Yahoo Autos Future Classic: 2005-2014 Toyota Tacoma X-Runner
Today, if you make and sell trucks, and you want to add a performance variant, there's apparently only one option: making an off-road monster. Hot trucks are all about maximum ground clearance, giant tires and plenty of body armor. Sometimes more power if you've got the cash. But it wasn't always that way. Hot trucks used to be about going lower with better handling and more body styling. And one of the rare examples of applying that strategy to a smaller truck was the 2005 to 2014 Toyota Tacoma X-Runner.
It's technically not the first sporty Tacoma. That goes to its predecessor, the S-Runner. But the X-Runner looked much more the part of a sports truck with its big hood scoop and aggressive side skirts and front fascia. It picked up other improvements from the new generation, such as more power.
Why is the Toyota Tacoma X-Runner a future classic?
The thing about the Tacoma X-Runner is that it combines a pickup truck with almost everything we, and likely you, love about sporty cars. Rear-wheel drive? Check. Six-speed manual transmission? Check. Limited-slip differential? Check. Stiffer, lowered suspension? Check. Sporty styling? You guessed it, check.
And it's not just a case of a cheap lowering kit and some extra plastic. Toyota proudly proclaimed the fact it benchmarked the Nissan 350Z for handling. It also claimed that the truck could manage 0.9 lateral g on a skidpad.
To achieve this, Toyota fitted an X brace (the reason it's called X-Runner instead of carrying on the S-Runner name), stiffer springs and shocks that lowered it by 0.6 inch and a rear anti-roll bar. Its 255-mm Bridgestone Potenza tires, the widest available on a Tacoma of that generation, didn't hurt either.
We already mentioned that it came with a six-speed and a limited-slip differential, which improve the fun factor, but we haven't touched on the engine. It's a 4.0-liter V6 that makes 236 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque. That's a solid improvement over the 195-horsepower 3.4-liter engine of the S-Runner, though it's not any different than any other V6 Tacoma of the era. Still, a 0-60 mph time of around 7 seconds isn't too shabby. Without extra power, the untouched brakes don't seem like as much of an oversight, either.
And if you wanted more, there was a factory-supported option. TRD sold a supercharger kit for all the Tacoma 4.0-liter V6s that could be installed by the dealer that would bring power up to 304 horsepower and 334 pound-feet of torque. Sadly, you can't get it from Toyota anymore. But there's a company called Underdog Racing Development that still makes and sells the same basic kit. So if you do find yourself an X-Runner, you can still punch up your pickup.
