2017 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro: A Rigorous Appraisal

The current generation Toyota Tundra was first introduced way back in February 2007, making this truck the oldest light-duty pickup in dealer showrooms. And yet, it’s remarkable how successful the engineers and designers at Toyota are at keeping this truck fresh and up to date in its extremely competitive segment. Although the truck is virtually the same underneath the skin as it was in 2007, excellent refreshes kept the Tundra looking and feeling good. Although it lags behind in sales to its smaller brother, the Tacoma, it still sells ahead of its Japanese rival, the recently redesigned, all-new Nissan Titan.

The TRD Pro Tundra is what Toyota calls “The Connoisseur of Off-Road”. Building on the basic Tundra platform, this truck is built to withstand the rigors of almost any terrain. The TRD suspension upgrade raises the front of the vehicle two inches for a level ride height and extends wheel travel at all four corners to get you over any big rocks or deep dips you might encounter. To keep those wheels on the ground, the TRD Pro comes with larger diameter Bilstein High-Performance shocks featuring 3-stage compression dampening, internal hydraulic bump stops and piggyback external reservoirs. They’re painted a bright blue so your neighbors can’t help but notice and (maybe) turn green with envy. And the 18-inch TRD black alloy wheels with all-terrain tires complete this package. If you’re vertically challenged, better bring a stepstool to help climb into the cab – running boards aren’t included.

The interior features Toyota’s intuitive Entune multimedia system that’s one of the better ones on the market. Standard on TRD Pro is the Entune Premium Audio with Navigation and App Suite that uses a paired smartphone to provide access to multiple popular apps including Slacker, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Yelp, etc. as well as real-time traffic, weather, fuel prices, sports, and stocks. Two really important safety features for a truck that sits up as high as this one are Blind Spot Monitor and Rear Cross Traffic Alert, both of which are standard.

Unfortunately, the one thing that Toyota has not updated is the Tundra powertrain. The same two V8 engines mated to the six-speed transmission that debuted with the truck are still under the hood. The standard engine is a 310 hp, 4.6 liter V8 but the more popular powerplant is the thirsty 381 hp, 5.7 liter V8 that gets 13 mpg in the city and 17 mpg on the highway… and about 10 mpg in Tow/Haul mode.

The MSRP on a base 2017 Tundra is $30,400. The base TRD Pro Tundra package bumps that up the $43,395 for the Double Cab model.