The Toyota Tacoma has long served as one of the most versatile affordable trucks around. Additionally, if you buy one, you can rest assured that it will stand the test of time. However, in recent years we’ve seen plenty of off-roading special editions with upgraded suspensions, tires, and tech. At the top of that food chain sits the Tacoma TRD Pro, an all-out off-roading truck with all of the equipment you’d really ever need.
However, this week’s tester, the 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road, strives for the same objective while costing less without skimming on major features. As a result, your off-roading truck still gets a robust powertrain, Bilstein shocks, locking differentials, crawl control, and off-roading tires. Additionally, our tester came loaded with plenty of interior options to make this an excellent daily driver. To test it, we drove this Toyota from the city streets of Miami to the Florida Everglades.
The Tacoma Off-Road Looks Stunning In Blue
In a sea of gray, white, and black pickup trucks, our bright blue 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road was a welcomed sight. The color is called Voodoo Blue, and if it seems familiar, it’s because this color is often found on some of Porsches' most expensive sports cars. The 2021 Tacoma Off-Road is one of those trucks that photographs quite small but has a true presence in person. When you factor in that this particular truck has a higher suspension and larger tires, it truly stands out. Although the Tacoma isn’t particularly sleek, it does come across as quite robust. All of the design elements from the front grille, headlights, and fenders look quite bulky. As a result, the Tacoma looks powerful despite being a smaller truck.
You can have your TRD Off-Road in three configurations, an access cab with a 6-ft bed, a double cab with a 5-ft bed, or like our tester, a dual cab with a 6-ft bed. With our particular configuration, the 2021 Tacoma is almost 19-ft long and tips the scales at well over 4,000 lb. Regardless, the truck’s size never felt unmanageable. Additionally, great visibility from the windows makes the truck easy to place on the road despite its larger footprint. Since this is the Off-Road model, you get smaller 16-inch wheels, which added a great deal of comfort on the road compared to some of the larger options available. You even get small graphics along the truck reminding you that it is, in fact, the Off-Road model. Since they are subtle, they don’t look out of place.
Getting Up To Speed Can Be Laborious
Part of what makes the 2021 Toyota Tacoma Off-Road so reliable is it’s a simple and robust 3.5-liter V6 engine. Total output is rated at 278-hp and 265 lb-ft. Power goes to all four wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission. A selector on the dashboard allows you to pick between rear-wheel drive and four-wheel-drive, depending on the situation. Additionally, you have a crawl control selector by the rear-view mirror, which allows you to tackle even steep hills and inclines confidently.
While this simple powertrain is quite robust, it lacks a bit of punch in daily driving scenarios. Since all of the available horsepower comes in at 6,000 rpm, you have to rev it quite high to get moving properly. As a result, the Tacoma does struggle thanks to its considerable weight. While adding a turbocharger or supercharger might fix this issue, it could also decrease reliability.
Despite featuring a significantly taller suspension setup, the Tacoma TRD Off-Road never felt too bouncy on the road. It is worth keeping in mind that this is an off-roading body-on-frame truck that manages to be comfortable in daily driving scenarios. While it certainly isn’t as smooth as the Tundra, it did an excellent job reducing body-roll. Additionally, when we took it out to the Florida Everglades, it handled mud, gravel, swamps with absolute ease. What surprised the most was just how smooth it was, even in rough scenarios. As you’d expect, the competent truck never got stuck, meaning we didn’t feel we needed any extra kit for this off-roading adventure.
The Interior Is Simple, Functional, And Should Last Forever
While modern pickup trucks lean more into luxury vehicles, the 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road is certainly not one of them. Step inside the cabin of this truck, and you’ll find a plastic-covered dashboard, large switches, and an analog gauge cluster. While these would be downsides in more expensive options, it is befitting of a Tacoma. Everything you touch feels like it will last the life of the truck. Since there aren’t as many fancy materials, there is less chance for things to wear out over time. Thankfully we still get an eight-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. On top of that, the Tacoma also features Toyota’s Sense suite of safety features, which gave us great confidence on the road.
The main drawback in the interior has to do with the driver’s seating position. While we found the leather-trimmed seats to be quite comfortable, we could never truly get into a comfortable position behind the wheel. As a result, we spent a considerable amount of time trying to adjust without success. Additionally, there is a considerable amount of road noise coming through the cabin in certain commuting situations. While it is decent for an off-roading truck, it is still noticeable.
The TRD Off-Road Is Just Enough Of The Good Stuff
The 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road we tested carries a base price of $34,315 without counting fees or available options. As tested, the price comes out to $44,550 once fees and options are factored in. In contrast, a TRD Pro model starts at $44,075, marking a significant price difference. Despite not being the top-trim model, we never felt like the Off-Road model lacked anything. Actually, it manages to strike a balance between daily drive and adventure vehicle quite well.