2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter Five Thoughts: Overkill? We Think Not
The 2024 Toyota Tacoma was redesigned with a logical mindset. Hybrid powertrain? Check. Better interior? Check. More technology and a modern design? Check and check.
While the engineers were fine-tuning these much-needed improvements, some other Toyota product guys decided to have a little fun, apparently conspiring with their aftermarket friends to build something best described as a forest-attack truck. TRD goes Mad Max.
The result: The 2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter. While the vaunted TRD Pro is your desert runner, the Trailhunter’s natural habitat is woodsy and rocky terrain. This new trim that sits near the top of the Taco’s menu offers specialized off-road capabilities, hybrid power and lots of bronze.
After a week testing the Trailhunter everywhere from mud-splattered roads to downtown Detroit, I have five thoughts.
1) Gnarly Trailhunter Gear
If you’re going trail hunting—you need stuff—and the Tacoma Trailhunter packs heavy. It gives you steel skid plates, rock rails, high clearance exhaust, tow hooks, and the spectacularly named “Old Man Emu” forged monotube shocks with external reservoirs. The shocks, bed rack, and sport bars were developed by an Australian off-roading outfit called ARB, which worked onsite with Toyota during the development process.
The Trailhunter rides on knobby 33-inch Goodyears and has TOYOTA spelled out old-school style across the grille backed by an LED light bar and fog lamps. There’s a snorkel on the passenger side A-pillar if you need to ford a river, though most of the time it makes comically loud snorting noises during acceleration, startling anyone riding shotgun.
The Trailhunter is geared for trails, rocks and overlanding adventures. Conversely, the Tacoma’s range-topping TRD Pro model is set up for the desert, swapping the Old Man Emu shocks for Foxes tuned for high-speed runs and calibrated to prevent bottoming out. To be clear, they both could conquer almost anything.
2) The Bronze Age Lives
The Traillhunter will cause people to stop in the middle of the sidewalk and snap photos, and the 18-inch bronze-colored wheels and the Oxide Bronze paint are a huge part of that. Toyota ushered in a new Bronze Age in 2020 with the Land Cruiser Heritage Edition, which featured bronze wheels as part of its throwback package.
Bronze rollers also showed up on the 2023 Toyota 4Runner 40th Anniversary Edition, and now Toyota is mounting them on the Tacoma’s forest-attack trim. Good move. That being said, Toyota’s record with Bronze isn’t perfect and black or gray steelies on an off-roader is a timeless look, IMO.
3) Thoughtful Interior
It would be easy to excuse Toyota for going with a basic interior with cheap furnishings for an off-roader. Throw on a few Trailhunter badges and call it a day. That would be a missed opportunity. At this price—$65 grand—you should expect a compelling interior, and Toyota delivers.
The so-called mineral color scheme looks great, with light gray/blue seats with orange stitching and rock-colored accent pieces on the dashboard. There are plenty of cubbyholes, cupholders, and storage bins throughout, and textured rubber handles that fit the utilitarian theme. Naturally, there’s a colorful 14-inch infotainment screen, which is bright and easy to use.
4) Jumping On The Bed
Toyota invested development time and money on the Trailhunter’s bed, which is super functional. This one is five feet, and a six-footer is available. It has a bed mat that sits on top of a liner, tie-down points, and a 120-volt plug. There’s also a tarp/cover in one of the side panels and a power trailgate. There’s a lot to use, but it’s not gimmicky.
5) Legit Power
The Tacoma Trailhunter runs the i-Force Max hybrid with a 2.4-liter turbo four-cylinder powerplant hooked to an eight-speed automatic transmission. The system delivers 22 miles per gallon in the city and 24 mpg on the highway. It produces 326 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque, outgunning the old Toyota V6 and injecting this truck with legit power. It’s jacked up and wearing heavy off-road armor, but jab the throttle and this thing can move. Sometimes in a sloppy, tire-grinding way, as those big Goodyears paw pavement, but I’m not complaining.
I sought out a messy, pockmarked road worsened by the damp weather as fall lurched into ‘late fall’ (a season unique to the upper Midwest), and enjoyed the Trailhunter’s raw capability over the rough terrain. It’s an enjoyable daily driver, and I happen to like the bouncy off-road dynamic for routine use. On the highway, it is rather loud as the high-riding Trailhunter is buffeted by wind, and the snorkel chokes on air. It’s a compromise, but not a deal breaker.
In closing, the Trailhunter is a lot of fun. It’s not cheap so a more basic yet still capable Tacoma is a more practical option. But that's logical thinking. With the Trailhunter maybe you think a little less logically and try to get into a little trouble.
Become an AutoGuide insider. Get the latest from the automotive world first by subscribing to our newsletter here.
Greg Migliore is AutoGuide's Editorial Director. He has covered the auto industry for two decades, most recently as editor-in-chief of Autoblog. He's also been an editor at Automobile and Autoweek. He's a graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Michigan State University and the Yale Publishing course. Greg is a member of the North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards jury.
More by Greg Migliore
Comments
Join the conversation