In the ongoing truck competition, which has never been more fierce, there is more than just the full-size pickups in the battle, and as Ford has built more and more midsize Rangers, Toyota is hardly sitting back and watching.

Toyota redesigned its full-size Tundra, which is an impressive vehicle on a new platform it shares with the reintroduced Sequoia SUV, but with far less fanfare the company also chose to capitalize on the new platform by using a modified version of it for the redesigned Tacoma midsize pickup.

And Toyota has made sure to offer something that leaves the Ford Ranger and Chevrolet Colorado behind: Variations on the cab and bed sizes.

There are many customers who already give the Tacoma the edge in long-term reliability and satisfying performance, but for 2024, both the Ranger and Colorado — impressive as they are — come only in 4-door, double cab form with one bed size. 

Maybe that limited selection is to push buyers up to full-sized pickups, or maybe just to streamline and economize production, but the Tacoma can be selected with either 2-door extended cab or 4-door Double Cab, and with either a 5-foot or 6-foot bed.

Those variations can be an easy deal-breaker in favor of the Tacoma, and I personally know several consumers who want the longer bed for off-road adventures where it’s more convenient to load a mountain bike or surfboard or kayaks, and pass up trucks with shorter beds. Same with the cabin.
Personally, I think the large, double-cab cabins work just fine, but I can certainly appreciate those who prefer the security and tighter bodies of a 2-door, with a jumpseat in the rear for occasional riders or kids.

The Tacoma I recently test-drove for a week was an unmitigated beauty, starting with the paint job — “Blue Crush” as a vibrant darker-than-royal but bright and eye-catching — and continuing on through the overall design.

The test truck came with Toyota’s newer 2.4-liter 4-cylinder, turbocharged up to nearly 278 horsepower in part-time 4-wheel drive, switchable with a console knob, and in TRD off-road features. Toyota has several varieties of 4-cylinder engines in its vehicles, and will be offering a hybrid version of the 2.4 turbo with 326 horsepower for 2025.

The test Tacoma had a 5-foot bed, with sprayed-in bedliner, featuring adjustable anchors for tie-downs on either side — copied shamelessly from Japanese rival Nissan, which originated that idea. 
The Double Cab had plenty of room in the rear seat and easy access with the rear doors, but the space needed for the full 4-door is undoubtedly why the 5-foot bed. The 6-foot length would be much easier to build into the 2-door extended-cab version.

The new 4.6-liter 4-cylinder has plenty of punch with the turbo power, and its more-compact shape and length makes it far easier to drive in town and park in any arena or shopping center parking lot, without requiring the half-dozen in-and-out alterations to make sure you’re located between the always-too-narrow yellow lines.

Those lines, by the way, are much easier to position the Tacoma because of the 360-degree top-down camera view on the large dashboard information screen

The seats were covered in a tightly woven charcoal fabric that looks tough enough to handle dress pants as well as adventure jeans or camp-shorts with comfort and durability. The rear seat flips up for under-seat storage.

The EPA fuel economy estimates are 19 city and 23 miles per gallon highway, and we averaged 20.3 for our week, mostly in city driving or short trips, revisiting Hwy. 61 on the North Shore of Lake Superior when we weren’t scaling the cliffside hills of Duluth.

The base price of the Tacoma was $42,900, which is quite reasonable for buyers who admire but can’t afford the $80,000 price tags of the loaded larger pickups. 

The sticker was $54,889 with all the charges and delivery, and the TRD package with its stiffer shocks and springs and under-carriage protection.

The choice between cabin sizes is a lot like car-buyers used to face when choosing between dad’s 4-door sedan or the sporty 2-door coupe in the showroom window. 

It will be interesting to watch the success of the 2024 Ranger and Colorado with only the 4-door available, and the Tacoma, with the option of 2-door or 4-door, and the variation of bed sizes.