Three ways the 2016 Toyota Tacoma will be number one

The Toyota Tacoma is all-new in 2016. In a recent interview with PickupTrucks.com at the 10th Annual Lone Stare Toyota Jamboree, chief engineer for the Tacoma, Michael Sweers revealed some interesting tidbits about the new truck. We picked out three things we didn’t know before that we thought readers might find of interests.

2016 Toyota Tacoma – Lowest Drag of Any Mid-Size Truck
Better fuel economy turned out to be the top request by current Tacoma buyers. Of course, Toyota is improving the efficiency of the new Tacoma with a new Atkinson-Cycle V6 and two new transmissions to go with that engine. However, Toyota didn’t stop there. Sweers talked about how Toyota focused on making the new truck as aerodynamic as possible, saying, “…we focused on reducing the drag coefficient of the truck and making it more aerodynamic — which isn't easy to do when you have a vehicle that sits so high off the ground. But we managed to do it. As a result, it has the lowest coefficient of drag of any truck in the segment. And it did help improve fuel economy.”

2016 Tacoma – Best Approach and Departure Angles In Midsize Market
Speaking in the context of off-road versions of the 2016 Toyota Tacoma, Mr. Sweers puts to bed one worry that some Tacoma lovers had expressed in the comments under our preview story about the new truck. Mr. Sweers says, “So our approach and departure angles are still best in class for both the standard and off-road models. Our brake-over angle overall is 29 degrees, with a figure of 21 degrees in back and 31 degrees in back, both best-in-class figures.” In addition, Sweers mentioned why the new truck has the bumper and front-end design it does. It is to address coming pedestrian-impact safety standards.

2016 Tacoma – Best V6 Fuel Economy
Mr. Sweers didn’t come right out and say that the new Tacoma V6 would have the best fuel economy in the segment. It would be premature since the truck’s numbers have not yet been announced by the EPA. However, with its all-new V6 engine that is not shared with any other Lexus or Toyota, the new Atkinson-cycle V6 looks very likely to top the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon’s 3.6 liter V6. Sweers did say, “Another change we made to improve fuel economy was to add a more efficient 3.5-liter Atkinson-cycle V-6 engine. Not only is it more efficient, we are mating it with two new transmissions — a six-speed automatic and a new six-speed manual.”

Please see the entire interview at PickupTruck.com at this link.

Main story image courtesy of Patrick Rall.