With a plethora of adventure-ready, go-anywhere, been-anywhere vehicles cementing its foundation, the all-new 2022 Toyota Tundra is born from a lineage of trucks and SUVs rooted in quality, durability and reliability. Its predecessors hit the million-mile mark on more than one occasion thanks to a team of engineers who built the truck above and beyond the status quo. Improvements and enhancements abound, including its new high-strength boxed, steel-ladder frame, aluminum-reinforced composite bed and fully redesigned multi-link rear suspension. The outcome of development efforts gives the stout new Tundra an impressive maximum towing capacity of up to 12,000 pounds and a max payload capacity of 1,940 pounds. It resists the urge to repeat and rethinks its approach while carrying the knowledge of everything learned along the way. As the third generation of its namesake, Tundra looks to improve upon everything – performance, capability, multimedia, creature comforts and more. It’s the all-new 2022 Toyota Tundra, a truck that would make its predecessors proud.
Tundra will be the first Toyota to welcome the all-new Audio Multimedia system designed and engineered by Toyota’s Texas-based Connected Technologies team. The system operates on Tundra models via newly designed touchscreens and features an all-new Human Machine Interface (HMI). The advanced HMI delivers improved interaction through sight, touch and voice activation. It also includes more responsive touch functionality that is more familiar to consumers like the pinch and zoom functions we experience on our phones and tablets. Certain to be a favorite among gloved Tundra passengers, the new system still uses a large, easy-to-grip dial for audio volume. The new system also offers standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. Boasting processing power five times greater than the previous generation system, the latest Toyota Audio Multimedia system features a centrally located standard 8-inch touchscreen or an available 14-inch touchscreen with improved screen resolutions for high-quality, crisp visuals.
While the 14-inch Audio Multimedia Display atop the center stack will draw the most immediate attention, the driver is certainly high on the priority list for impressive new tech in the new Tundra. Two newly designed instrumentation panels provide quick, easy-to-read access to the driver, and there’s no question the available 12.3-inch thin film transistor (TFT) display will create a strong impression. Wi-Fi Connect offers 4G connectivity for up to 10 devices by turning Tundra into an AT&T Hotspot. It also offers the ability to link your separate Apple Music and Amazon Music subscriptions to your vehicle with Integrated Streaming. There are two new instrumentation panels on Tundra: the available 12.3-inch TFT panel or a combination meter that includes a 4.1-inch digital multi-information screen (MID) with analog readouts. Aside from vehicle diagnostics, the new displays also provide access to safety features, navigation, audio controls, off-road features and towing functions.
The all-new Toyota Tundra will offer two powertrain options: a twin-turbo V6 engine and a hybrid twin-turbo V6. What may be surprising to some is the hybrid powertrain will be the most powerful of the two. Mated to both engines will be a 10-speed Electronically Controlled Automatic Transmission with intelligence (ECTi). The new 10-speed features a sequential shift mode, uphill/downhill shift logic and TOW/HAUL driving modes. Calling the twin-turbo V6 a “base” engine just doesn’t seem right. Its aluminum block features a displacement of 3,445cc via an 85.5mm bore and 100mm stroke. The 24-valve, Dual Overhead Cam V6 is chain-driven and features Dual VVTi systems. Thanks to the water-cooled intercooler keeping turbo temperatures down, the V6 engine improves on the outgoing V8 engine in every way with impressive performance figures: 389 horsepower and 479 lb.-ft. of torque.
Exhaust cooling starts with the computer-optimized exhaust valve shape and is further enhanced by the integrated exhaust manifold and cylinder head design that uses the same water jacket to lower exhaust gas temperature entering the turbochargers to further improve reliability and performance.Next-level enhancements help make this twin-turbo V6 stand alone at the top of the powertrain mountain. Engineers developed state-of-the-art cylinder heads for max-boost reliability with a two-layer water jacket structure for maximum coolant flow and combustion chamber strength and then added machined cross-channels for additional combustion chamber cooling. Low-profile, laser-applied powder-metal intake valve seats enhance the intake port efficiency and allow maximum coolant flow close to the spark plug. The cylinder heads themselves have machined cross-channels to allow coolant to flow through them laterally to provide additional cooling to the combustion chambers. This also contributes to cylinder head reliability and operating efficiency. The exhaust valves’ shape has also been optimized to enhance cooling performance.
The showstopper for Tundra is really the i-FORCE MAX powertrain. The numbers alone are jaw-dropping – 437 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and a staggering 583 lb.-ft. of torque at only 2,400 rpm. The numbers are impressive, but how this beast achieves them is the best part. A newly developed Power Control Unit (PCU) is used to achieve excellent battery durability and thermal performance with a focus on drive performance. The system employs a tried-and-true 288V sealed Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) battery that resides under the rear passenger seats. The new i-FORCE MAX relies on the same twin-turbo V6 platform but features a unique attribute – a motor generator with a clutch located within the bell housing between the engine and 10-speed automatic transmission. In essence, the motor generator is built in-line to provide additional power that is transferred efficiently via the transmission, while the engine start-up, EV driving, electric assist and energy regeneration are solely done via the parallel hybrid components.
