Toyota Tundra ute leaves HiLux in its dust

Built to do more than conventional utes can manage, this massive American pick-up truck aims to conquer Australian roads.

David McCowen

3 min read

January 18, 2024 - 6:00PM

News Corp Australia Network

Toyota's BIG answer to American pick up trucks on Aussie soil | Tundra put to the test

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Everything about the new Toyota Tundra is large.

Bigger in every dimension than the Toyota HiLux, the Tundra is a chunk of Texan metal engineered for the land where too much just ain’t enough.

The Toyota Tundra Limited is on the road in Australia.

When the team developing this Tundra bought a 15-year-old example back from a customer, the truck had racked up more than 1.6 million kilometres with a six-foot-six, 190kg man behind the wheel.

This really is a big car for a big country.

Victor Sheppard put a million miles on his 2007 Toyota Tundra.

Built to tackle the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado and RAM 1500, the Tundra is Toyota’s flagship model in the United States. The drive to bring it to Australia is the result of engineers from three continents working for more than five years to make it happen.

It represents a big investment on Toyota’s part.

Engineers used parts from the latest Toyota LandCuiser and its Lexus LX cousin to convert the Tundra from left to right-hand-drive in partnership with Walkinshaw Automotive in Melbourne.

The Tundra was tested on tar and dirt in Victoria before going out to customers.

And it’s still not a sure thing.

About 300 customers will lease Tundras for a year to ensure the conversion process is sound. Famously conservative management at the Japanese giant do not want to risk Toyota’s reputation for reliability being unravelled by a third-party conversion, so the car will not be sold to the public until it has been on trial for at least 12 months.

Teething trouble for Ford’s F-150 conversion effort suggests they might be onto something.

The delay is one reason Toyota has not published a retail price for the car.

The Toyota Tundra Limited has a spacious cabin.

Customers in the Tundra trial pay $2500 per month, which includes servicing, registration fees and comprehensive insurance.

The first batch combines the range-topping hybrid motor with mid-range Tundra Limited features sold for about $US57,000 drive-away ($85,000) in the states.

The Toyota Tundra can tow up to 4.5 tonnes.

If US prices are any indication, it should sit between the F-150 XLT ($117,000 drive-away) and F-150 Lariat ($151,000) pick-ups found in Ford showrooms, but we reckon it will top the $150,000 drive-away figure of high-end LandCruiser wagons. After all, the Tundra is pitched at folks who have outgrown the LandCruiser.

Expect the Tundra to cost as much - or more - than a high-end LandCruiser.

Rated to pull almost 5.5 tonnes in the US, the Tundra is reduced to 4.5 tonnes in Australia so customers need not upgrade to a truck licence.

We put Toyota’s towing claim to the test with a 4.5-tonne payload in controlled conditions at a proving ground and came away impressed by its stability when hauling.

Wider, longer and heavier than a HiLux, the Tundra feels planted at highway speed.

First look at the Toyota Tundra pick-up coming to Australia

It isn’t easily swayed and there are reassuring responses to the steering and brakes.

Different driving modes adjust its behaviour when towing, working with the engine, transmission, safety systems and electronically controlled front spoiler to deliver fuss-free progress.

The Tundra has a similar twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 to the LandCruiser-based Lexus LX 600, but adds 36kW and 250Nm of hybrid thrust to take combined outputs to 326kW and 790Nm.

The Tundra is powered by a V6 turbo hybrid engine.

A slick 10-speed automatic does a great job choosing the right gear and switchable four-wheel-drive works well off-road.

We’d like to see full-time all-wheel-drive but Toyota reckons customers prefer the lower highway fuel consumption offered by rear-drive traction on tar.

There’s no official fuel use figure for Australia. Toyota claims 14.1L/100km in the states, though that feels optimistic because it is truly enormous.

It’s wide enough that three blokes can sit in the back seat without their hips or shoulders touching, and long enough that leg room is luxuriant in the front and rear.

Cabin room in the Tundra is truly luxuriant.

It won’t have an ANCAP rating in Australia, but a fat list of safety features helped it earn “top safety pick” credentials from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the US – something no other car in its class can claim.

The 14-inch central screen is a whopper, loaded with everything from satnav to smartphone mirroring.

There’s also an impressive 360-degree camera with multiple viewing angles to assist parking manoeuvres. You’ll need it – this is a really big car.