Test Drive: 2022 Toyota Tundra Capstone

2022 Toyota Tundra Capstone

Class: Large Pickup

Miles pushed: 667

Fuel used: 35.6 gallons

Real-world gasoline financial system: 18.7 mpg

Driving combine: 30% metropolis, 70% freeway

EPA-estimated gasoline financial system: 19/22/20 (mpg metropolis/freeway/mixed)

Fuel kind: Regular gasoline

Base value: $73,530 (not together with $1695 vacation spot cost)

Options on take a look at car: Wind Chill Pearl paint ($425), Advanced Package ($1045)

Price as examined: $76,695

Quick Hits

The nice: Smooth, sturdy hybrid powertrain; feature-rich infotainment interface with plus-sized touchscreen; much-improved trip high quality

The good: Spacious, snug cabin; Capstone mannequin’s elegant inside trim

The not so good: Observed gasoline financial system fell in need of EPA estimates; Tundra doesn’t supply the intensive engine selections or modern bed-storage/tailgate choices of different full-size pickup opponents

More Tundra value and availability data

John Biel

Here’s one thing we haven’t been in a position to say for a while: Toyota has redesigned its Tundra pickup truck.

How lengthy has it been? It was three presidential administrations in the past. Twitter was simply months outdated. The “Great Recession” hadn’t occurred but. The 12 months was 2007.

The third era of Toyota’s full-size pickup bows for 2022 with a brand new twin-turbocharged V6—together with a hybrid model—a 10-speed computerized transmission, a distinct suspension, and tech/infotainment enhancements. It additionally boasts a brand new premium trim stage known as Capstone that Consumer Guide was in a position to pattern in preproduction kind.

Toyota’s full-size pickup is redesigned from the bottom up for 2022, gaining an all-new body with new entrance and rear suspension, provocative new styling, a number of new expertise options, and a brand new top-line luxurious trim named Capstone.

Though Toyota isn’t groom to as various a steady of massive vehicles as its American-brand opponents, it does checklist the Tundra in seven trims. The gasoline model of the V6 is available in two energy scores. Depending on the mannequin, two cab configurations, three mattress lengths, and the selection of rear- or 4-wheel drive are on supply. However, the Capstone ($75,225 with supply to start out) narrows these selections. It is a hybrid-powered 4×4 “CrewMax” crew cab with the shortest accessible cargo mattress of 5.5 toes—take it or go away it. It’s additionally about as full as any Tundra primarily for on-road use may be. There is however one choice package deal comprised of load-levelling rear air suspension and adaptive variable dampers, and solely expandable trailering mirrors as a stand-alone further. Pick a premium paint shade just like the Wind Chill Pearl that was on CG’s take a look at truck, and you’ll’t spend any extra.

What’s New For 2023: Toyota

The new Tundra’s dashboard format is highlighted by an accessible deluxe Touchscreen Audio Multimedia system with a 14-inch display screen. The middle console homes the drive-mode selector knob and a vertically oriented wi-fi charging pad.

Capstone normal options which might be both unique to it or accessible optionally on lesser fashions are discovered all through. It places its personal stamp on Tundra’s hulking, new exterior styling with a singular mesh grille and 22-inch machined-finish alloy wheels, each with a dark-chrome tint. Tires are all-season 265/50R22s. Power-deployed operating boards and a left-rear cargo-bed help step that seems from beneath the bumper on the press of a button within the taillight meeting ease entry to the cabin and mattress. The inside is a white-and-black affair with semi-aniline-leather-trimmed seats with 10-way energy adjustment in each entrance positions and darkish American walnut woodgrain accents on the sprint, console, and doorways. Toyota throws in a 10-inch shade head-up show and acoustic-laminated glass for the windshield and facet home windows.

First Spin: 2022 Toyota Tundra Capstone

The Capstone will get a uniquely luxurious inside therapy with semi-aniline leather-based upholstery in an attention-grabbing black-and-white shade scheme and dark-finished American Walnut wooden trim.

Alone among the many full-sized pickups, the Tundra now not comes with a V8 engine, preferring to depend on the three.5-liter twin-turbo V6 for all its wants. Like solely the Ford F-150, it has a full hybrid model. The i-FORCE Max, as Toyota calls the gasoline/electrical powerplant, places out 437 horsepower at 5200 rpm and 583 lb-ft of torque at 2400 rpm. (It’s barely extra highly effective than the F-150 hybrid however lags in estimated gasoline financial system.) Though some new Tundra fashions can tow as much as 12,000 kilos, our Capstone tester with the i-FORCE Max was rated for 10,340 kilos.

