2024 Toyota Tacoma TRD PreRunner Is a Rarity: a 2-Door, 2WD Truck

• The 2024 Toyota Tacoma TRD PreRunner pairs a rear-drive drivetrain with off-road enhancements.

• Toyota limits the PreRunner guise to the two-door Tacoma.

• The PreRunner comes standard with equipment including a locking rear differential and 17-inch all-terrain tires.

Toyota ditched the PreRunner moniker from the Tacoma line following the 2015 model year. For 2024, however, the automaker’s bringing the trim back to its latest-generation mid-size pickup truck.

Originally introduced for 1998, the Tacoma PreRunner paired the four-wheel-drive Taco's looks (and many of its off-road-focused dynamic pieces) with the rear-drive model's drivetrain. That basic formula carries over to the 2024 Tacoma TRD PreRunner, which packs plenty of off-road goodies but pushes power from its turbocharged engine strictly to the rear wheels.

Toyota limits the TRD PreRunner guise to one body style: the two-door extended cab (or XtraCab in Toyota parlance) with a six-foot-long bed. As with all extended cab 2024 Tacomas, the TRD PreRunner lacks any rear seats, and it instead uses the space behind the driver and passenger’s chairs for additional cargo space.

The rear of the cab also includes a number of locking storage cubbies, and the front passenger seat’s back folds forward and creates a flat surface. Likewise, the TRD PreRunner retains the rear leaf springs of lesser extended cab trims (the four-door Tacoma supports its rear axle with a set of coil springs).