Toyota Tundra vs Toyota Tacoma Pickup Truck: Which Truck is Right for You?
Erica Mueller
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You’re shopping for a pickup truck, but do you need full size truck? Or will a mid-size do?
Each truck is a beast in its own right, but there are some major differences, besides size, that could help you make up your mind… and not just about Toyota trucks, but full-size vs mid-size trucks in general. I recently helped out a couple of friends with these trucks to help them decide which one was right for them. I’d love to do the same for you!
Compare the facts: Click here for the 2019 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro Review and click here for the 2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro Review
The VooDoo Blue paint jobs and all black wheels and grilles make the TRD Pro trucks stand out! Photo by First Light Productions. Used with permission.
Let’s Answer Some Questions to Get Started…
What is your lifestyle like? Do you spend a lot of time outdoors? Do you hike, fish, camp, board, ski, bike, or boat? Weekly or occasionally?
Do you live in an urban area or a country area? If you’re in the country, do you have land and big projects where you’ll be hauling loads and pulling trailers, or do you tend to use your truck to bring home a back of corn and a salt block for the deer feeder every now and then and let the dog come along?
Toyota Tundra vs Toyota Tacoma: Size Comparison of the Interior
The first thing people think about is the size difference in these trucks. While I have an equal love for both of them, only the Tundra would be a good fit for our growing family. Both trucks seat 5 with the full double cabs, but the Tundra affords a LOT more legroom and the seat is of course wider, giving a family room for things like child safety seats or teenagers. The Tacoma can seat 3 children across the back, but not in bulky car seats or boosters. Even if just one of them was in a child safety seat, you’d cut down your back seat passenger capacity to 2. And my 5′ 6″ twelve-year-old son is already pretty maxed out on legroom when sitting in the back seat. So the Tundra makes a great family truck for us, whereas the Tacoma simply wouldn’t work.
My husband is tall and broad and feels a lot more comfortable in the Tundra. His 6′ 4″ brother owns a Tundra and he too enjoys the roomier front seat with plenty of elbow and legroom for his commutes. But for someone like me, the Tacoma is just right. The smaller seats hug my body and I feel like everything I need is easily reachable without stretching or doing a lot of adjusting to seat height and steering wheel.
Next Up: Towing Capacity Comparison for the Toyota Tundra vs Toyota Tacoma
It makes sense that a bigger truck could pull and haul more, right? And of course, this is true for the Toyota Tundra. With a towing capacity of 10,200-lb. and a 5.7L V8 engine the Tundra is made for work. This makes it great for those pulling horse trailers, campers, box, and flatbed trailers and equipment.
The Tacoma has a 3.5L V6 engine with a towing capacity of up to 6,800-lb. and it can carry a payload (weight in the bed) of up to 1440-lb. This truck is great for pulling a small boat, ATV, a jet ski, or a little pop-up camper.
Both trucks give you the option to customize with a lockable tailgate and foldable tonneau cover to keep all your gear, luggage, groceries and tools covered and locked up in the bed. The Tundra we drove had this option and it worked out beautifully when we needed to haul supplies and equipment for an event.
Off-Roading in the Toyota Tundra vs Toyota Tacoma
Here’s where it gets interesting! The first time I drove a Tacoma I didn’t have access to a good testing ground and I had to rely on the knowledge of my brother’s outdoorsman lifestyle to help me make sense of this little truck. Fast forward a few years and I’ve experienced first hand why sometimes a smaller truck is better for certain activities.
The Tacoma has a shorter wheelbase and narrower stance, meaning it gets in and out of tight spaces easier. Hunting in the woods? The Tacoma is going to be way more likely to be able to navigate the old logging trails or ATV trails than a larger, bulkier truck would. Getting down a steep riverbank, parallel parking at on the sea-front road where you go surfing, and fitting into your garage are all going to be a lot easier with the Tacoma. Any time I’ve been off-roading in a wooded, hilly area the Tacoma has been my favorite of the trucks to drive.
The Tundra, on the other hand, is more capable of fording larger streams, crawling over large rocks and boulders, and playing in deep mud thanks to its higher ground clearance and longer wheelbase. I for one like to drive fast, in loose gravel and dirt and the way the Tundra flies down the road and across the loose surfaces is a thrill I just don’t get in the smaller Tacoma.
So, whether you need a Toyota Tundra vs Toyota Tacoma really all, depends on where you want to go!
Things We Love About the 2019 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro
It’s big, it’s bad, and it fits all of us. The model we drove came with a tonneau cover for the bed which I would 100% want if we got a large truck. It also came with a bed extender which was really easy to use and came in handy more than once since the bed of the Tundra is really quite short for such a large truck and we needed to haul a lot of large items. This model did not come with Apple Car Play or Android Auto, but it did have Bluetooth capability and a great premium sound system so we were able to enjoy all of our music from our phones. My husband loved that the entire rear window on the truck cab rolls down for an almost-convertible truck feel when you’re roaring down these country roads.
Related: 2019 Toyota Highlander: Why it Makes the Best Travel Car EVER
Things We Love About the 2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro
The Tacoma is just my size and the more I drive it, the more I fall in love with this little truck. The model we drove came with a premium JBL sound system which I loved. It also had a really sharp graphics package added to the outside that just contrasted so well with the VooDoo Blue paint color. I’ve seen this same graphics package on a white Tacoma and loved that too. The whole appearance was topped off with a dessert air intake system, which basically looks and acts like a big snorkel for when you’re fording streams or driving through deep desert sands. Everyone loved that!
The desert air intake is just one of many equipment options available on a Toyota TRD Pro pickup. Photo by First Light Productions. Used with Permission.
Things We Love About the TRD Pro Packages on These Trucks
Black leather with red stitching? Yes, please! Rugged custom gear shift knobs, premium sound systems, plenty of tie-down options in the bed, locking tailgates, big shiny black wheels, custom suspension, and higher ground clearance… these are just a few of the things to love about the TRD Pro package. You’ll also enjoy Rigid Industries LED fog lamps, TRD Pro badging and embroidery inside and out, bed liners for making your truck’s bed last a lifetime, and options for things like camera mounts, paint protection film, TRD Pro graphics packages, all-weather floor mats, bed covers, and extenders, and more!
These 2019 Toyota trucks were loaned to me by Toyota. All opinions and Toyota Tundra vs Toyota Tacoma comparisons are my own.
