What you see when you approach a T100 like our tester is a pretty generic
full-size pickup truck, with a conservative face, cab design and minimum
of decoration. This truck was being designed before the current Dodge Ram
and Ford F-Series made their big market splashes, so Toyota went with a
very conservative approach just as the market was changing toward chrome-grilled
macho trucks. So the design is a little behind its U.S. competition, but
if you want a conservative truck that may last a decade or more, it's still
a good bet.
What you will also see is painstaking construction quality, inside and
out. Toyota takes pickup door fit and panel match as seriously as the same
fitments on Lexus luxury cars, which obviously pays off down the line.
Everywhere you look on the T100 there are quality materials, quality workmanship,
and excellent, if subdued, design.
Our test truck was the top-of-the-line SR5 XtraCab 4x4 (from $24,778,
including destination), which comes with the best level of standard equipment,
but Toyota also offers three lesser series as well as standard-cab models
and two-wheel drive. The model array is almost as wide as those of the
American Big Three, minus V8 or diesel power and big-time work ratings.
But the T100 V6 has almost everything else. It is rated to carry a 2150-pound
payload in 2WD V6 editions, and tow up to 5200 pounds. It has all the traditional
pickup truck equipment, including an easily removable tailgate, two-tier
cargo storage, an array of tie-down hooks in the bed, and a set of stake
pockets in the bed as well, where customers can add aftermarket wooden
stakes to retain taller loads.
But as you'd expect of a Toyota, it isn't so businesslike as to avoid
creature comforts. The option lists include all the popular pickup power-operated
accessories like seats, windows, mirrors and locks, as well as several
very good sound systems.
The SR5 package adds a ton of equipment to the truck, including chrome
wheel arch moldings, chrome grille, chrome front bumper and door handles,
a sliding rear window, privacy glass, tilt steering wheel, full instrumentation,
an AM/FM/cassette sound system with four speakers, map lights and a passenger-side lighted vanity mirror.
The only things conspicuously absent are a passenger-side airbag, which
we'll see on 1998 models, and a third door for extended cab models, something
that's been very popular for Ford and General Motors trucks.
The Toyota conservatism extends to the interior of the XtraCab SR5 4x4
as well. The instrument panel has everything you need, laid out properly,
but while the tach and speedometer are large and conventional, the minor
instruments are sliding-bar gauges that went out in the '70s in American
passenger cars.
We found the interior of the T100 to be just as roomy as any of the
other extended-cab pickups on the market, and the 60/40 split front seats
were comfortable, with plenty of front-rear manual adjustment (power seats
are available). Interior materials in our test truck were high quality
and have the look of high durability, as well, although we found the color
combinations a bit on the dull side.
The rear seat area was well done, with a one-touch lever on the passenger
side that would slide the front passenger seat up so that groceries could
be loaded into the rear floor area. The rear seats, which split for even
more cargo convenience, are hinged off the back wall, and are a great deal
more comfortable than most. There's a storage compartment built into the
floor under each seat as well, and the rear compartment is fully trimmed
out.
Our test truck had the optional tonneau cover, and we're not sure whether
we liked it or not. The black, semi-rigid cover, with a hefty vinyl covering
supported by underbows, looked great and was extremely well made and taut.
But it's attached to the truck bed rail by a complicated system of six
aluminum clamps that will be hard to reach whenever the owner wants to
use the cargo bed.
The T100 powertrain array has been expanded, as we said. Now, instead
of taking the 3.0-liter V6 or else, the T100 has a 2.7-liter four-cylinder
engine rated at 150 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque, but it is
offered only in the budget-priced Standard truck, with the 3.4-liter V6--190
hp, 220 lb.-ft. of torque--standard in all other models. The 2.7-liter
engine is the only four-cylinder offered in a full-size pickup, an installation
made in 1994 to reduce the T100's basic purchase price, and its power doesn't
stack up all that well against the basic engines in its Big Three rivals.
The V6 is also short of the V6 power and torque of a Ford or Chevy pickup
for real work, but on the street, with only passengers to carry, it was
just fine, quiet, smooth and eager to perform, even with an automatic.
And don't forget, Toyota also makes some of the world's best manual gearboxes;
we mention this because a manual may be a better deal with this engine,
since it makes the most of the available power.
The T100 suspension, with leaf springs at the rear end and torsion-bar
setup at the front, offers plenty of travel and shock absorption for a
street truck, a smooth ride, and a minimum of wallowing about.
While the steering is nice and light in the 2WD mode, when the 4WD system
was engaged the front tires seemed to get bound up at relatively shallow
wheel angles, forcing a lot of extra maneuvers in parking lots.
The 4WD system is a simple on-demand setup with a separate shifter for
transfer case engagement and shift-on-the-fly capability up to 50 mph.
Like most pickup truck systems, it's designed for occasional use, rather
than full-time.