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The Capstone comes solely in crew-cab kind with the Tundra’s “short” 5.5-foot cargo mattress.

While not in the identical league with a number of the V8s available on the market, the Tundra engine nonetheless feels sturdy, easy, and keen. Transitions between electric-only energy and gasoline operation—the handoff comes at 18 mph—are nearly undetectable and the 10-speed trans, with overdrive ratios on the highest three gears, goes about enterprise with out calling consideration to itself. Selectable “Eco,” “Normal,” and “Sport” driving modes are normal however CG’s take a look at truck had the non-compulsory model with added “Comfort,” “Sport S+,” and “Custom” settings. Eco and Sport make modifications to engine efficiency; Comfort softens the trip; and Sport S+ modifies engine, damping, and steering—although to not any very nice diploma in any of those modes. A driver may choose Normal and be pleased with it day in and day trip. EPA estimates for Capstone gasoline financial system are 19 mpg in metropolis driving, 22 mpg in freeway use, and 21 mixed. However, this driver logged simply 16.1 mpg after masking 117 miles composed of 82 p.c city-type operation.

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These flashy 22-inch wheels are unique to the Capstone trim stage.

A redesigned body, now with boxed facet rails and beefier cross members, hosts a brand new multilink coil-spring rear suspension that replaces the previous leaf-spring configuration. On-road trip is genuinely snug and higher than within the outdated Tundra however nonetheless just a little extra “active” with no load than in the most effective of the domestic-brand vehicles.

Cargo beds are made from aluminum-reinforced sheet-molded composite that’s rust and dent resistant. The ordinary fashionable pickup facilities—adjustable tie-down cleats, lighting, soft-release tailgate, 120-volt energy outlet—are included however there are not one of the fascinating bed-storage or tailgate improvements present in different manufacturers.

The inside is highlighted by the brand new Toyota Audio Multimedia infotainment system, which incorporates wi-fi Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity. As the top-end mannequin, the Capstone has the system’s accessible 12.3-inch digital gauge show and 14-inch infotainment touchscreen. The huge display screen’s format initially befuddled this reviewer when making an attempt audio inputs, however he quickly figured it out. The display screen makes a helpfully massive “canvas” for the navigation system (with over-the-air replace functionality) and the 360-degree digital camera show. Dual-zone local weather management is finished through a financial institution of buttons, together with repetitive-push temperature and fan-speed settings. All Tundras embrace the Toyota Safety Sense 2.5 suite: pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, dynamic radar cruise management, lane-departure alert, lane-tracing help, computerized high-beam headlamps, and rear-seat reminder. Capstones even have blind-spot and rear cross-traffic monitoring.

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Also among the many Capstone’s unique trim touches are refined badges on the entrance doorways. Tundras with the hybrid powertrain put on i-FORCE Max badges which might be built-in into twin hood bulges.

Both rows of the highest mannequin’s heated and ventilated seats are snug, and soft-surface areas are evident all through the inside—although all that white trim on doorways, sprint, and console might not look so nice after the primary tenting journey or youth soccer sport. Despite having the electric-motor battery beneath the rear seat, hybrid-powered Tundras have the identical head- and legroom as gas-engine jobs. Space is considerable in each rows, however the rear seat isn’t fairly as roomy throughout as in some massive crew-cab pickups and headroom isn’t nearly as good both, thanks partly to the Capstone’s normal panoramic sunroof. Personal-item storage selections are beneficiant. Driver sightlines across the cabin aren’t dangerous however the hood “epaulets” that announce the i-FORCE Max impinge on highway view.

Certainly, Toyota has made an already-good truck significantly better. It’s about time.

First Spin: 2022 Toyota Tundra

After the previous-generation Tundra’s 15-year run, the redesigned 2022 mannequin brings much-improved all-around refinement and a protracted checklist of up-to-date options–together with a robust twin-turbo V6 hybrid powertrain–that make this pickup a extra compelling alternative towards domestic-brand rivals.

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2022 Toyota Tundra Capstone Gallery

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First Spin: 2022 Toyota Tundra

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