Toyota Tacoma X-Runner returns to SEMA Show

Where is all? Performance pickups gold? I’m not talking about off-road desert runners like the Ram TRX and Ford Raptor. I’m talking about on-road performance, something that can give a Ford Mustang EcoBoost or a Honda Civic Type R A run for its money in stop racing. And here at SEMA, Toyota showed it Somebody Its team is dreaming the same dream: The Japanese automaker has revived its mid-2000s performance pickup, the Tacoma XRunner, as a concept car we can’t stop thinking about.

First introduced in 2005, the X-Runner could tow the rear and haul stuff. Starting at $24,000, you get a six-speed manual transmission, a lowered and stiffened double-wishbone suspension, X-struts, Bilstein shocks, and a 245-hp 4.0-liter V6. It was withdrawn from the lineup in 2013.

For this new concept, Toyota has brought the X-Runner into the modern era by combining an unexpected — but impressive — mix of features from both the upcoming Tacoma and the current Tundra. Engineers started with the suspension, custom matching the arms to those lifted from the Tundra’s suspension geometry. The Tundra’s air suspension was added as well as 2.5-inch Bilstein custom valved aluminum dampers with stiffer springs and remote reservoirs.

More goodies have been taken from the Tundra and installed in the new Tacoma, like the Tundra’s big 13.9-inch brakes with four-piston calipers up front and 13.6-inch rotors with two-piston calipers in the rear, but the Tundra’s biggest stake is dropping the engine in the X-Runner. Engineers fit the Tundra’s 3.4-liter twin-turbo i-FORCE V6 under the hood. In the X-Runner, the engine makes 421 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque, and is paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. The look is completed by 21-inch wheels wrapped in 285/45R21 Michelin tires.

From the outside, the look is a solid performance, and much more in your face than the original. Toyota’s Kalty design studio prepared custom components for the front end. There are unique and functional aero parts such as the rocker panels, brake ducts and hood scoop. There’s also a sleek-looking dual-sided exhaust and a cool paint color called Speedway Blue.

Is there any plan for this to see the light of day? It’s all up in the air now, according to the Toyota engineer I spoke to; They note that SEMA is a way to show what kind of Skunkworks projects the engineers have been cooking up. Although there are currently no production plans for the X-Runner, don’t beat up Toyota for making this thing. With the popularity of off-roading and overlanding in the past few years, it’s great to see that the dream of a high-performance pickup is still alive in the minds of some engineers.