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3,500 Mile Comparison: Taco v Ranger

Noface

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I stopped looking at Toyotas (tacoma / 4Runner ) after the 02/04 time frame. I regret selling my 04 2dr 2wd Toyota truck and I still have my 00 4Runner. If anything the current ranger reminds me a lot of them except faster and less reliable.
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A while back when I dumped my Ranger and got a Tacoma, I promised an actual side by side comparison. Here it is.

I've got a few tanks of gas through the Taco and about 3,500 miles on it now That's pretty evenly spolit 25/25/25/25 between surface streets, interstate commuting to work, road trips, and off road. The TLDR is that if you factor out the Ford service department F-ing me over on Coil Packs because of the design flaw about rain water on the engine block, I still prefer the Tacoma. BUT!!! Either Toyota or Ford could fix a few things and become a total industry dominator in the Mid-Size Truck Market - they are that close.

For Comparison, my Ranger was a 2019 XLT 4x4 Crew in Magnetic Storm. My Toyota is a 2023 TRD Off Road 4x4 Crew in Magnetic Grey - I know. I might have a "type."

Lets look at the Toyota Cons first - this is where the Ranger beats it:
1. Engine - The 3.5L NA V6 is an absolute DOG of an engine. Far less HP and especially TORQUE than the Ford Ecoboost and Ford makes all of it's grunt low in the RPM's where Toyota wants to rev up to 3,000 before it starts to wake up and 4,500 RPM before you really see the power come on line.

2. Transmission - This thing is constantly hunting for gears the way Monica Lewinski hunts for a new dry cleaner. And as a 6 speed the difference between each gear and where the torque converter locks up are further separated. It also likes to skip gears - going up hill will drop 6 to 3 and then blast the RPM's. There is a "tune" you can buy for around $400 to $500 that fixes this and makes it drive smoother and more efficiently and apparently it operates "with in Toyota specs" so they can't tell it's there. Well if that's the case Mr. Toyota should fix his product and install it at the dealership as a free or discounted service. You really have to LEARN how to drive this truck. And the combination of engine and transmission means that trailering anything is a poor experience, where the Ranger pulled a trailer up hill like it was nothing.

3. MPG - Is it really a #3 all on its own or part of 1 & 2 above? Not sure. But my Ranger was getting 20 to 22 MPG and that was WITH bigger tires and no speedo calibration. In the summers it would drop off but that's because my wife would want to go places with me but then not get out of the truck when we got there so a lot of parkinglot iding for AC. The Ranger got pretty close to that 20 off road too. My Taco is getting around 16.5 on the pavement and 10 in the dirt. WTF Toyota?

4. Air Conditioner - Every single Import Car I have ever had, has had an anemic AC in it. Every Domestic Car I have had, trounced the competition with AC. This is no different. I got the Taco at the beginning of the summer and the AC has run Full-Tilt since then. Only a few road trips at high way speed in cooler altitudes in the morning did it finally catch up. And at Max Cooling it's LOUD. It also doesn't auto slow the fan when you get a call or text.

5. Technology - The Ranger was the closest thing to a Luxury Space Ship I have ever bought. The technology in that thing was amazing. Everything worked so seamlessly and integrated very nicely. The Tacoma is a 2016 platform that is basically a retro-fit of their 2012 Tacoma. It is much more plain, basic and trucky. I like that too so It'll show up again below in the Pro's. But the Tech that IS in the Tacoma is all based off of solenoids and relays under the hood that has more clicks than an African Xhosha couple having a marital spat. Seriously, every time I do something, especially going off road the dashboard starts clicking like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang taking off.

6. Dash Layout is an after thought. It looks like it was designed by a prepubescent teen loaded on Monster and modifying his truck. Everything is helter skelter all over the place. Got a new feature to add? Find some unused territory and stick it there. Never mind that transmission controls are now in three places

7. 4LO Crawl Control - Not a fair comparison since I didn't have this on the Ranger. But I hate this feature. Pointless tech. I keep looking to find a time and place to use this but I haven't yet. Maybe I'm a control freak? Maybe I'm just so awesome I don't need it (not likely)? And the rear E-Locker only works in 4LO too? Not that I have ever needed it but I would think and hope that I could have that locker in 4HI. Wouldn't you want to run locked if it was Icy?

