Toyota Tundra 2008 Motor Trend Tuck of the Year?

In a shocking surprise today. Motor Trend has announced the Toyota Tundra pickup as their 2008 Truck of the Year winner. Using the same system used to calculate the Car of the Year. The Tundra was judged in three categories. Euperiority, value and significance. And scored highly in all three. Competition was tough this year. The Chevrolet Silverado HD, GMC Sierra HD and Ford's F-250, 350 and 450 Super Duty trucks.

Despite recalls, poor IHS ratings and poor build quality. Not to mention the huge rebates and incentives. The Tundra pulled it off. Toyota has been striving for 200,000 Tundras sold this year, and with this announcement the push will pick up steam to close out the year.

For the record. Our vote was for Ford. Don't get us wrong. The Tundra is a cool truck and all. But how can anyone ignore the fact that the rest of the line up offers Diesle powerplants?

Source: Motor Trend

Super Bowl ads. Ford, Chrysler, & VW oddly missing

We got word that there will be four automakers with ads during the Super Bowl this year. General Motors will have a Chevrolet 60 second spot during the second quarter and Cadillac will be sponsor for the pre and post game shows.

Hyundai and Toyota will both have two spots each. Also announced is a spot from Audi. This marks their first time advertising during a Super Bowl in 20 years. Theirs will be a two minute long spot featuring the Audi R8.

Toyota's ad will more than likely pump up the new Sequoia and Tundra pickup. Though I highly doubt that it will do anything to help the Tundra's image right now.

Cars.com will also have a 30 second spot this year.

Strangely though is the lack of an announcement that Ford or Chrysler will be having spots. There is still time for them to jump on the band wagon, so we'll see where it goes.

I watch the Super Bowl just for the car ads. General Motors has always topped our list of favorites. So as a bonus, we're including our favorite GM spot from the Super Bowl in 06.


Source: Automotive News, Audi.

SEMA 07: Lots of cool Toyota trucks.

One thing about the SEMA show is all the cool trucks in attendance. This year Toyota is no exception with the concept trucks they brought to Las Vegas this week. Here are a few of them.

TRD Tundra concept. Very aggressive look with it's six and a half foot bed, five inch wide fenders, and redesigned front and rear fascias. Powered by a supercharged TRD 5.7 liter V8 that puts 500 horsepower to the ground and is 50 state legal. Underneath the body work is a beefed up long travel suspension set up for the front and rear. The Tundra also comes with 17 inch TRD off road wheels with giant 37 inch BF Goodrich tires.

Attached to the bed via a 5th wheel hitch is a 28 foot 10,200 lb Featherlite car hauler. The trailer, meanwhile, isn't carrying Toyota's latest racing Tundra, but rather is filled with some of TRD's current product catalogue that SEMA attendees can browse at the show. I'm sure they're more interested in the truck, but I sure could put that trailer to good use.

The Toyota FJ-Runner is a cross between the popular FJ Cruiser and the 4 Runner. Toyota describes this concept as "ruggedness personified", which we'll agree with here at AAM. Outside it is essentially a 4 Runner with a FJ front clip. Mechanicals are not mentioned in the press release so we can only assume that the engine and suspension are relatively stock. There are 20 inch off road style wheels with 33 inch Nitto Mud Grapplers for rubber. Stopping power is brought by Stoptech brakes. Inside the FJ Runner is all business. Rubber floors and water proof seats for ultimate durability, and a host of Alpine stereo, multimedia, and rear seat entertainment upgrades. I give this one a thumbs up since it pulls off the look quite well to give a bigger cruiser, without being a mammoth sized land stalker.

The Toyota FJ Cruiser Convertible also brings a unique twist to the Jeep Wrangler competitor. A removable roof had always been a part of the original Land Cruisers, though was lost in the 1980s when the cruiser grew in size. This time Toyota removed the roof and made a strong a durable, yet lightweight top frame.

Features to this truck include 17 inch KMC Endouro wheels with 35 inch Nitto Mud Grapplers(like the FJ Runner), ARB Old Man Emu suspension and ARB front and rear bumpers with high intensity driving lights. TRD exhaust system, Eclipse navigation, and lastly front and rear Warn bumper mounted winches.

Finally, after years of requests for some sort of diesel powered truck, we have the Tundra Dually Diesel concept. So not only did Toyota respond, they responded with gusto. The chassis is really nothing to write home about as 2 medium duty Tundras were utilized to make the frame. But under the hood you find a JO8E 8.0 liter in line six cylinder turbodiesel with a Magnaflow exhaust. Horsepower is right around 300 with 600 ft lbs of torque through an Eaton 5 speed manual trans. So it has no problems there. The body is a Crew Max cab with a 6.5 foot bed. And gives the look of a ready to work truck. Alcoa 22.5 inch wheels put the power to the road. The bed, and much of the exterior trim is covered with either raw diamond plate or brushed aluminum. Otherwise, the rest of the truck is mostly stock.

Source: Autoblog.com