After 8 years, Toyota redesigned the Tacoma from the ground up with an all new engine, transmission, frame, interior and a new body style. The 3rd gen Tacoma was tried and true with its 3.5L V6 paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission pushing out 278HP and 265lb-ft of torque but it was gutless, had horrible gas mileage and would hunt for gears non stop. That has all changed with the 2024 Tacoma, which now has a turbocharged 2.4L 4cyl pair with an 8-speed automatic transmission pushing out 278HP and 317lb-ft of torque. A lot of people get turned away when they hear the term “turbocharged 4-Cylinder” – but it's honestly a major improvement compared to the old powertrain.
I’ve been putting this new configuration to the test, and have put 11,000+ miles on my new Tacoma in only 5 months. As a long-term Toyota fan, it's stunning to see how much better it performs than my previous vehicle, a 2017 Toyota 4Runner. So far, the new 2.4L delivers amazing power. The older generation Toyotas require you to re-gear and tune your vehicle after adding weight and bigger tires to help it drive somewhat factory. I slapped on a set of 35 inch tires and around 1,000lbs of extra weight and it still feels like a factory truck, and while the gas mileage isn’t as good, it still gets an average of 16-17 mpg combined.
The 2024 Tacoma got rid of the open frame and now has a completely boxed frame which adds a lot more strength and rigidity to the truck. Also, you can say goodbye to those horrible body mount chops you had to do on the older gen Tacomas and 4Runners – a big portion of the body mount unbolts so it is a lot easier to fit bigger tires. The fender flares are bigger than the previous generation which also makes it a lot easier to fit bigger tires. I was able to fit 35 inch tires without a lift and without having to cut any metal. All I had to do was trim a little bit of the wheel well, a tiny bit of the front bumper and unbolt the bracket on the body mount to make the new tires able to fit with no rubbing.
This new generation also comes equipped with new features like 360 degree cameras, a heated steering wheel and even cooled seats that come with the premium package. The 360 cameras were a big thing for me, and they’re great for offroad use because you are able to see everything around you without having to get out of the vehicle to keep checking your blind spots for obstacles. The cooled seats weren't a big concern to me at first but I was wrong - they feel awesome in the summertime, especially with how much time I’ve spent on the trails with the windows down and the A/C off. I’ve never owned a vehicle with heated seats or heated steering wheel before, and those definitely come in handy for the chilly Colorado winters.
As with any vehicle, the new Tacoma comes with Pros and Cons, so here are some I have experienced so far.
Pros:
- The drivability is a huge plus - with all the modifications I've put on and the larger tires, it still has power, is comfortable to drive and retains fairly good gas mileage.
- The new powertrain is amazing - you have all of the power you need, you have better gas mileage compared to the V6 and it doesn’t gear hunt whatsoever.
- All the new features like the 360 cameras, heated and cooled seats are also a huge plus. Being able to see everything around you while offroading makes life so much easier and having heated and vented seats makes life so much more enjoyable.
- With the TRD offroad package, you still get a rear locker and crawl control from the factory and with all the adventures I go on, those definitely come in handy.
- Having a completely boxed frame is nice for the extra strength and the ability to remove a portion of the body mount to fit larger tires.
- The new body design looks amazing and having bigger fender flares makes it so much easier to fit larger tires.
Cons:
- With all first-year production vehicles, they will come with issues. I have 11,000+ miles on my truck and I haven't experienced any issues yet, but the new transmission is very sensitive. You have to be pretty careful with the transmission because it likes to get hot if you are going uphill with low speeds in 4HI, even when you are in 1st gear. When you go into 4Lo, the temps cool down and it doesn’t heat up any more.
- Some of the tech is a little annoying, if you have a bike rack connected to your tow hitch, it will sit in front of the rear sensors so every time you back up, the truck will brake for you and you have to go into the settings to turn that off.
Modifications:
When I got the truck, the first thing I did was get some window tint installed to keep the truck cooler on the inside on those hot days. Then a couple days later, I had the entire vehicle wrapped with STEK matte paint protection film to protect the factory paint from whatever I throw at this truck. I also wanted to give it a different look compared to the stock glossy white paint. Once I got the truck back from the wrap shop, I drove straight to Idaho where I had a whole pile of parts at the CBI Prinsu headquarters waiting to be installed.
During the build we installed some Nitto Recon Grapplers E load 35/12.50R17 paired with the Relations Race Wheels RS7-H 17x8 +12 offset. Then we moved on to installing all the armor, the CBI offroad covert front bumper with a Warn winch and a Baja Designs 20” S8 light bar, CBI skids, rock sliders, a Prinsu Pro roof rack with two 83L Roam cases and 7 Baja Designs LP4s. After all that, we installed the CBI offroad bed rack to house the iKamper Skycamp 3.0 Mini with the rocky black shell.
I’m hoping to make a few new upgrades here shortly, and I’ve got my eye on an upgraded aftermarket suspension. I started off with the iKamper Skycamp 3.0 Mini but with all the high end features this truck has, I had to switch to the iKamper Skycamp DLX Mini. You are able to store a lot of stuff in this truck so I always keep my iKamper Disco series underneath by the back seats and an iKamper Utility bag in one of my Roam cases to store all my tools. The way that this truck is built out, it’s ready for all my adventures.
If you are thinking about owning a 2024 Tacoma, I hope this helped you out. I absolutely love mine so don’t let the 4cyl motor and the first year production model run scare you off. This new Tacoma is an extremely capable vehicle and is an amazing improvement compared to my 2017 4Runner, but the main question is, will it last as long as the 3rd gen Tacoma and the 5th gen 4Runner?? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