8. Bed Cover - I didn't have one on the Ranger but the Yota came with it so lets talk about it. The dealer wanted to charge me $1800 for it. It's the Bak-Flip "style." I say that in quotes because I thought it was a Bak-Flip and it turns out it is a shitty knock off. Thankfully I had them throw it in free with the deal but now I'm in this predicament that the wife won't let me get a Bak-Flip because I already have a Bak-Flip. She doesn't see the difference. So I got a free problem not a free solution. The difference is that it is barely big enough to cover the bed and leaves little gaps along the edges. It also drains INTO the bed. so all of the water that hits it either leaks in or gets piped into the bed. The last panel also doesn't flip up. So I only get access to 2/3 of my bed now.

9. Bed Width - My ranger could fit two large dog crates in the bed side by side up against the cab. Tacoma is just a half inch too narrow and the Bed Cover puts them out right against the tail gate.

10. Bed Material - This is more to round it out at an even 10 items to bitch about. but the Toyota bed interior is Fiberglass. Pretty Cool! My Ranger had a spray in bed liner. That Toyota bed is slicker than Owl-Snot. Everything slides up into the 1/3 of the bed that doesn't open so I'm forever fishing shit out. I need to get a $200 rubber mat.

Toyota PROS - Where it BEATS the Ranger!
A. Suspension and Ride Comfort - Yeah... This thing floats like a Cadillac, especially off road. I used to air way TF down in the Ranger to soften up the trails. This does it without even airing down. Nice becasue if there is a short section I want to run, I can do it w/o airing down. I still do on all day trips. This one thing right here is the real winner over the Ford. My wife would cringe in parking lots where there were potholes or speed bumps . Even going slow over them was a pain in the ass in the Ranger. It does have a little more body sway cornering but not bad at all.

B. Interior Space / Seat Geometry. I'm not talking about Passenger Space. This is gear stowage. I took the gear that barely fit in the Ranger and was hard to access and filled about 18 to 20 gallons of a 27 gallon HDX Tote with it. Then I added the things to fill that tote up to the top. All 27 gallons of crap fits easily in the Taco with room to spare. Maybe about another 5 to 7 gallons. And it is MUCH more accessible.

C. Time Space Continuum Worm Hole - I can't figure it out but... The Taco has better ground clearance, but is shorter at the roof. Has lower bed walls you can reach over into, more storage (mentioned above) seemingly more interior space. all in the same or maybe smaller footprint? The hood feels bigger too... How did they fit so much space in a smaller package?

D. Mods... This thing is a Lego Truck. It snaps apart and back together. Want to run a Ham Rado? No issues. Tons of rubber plugs and access panels that pop off and on for access. Adding lights? No isssue, pop off and back on. Everything in the interior is snap-assembeled. There are 8 bolts holding the seats in and then maybe another 4 bolts all together on the interior / dash. Easy access for customizations.

E. Customizations? Why YES please! The aftermarket community for the Taco is bonkers. You can get anything to solve any probelm and the things you buy seem to be a lot less expensive than they were for the Ranger.

F. Trucky-ness - Mentioned above, the Ranger was great at being a space ship but sometimes was overkill. I like the simplicity of the Taco. Somewhere there should be a balance of Tech Integration that the Ranger does well, but with the simplicity that the Taco does well.

G. Rear Window - Tacoma is powered for the win. Ranger I had to get out and adjust manually - POO. I know that sounds small but it means that I basically never used the Ranger Window but I use the Taco window ALL the time. I like opening the rear glass and then venting the D/P front windows when I get in to suck out the heat when I first get in. In Phoenix we have heat in spades.

H. LED Lights - I probably SHOULD have mentioned this in the Cons too. The Taco has INCANDESCENT bulbs all over it. The Head Lights and Fogs were Factory Upgrades to LED and are VERY NICE but the rest of the truck, especially tail lights are DIM. Good news, for cheap you can upgrade to LED lights in the interior and you can pick color if you want. There are even some dual color / brightness LED Map lights that are perfect for low and high light applications. Tail lights are a little more expensive but then I got an LED strip that plugs into the trailer harness without tricking the truck into thinking I have a trailer now. Simple...

I. Oh and I can park the Tacoma nose down without fear of ruining my coil packs when it rains. Yeah F-You Peoria Ford and Ron "Lick My Nutz" Hubler for how your shop treated this flaw in the design of the product.

