Consider Coca-Cola.
With a recipe composed of 21 secret ingredients, it is a known quantity that tastes the same no matter where you order it. Leave aside the urban myths about its ability to dissolve bone or whatnot, and Coca-Cola's success is absolute; order a Coke and you know what you're getting. It's an unqualified success as is; remember the disaster of New Coke? Sometimes change isn't good.
Now consider a car company, forced by regulatory pressure and customer expectation to refresh and update their models every couple of years. If you've already cranked out the winning formula, then what do you do if you have to mess with success?
With the Tacoma, Toyota must surely have found themselves facing just such a question. Resale values are excellent. The fan base loves it. Sales are strong. But change is required, so something must be done.
Here's the 2016 Tacoma, an update a long time coming. Is it New Coke all over again, or still the same Tacoma Classic that quenches many a mid-sized truck thirst?
Design
On first blush: sorry, you said this was the new Toyota Tacoma? Despite a bluff new grille and updated tailgate, you'd be forgiven for thinking Toyota just wrote "New and Improved" on one corner of their mid-sizer's packaging and called it a day. A revolution, the Tacoma is not.
But why would it be? Not only does Toyota as a company dislike radical change, neither would their customers enjoy a total deviation from the script. The Tacoma remains simple, recognizable in silhouette, and slightly more butch looking than its ancestors. As is pickup truck de rigeur these days, you get a giant "Tacoma" script on the tailgate, but really it's not much more than a surface reworking.
Environment
Step inside the Tacoma, however, and previous owners will be impressed by the changes made. After something like seven years without a major update, the Tacoma's cabin was rugged but deeply aged, and about as sophisticated-looking as the plumbing department at Home Depot.
Now it's not dissimilar to the Camry's country-music-lovin' cousin. This being a Limited version, leather clad seats and a sunroof were the icing on the Tacoma cake, but the rest of the options were much better suited to modern life. The Entune touchscreen infotainment system is large, bright, quick, and comes with easy-to-use knobs. The seats are comfortable. There's plenty of storage for cups and smartphones. Everything is sensible, if a little on the tight side for a taller driver.
And never mind the sport truck pro-athlete image - if you've got kids to haul along with you, the crew-cab Tacoma makes for a surprisingly solid family car. Two child seats bolted right in without much wrestling, and the low transmission tunnel made for extra space to carry stuff. Kids don't take up much room - it's their stuff that's the problem. Throw a canopy on this thing for bikes and boards and whoknows-what, and you just might have the alternative to the minivan every crossover pretends to be.
Performance
New under the Tacoma's hood is a 3.5-litre V-6 that replaces the old 4.0-litre six. I'm not saying the latter was getting a bit dated, but you can find references to it on the walls of Tutankhamun's tomb. It's just short of predating agriculture.
The new 3.5-litre engine adds not much in the way of torque at 265 foot-pounds, and requires a bit of stick to get power out of it. Rev it up and it'll make a solid 278 horsepower at 6,000 r.p.m., but the six-speed automatic transmission requires a good solid prod to unlock the power.
As this is a proper body-onframe truck, you might expect the Tacoma to exhibit some rough around the edges road manners. True, there is a tendency to judder over offset bumps, but there's surprising on-road competency here in spades. The steering ratio proved decidedly un-truck-like on a winding country back road, and the long wheelbase contributed to a nicely controlled highway drive.
If you're a member of the Toyota faithful, it's about this time that we've got to ask why there's no diesel option for this truck. The usual excuse is that a complex diesel engine, with its turbocharger and heavyweight construction, would add extra cost to the truck, cost the market would not bear.
Oh horse, um, feathers. The Tacoma is already an expensive option - this Limited version stickers at $46K after freight - and a well-heeled customer would undoubtedly stump up for the added hauling torque and better fuel economy. While the V-6 is a solid performer that returns good fuel economy, a little more low-end grunt would make for a more relaxing drive.
But having said that, the Tacoma we do get adheres to the proven recipe with solid road manners and good performance. A little light off-roading didn't phase it one bit, and even parking it around town became second nature after a day or so. You can get more power, more hauling, and more space, but everything that made the Tacoma popular in the first place is here again.
Features
Basic Tacomas come with a 2.7-litre four-cylinder engine and not much in the way of options. Call it delivery truck spec, just like the yellow machine from the first Toy Story movie.
However, move up to the Limited and TRD trims and you start getting a host of niceties. As-equipped, my tester had everything from navigation to satellite radio and a backup camera. Opt for the TRD trim if you're intending to use your Tacoma for heavy duty, but if you're a city slicker who occasionally makes forays into the wilderness, the Limited is by no means bare bones.
Official fuel economy figures improved significantly with the introduction of the 3.5-litre, rating at 12 (litres/100 kilometres) on the highway and 10 in the city. Real world figures hit the mixed-mileage rating of 11, very livable in these days of inexpensive fuel.
Green light
Useful V-6 power; decent cabin space; outstanding resale value; pleasing on-road manners and good rough terrain capability.
Stop sign
No diesel option, even for those willing to pay more; cabin is cramped for taller drivers; very conservative styling changes.
The checkered flag
Everyone's favourite sport truck continues to thrive using a simple, triedand-tested recipe.
Competition
Chevrolet Colorado ($23,115)
With the Nissan Frontier essentially unchanged over a decade, it's up to General Motors to take the fight to Toyota. Their mid-sized pickup trucks, the Colorado and Canyon twins, are surprisingly daring, offering plenty of options and having much of the curb presence of the larger Silverado.
And, if you like, GM will happily sell you a diesel. It's a stump-puller of a lump, with 181 h.p. and 369 footpounds of torque. For those who like to get out and play in the wild, the GM has all the capability of the Toyota and then some, with a lower cost of entry.
