say the entire bed "system" does soundly beat the Colorado. Though I think the Colorado's bed is deeper, which may be preferable for some applications.

moparbad

Composite bed was offered in 2001 on GM full size trucks. Branded as Pro-Tec.

actualsize

metalmania said:

... I think the Colorado's bed is deeper, which may be preferable for some applications.

We've talked about that, and it certainly is true. The trouble is this: The lip of the Colorado/Canyon's bed is 3 inches higher off the ground than the Tacoma. If you aren't six feet tall, it's hard to reach over and in. The bed isn't 3 inches deeper, though; it's less than that. That's because the bed floor is a little higher in the GMC twins. Combine this with more "rake" built into its stance and you get an open-tailgate loading height that's at least two inches higher than the Tacoma. That makes the Chevy's corner bumper step seem necessary, but the lack of one on the Tacoma doesn't come across as a drawback because the bumper itself does the job just fine.

stever

That's the trouble with all the new pickups - loaded some junk into a pickup a few days ago and it was a big tall pain.

Didn't even notice the brand of truck but I grabbed my tape and the liftover height was 34 inches.