That's about it. There's a ton of stuff that's different but neither Toyota or Ford gets a win / loss on it. Falls squarely in the "Your Mileage May Vary" category and would be purely subjective. And again, while I'm pointing these items out, they really are very close (except for that engine and transmission thing and the suspension thing). I'd call it a close race and either one could change their product to dominate the other one.

I know the G4 Taco is out soon so not a lot of people will be buying the G3's. I'm excited to see how that new Tacoma plays out. Especially the Hybrid. It could be a game changer.
Do you regret not waiting a year for the new model?
 

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I test drove a Tacoma , i liked it , ran pretty damn good if you dont mind some rpm's , which i dont , (nor should any man ) , nowhere near as fun as my Ranger but i liked the rest of it , didnt drive long enough to notice the seat position everybody bitches about , DID NOT like the view from the drivers seat compared to the Ranger , pillars in the way , hood blocks alot , headliner felt low , Ranger seams more view friendly to me ...
 

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Thanks Greg. Fair review. I looked at all the mid sized trucks of the time and the Ranger (for me) topped them all. 4 years later and I still feel the same. I Love the Ranger tech, engine, transmission, dash, bed space, seating position, comfort, and MPG’s. Hate the lack of interior storage space, initial ride quality (which was greatly improved with Fox shocks). I was at first, greatly influenced by the Toyotas legendary quality and longevity history, and really wanted to get one, but I just could not get past the uncomfortable seating position and anemic engine and transmission combo. I guess I’ve been fortunate that my Ranger has lived up to all expectations. I know some others have not. Sorry yours wasn’t one of them but good luck with the new Tacoma. Hope it brings you many good s/miles. Thanks again for a good review.
 


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What was I saying!?!:crazy:
I should have known. No REAL Taco fan boy would dare say anything negative about a Yota.
My apologies. I'm just poking fun.
For real. Thanks for a bit of info on the new Taco. I've never even ridden in one so I can't really say they are bad. The biggest complaint I actually did hear about them is the seating was uncomfortable, especially if you are on the tall side.
I'm 6'1" and 280lbs. When I test drove one in 2019 I hated the seating position.
Wasn't going to even try one this time around but I did. This time I didn't notice the Go-Kart seating position they have. But then this one has the 6 way electric adjustable seats so maybe that's it? I did get a set of seat-jackers, installed them, pulled them right back out and returned them the same day.

I think the uncomfortable position and the seat-jackers are all associated with the very low sitting manual seats.
 
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Do you regret not waiting a year for the new model?
A little, yes. But I was in a pickle with the Ranger blowing through coil packs and couldn't wait. Also I prefer not to buy the first model year of a new generation because of recalls and other kinks they need to work out. That meant I was going to spend a long time on a Schwinn until they could come out with the 2025 or 2026 Teryota.
 

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Thank you for posting your comparisons.

The squared off wheel wells, uncomfortable seating and the biggest detractors for me was the dog of an engine as you mentioned and a transmission that wouldn't stop hunting. It always felt like it was fighting a headwind. I liked the new Nissan Frontier more than the Tacoma on my weeklong test drive of both vehicles.

The Ranger won hands down for me though with comfort, looks, power and a butter smooth transmission experience so far. I do have a Tremor, so the ride is going to be better than non-Tremor Rangers I will admit.

I have a great affinity for Tacos from way back but couldn't do it anymore. I dreaded road trips in that thing. the 2001 - 2004 are still my favorite Tacoma's. Just way overpriced on the used market.
 

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A little, yes. But I was in a pickle with the Ranger blowing through coil packs and couldn't wait. Also I prefer not to buy the first model year of a new generation because of recalls and other kinks they need to work out. That meant I was going to spend a long time on a Schwinn until they could come out with the 2025 or 2026 Teryota.
Yeah, but you wouldn't have to worry about 'defective' transmissions on the Schwinn.:giggle:
 

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A while back when I dumped my Ranger and got a Tacoma, I promised an actual side by side comparison. Here it is.

I've got a few tanks of gas through the Taco and about 3,500 miles on it now That's pretty evenly spolit 25/25/25/25 between surface streets, interstate commuting to work, road trips, and off road. The TLDR is that if you factor out the Ford service department F-ing me over on Coil Packs because of the design flaw about rain water on the engine block, I still prefer the Tacoma. BUT!!! Either Toyota or Ford could fix a few things and become a total industry dominator in the Mid-Size Truck Market - they are that close.

For Comparison, my Ranger was a 2019 XLT 4x4 Crew in Magnetic Storm. My Toyota is a 2023 TRD Off Road 4x4 Crew in Magnetic Grey - I know. I might have a "type."

Lets look at the Toyota Cons first - this is where the Ranger beats it:
1. Engine - The 3.5L NA V6 is an absolute DOG of an engine. Far less HP and especially TORQUE than the Ford Ecoboost and Ford makes all of it's grunt low in the RPM's where Toyota wants to rev up to 3,000 before it starts to wake up and 4,500 RPM before you really see the power come on line.

2. Transmission - This thing is constantly hunting for gears the way Monica Lewinski hunts for a new dry cleaner. And as a 6 speed the difference between each gear and where the torque converter locks up are further separated. It also likes to skip gears - going up hill will drop 6 to 3 and then blast the RPM's. There is a "tune" you can buy for around $400 to $500 that fixes this and makes it drive smoother and more efficiently and apparently it operates "with in Toyota specs" so they can't tell it's there. Well if that's the case Mr. Toyota should fix his product and install it at the dealership as a free or discounted service. You really have to LEARN how to drive this truck. And the combination of engine and transmission means that trailering anything is a poor experience, where the Ranger pulled a trailer up hill like it was nothing.

3. MPG - Is it really a #3 all on its own or part of 1 & 2 above? Not sure. But my Ranger was getting 20 to 22 MPG and that was WITH bigger tires and no speedo calibration. In the summers it would drop off but that's because my wife would want to go places with me but then not get out of the truck when we got there so a lot of parkinglot iding for AC. The Ranger got pretty close to that 20 off road too. My Taco is getting around 16.5 on the pavement and 10 in the dirt. WTF Toyota?

4. Air Conditioner - Every single Import Car I have ever had, has had an anemic AC in it. Every Domestic Car I have had, trounced the competition with AC. This is no different. I got the Taco at the beginning of the summer and the AC has run Full-Tilt since then. Only a few road trips at high way speed in cooler altitudes in the morning did it finally catch up. And at Max Cooling it's LOUD. It also doesn't auto slow the fan when you get a call or text.

5. Technology - The Ranger was the closest thing to a Luxury Space Ship I have ever bought. The technology in that thing was amazing. Everything worked so seamlessly and integrated very nicely. The Tacoma is a 2016 platform that is basically a retro-fit of their 2012 Tacoma. It is much more plain, basic and trucky. I like that too so It'll show up again below in the Pro's. But the Tech that IS in the Tacoma is all based off of solenoids and relays under the hood that has more clicks than an African Xhosha couple having a marital spat. Seriously, every time I do something, especially going off road the dashboard starts clicking like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang taking off.

6. Dash Layout is an after thought. It looks like it was designed by a prepubescent teen loaded on Monster and modifying his truck. Everything is helter skelter all over the place. Got a new feature to add? Find some unused territory and stick it there. Never mind that transmission controls are now in three places

7. 4LO Crawl Control - Not a fair comparison since I didn't have this on the Ranger. But I hate this feature. Pointless tech. I keep looking to find a time and place to use this but I haven't yet. Maybe I'm a control freak? Maybe I'm just so awesome I don't need it (not likely)? And the rear E-Locker only works in 4LO too? Not that I have ever needed it but I would think and hope that I could have that locker in 4HI. Wouldn't you want to run locked if it was Icy?

8. Bed Cover - I didn't have one on the Ranger but the Yota came with it so lets talk about it. The dealer wanted to charge me $1800 for it. It's the Bak-Flip "style." I say that in quotes because I thought it was a Bak-Flip and it turns out it is a shitty knock off. Thankfully I had them throw it in free with the deal but now I'm in this predicament that the wife won't let me get a Bak-Flip because I already have a Bak-Flip. She doesn't see the difference. So I got a free problem not a free solution. The difference is that it is barely big enough to cover the bed and leaves little gaps along the edges. It also drains INTO the bed. so all of the water that hits it either leaks in or gets piped into the bed. The last panel also doesn't flip up. So I only get access to 2/3 of my bed now.

9. Bed Width - My ranger could fit two large dog crates in the bed side by side up against the cab. Tacoma is just a half inch too narrow and the Bed Cover puts them out right against the tail gate.

10. Bed Material - This is more to round it out at an even 10 items to bitch about. but the Toyota bed interior is Fiberglass. Pretty Cool! My Ranger had a spray in bed liner. That Toyota bed is slicker than Owl-Snot. Everything slides up into the 1/3 of the bed that doesn't open so I'm forever fishing shit out. I need to get a $200 rubber mat.

Toyota PROS - Where it BEATS the Ranger!
A. Suspension and Ride Comfort - Yeah... This thing floats like a Cadillac, especially off road. I used to air way TF down in the Ranger to soften up the trails. This does it without even airing down. Nice becasue if there is a short section I want to run, I can do it w/o airing down. I still do on all day trips. This one thing right here is the real winner over the Ford. My wife would cringe in parking lots where there were potholes or speed bumps . Even going slow over them was a pain in the ass in the Ranger. It does have a little more body sway cornering but not bad at all.

B. Interior Space / Seat Geometry. I'm not talking about Passenger Space. This is gear stowage. I took the gear that barely fit in the Ranger and was hard to access and filled about 18 to 20 gallons of a 27 gallon HDX Tote with it. Then I added the things to fill that tote up to the top. All 27 gallons of crap fits easily in the Taco with room to spare. Maybe about another 5 to 7 gallons. And it is MUCH more accessible.

C. Time Space Continuum Worm Hole - I can't figure it out but... The Taco has better ground clearance, but is shorter at the roof. Has lower bed walls you can reach over into, more storage (mentioned above) seemingly more interior space. all in the same or maybe smaller footprint? The hood feels bigger too... How did they fit so much space in a smaller package?

D. Mods... This thing is a Lego Truck. It snaps apart and back together. Want to run a Ham Rado? No issues. Tons of rubber plugs and access panels that pop off and on for access. Adding lights? No isssue, pop off and back on. Everything in the interior is snap-assembeled. There are 8 bolts holding the seats in and then maybe another 4 bolts all together on the interior / dash. Easy access for customizations.

E. Customizations? Why YES please! The aftermarket community for the Taco is bonkers. You can get anything to solve any probelm and the things you buy seem to be a lot less expensive than they were for the Ranger.

F. Trucky-ness - Mentioned above, the Ranger was great at being a space ship but sometimes was overkill. I like the simplicity of the Taco. Somewhere there should be a balance of Tech Integration that the Ranger does well, but with the simplicity that the Taco does well.

G. Rear Window - Tacoma is powered for the win. Ranger I had to get out and adjust manually - POO. I know that sounds small but it means that I basically never used the Ranger Window but I use the Taco window ALL the time. I like opening the rear glass and then venting the D/P front windows when I get in to suck out the heat when I first get in. In Phoenix we have heat in spades.

H. LED Lights - I probably SHOULD have mentioned this in the Cons too. The Taco has INCANDESCENT bulbs all over it. The Head Lights and Fogs were Factory Upgrades to LED and are VERY NICE but the rest of the truck, especially tail lights are DIM. Good news, for cheap you can upgrade to LED lights in the interior and you can pick color if you want. There are even some dual color / brightness LED Map lights that are perfect for low and high light applications. Tail lights are a little more expensive but then I got an LED strip that plugs into the trailer harness without tricking the truck into thinking I have a trailer now. Simple...

I. Oh and I can park the Tacoma nose down without fear of ruining my coil packs when it rains. Yeah F-You Peoria Ford and Ron "Lick My Nutz" Hubler for how your shop treated this flaw in the design of the product.

That's about it. There's a ton of stuff that's different but neither Toyota or Ford gets a win / loss on it. Falls squarely in the "Your Mileage May Vary" category and would be purely subjective. And again, while I'm pointing these items out, they really are very close (except for that engine and transmission thing and the suspension thing). I'd call it a close race and either one could change their product to dominate the other one.

I know the G4 Taco is out soon so not a lot of people will be buying the G3's. I'm excited to see how that new Tacoma plays out. Especially the Hybrid. It could be a game changer.
Thanks for the great comparison. If money would have been no object (or if I had a time machine and would have seen how much $$$ @AzScorpion forced me to spend on stuff I didn't know I absolutely had to have, I would have bought a Tacoma).

Mainly because of my 1972 FJ40 and how awesome that's been. BUT ... money is money and a little shopping showed me that for payload and HP were the best, for me, for my low price point &$26K out the door).

Now you like mods, have you seen Chloe on YouTube? Hang on to your wallet! =D

https://www.youtube.com/c/ChloeKuoTaco

1694528971640.jpeg
 

Jason B

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Thanks for the great comparison. If money would have been no object (or if I had a time machine and would have seen how much $$$ @AzScorpion forced me to spend on stuff I didn't know I absolutely had to have, I would have bought a Tacoma).

Mainly because of my 1972 FJ40 and how awesome that's been. BUT ... money is money and a little shopping showed me that for payload and HP were the best, for me, for my low price point &$26K out the door).

Now you like mods, have you seen Chloe on YouTube? Hang on to your wallet! =D

https://www.youtube.com/c/ChloeKuoTaco

1694528971640.jpeg
In my case, if money was no object I would have bought a Tremor, Taco was never an option.
 

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The current gen Taco's are just outdated tech at this point. I'm not going to try and convince the masses of this because they have a following that sometimes reaches levels of cult-like. I will probably never own another NA engine vehicle ever again. Modern turbo's just trounce every spectrum of a NA motor if liter for liter and save me that garbage about reliability. We aren't talking 1992 honda civic turbos. NA motors have about the same reliability across the board as all the FI motors now a days.

@GTGallop if you ever get a chance look into the Colorado, but the ZR2 only IMO. Chevrolet has finally got a clue and ditched their NA "OFF ROADERS WANT DIESEL NA MOTORS" crapola and they did a damn good job.

The Trail Boss and ZR1 are cute and all and have the same motor, but the ZR2 is right there in the same price range as the new as the new Lariats and Tremor rangers are going to be with new gens. The new gen high end tacos are also same price range without a doubt.

Yea I still hate that I canceled my Ranger Raptor job 1 build - but the writing is on the wall (if you follow the Gen 6 forum) - they are not getting built any time soon as also cost about $10,000 more.
 

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My next truck will be a manual transmission so that means Tacoma or Jeep Gladiator/Wrangler. My best friend has a 2019 Tacoma off road package with the manual transmission. He is at over 150k miles with standard maintenance and a recall being the only service costs. It is low on torque comparatively, but mpg with the manual is in the low 20's on average. He did get a loaner that was automatic when he had the recall and he noted mpg was not as good. I've ridden in it and would say ride quality is as good if not smoother than my Tremor.
 
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Thanks for the great comparison. If money would have been no object (or if I had a time machine and would have seen how much $$$ @AzScorpion forced me to spend on stuff I didn't know I absolutely had to have, I would have bought a Tacoma).

Mainly because of my 1972 FJ40 and how awesome that's been. BUT ... money is money and a little shopping showed me that for payload and HP were the best, for me, for my low price point &$26K out the door).

Now you like mods, have you seen Chloe on YouTube? Hang on to your wallet! =D

https://www.youtube.com/c/ChloeKuoTaco

1694528971640.jpeg
As long as we are going down the "if money was no object" path...

As it sits off the lot with minimal mods (and I'm a minimal mod kind of guy), my preference is for the Taco (not trying to convince others, just where my needs align). The few mods I do want are cheap and easy.

But if money was no object, and assuming that we can fix the water leaking from the cowl and corroding your coil packs, I would start with a Ranger build over a Taco any day.

Reason? It is easier to rip out the crappy ford suspension and make it ride nicer like the Toyota, than it is to modify the Tacoma engine and transmission to have the ponies of the Ranger.

So $3,000 to $5,000 in suspension puts the Ranger on top.
But $7,000 makes a spicy Taco that doesn't match the Ranger's power.
 

landiscarrier

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Landis
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3 Of my good friends have Tacoma's. They love them. When I ride in them I just think "why are this things so popular?" and towing...UGH!! The engine is screaming the time, I just want to scream SHIFT ALREADY!!......not to mention the 1988 technology in them hahha!! Hey but we're all differnt and we have to drive what we like! That being said my sons 2016 Chevy Colorado rides like a Cadilac compared to the Tacomas or my Ranger.
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