Tacoma X-Runner: The 412-hp street truck we wish existed

When most Americans picture a truck in its natural habitat, they tend to think of a construction site, a wooded forest with a bed full of split logs, or perhaps a highway warrior with a camping or work trailer in tow. But there’s a small sect of pickups that hew closer to muscle cars than they do to utility workhorses. These street trucks, or sport trucks as some refer to them, were once popular halo models in many an automaker’s lineup. (Think GMC Syclone, Ford SVT Lightning, Ram SRT-10, or even the Silverado 454 SS.) Big muscle, lowered rides, and a general abdication of all “truck stuff” responsibilities made these machines distinctive and appealing.

Toyota would like to bring back the sport truck, at least if this wild Tacoma concept—unveiled at SEMA this year—is any indication. The black and blue curiosity pictured here goes by the name of Tacoma X-Runner, and it’s a welcome respite from the onslaught of trail-stomping monsters that tend to overrun the Las Vegas convention center this time of year. (Including a few from Toyota itself.)

The X-Runner came about as the result of a collaboration between Toyota’s engineering teams and the aesthetes at Calty Design Research’s office in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Eager to demonstrate the flexibility of the TNGA-F platform that underpins the 2024 Tacoma (plus the new Sequoia, Land Cruiser, Tundra, and more) the team decided to pivot away from the trails and back to the roadways.

In true street truck fashion, the party starts under the hood. In place of the 2.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine and hybrid drivetrain components normally found on the 2024 Tacoma, engineers dropped in a 3.4-liter, twin-turbo V-6 cribbed from the Tacoma’s big brother, the Tundra. That engine was further modified with upgraded dual intakes, a higher-flowing cat-back exhaust, and a recalibration of the engine’s management software. Final output clocks in at 421 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque. (These modifications, by the way, will be sold for $3400 as a new TRD Performance Package to Tundra owners beginning early next year.)

Tundra transplants didn’t just stop with the engine, however. The X-Runner also uses the Tundra’s solid rear axle, equipped here with a very short 4.30:1 final drive ratio and an electronic locking rear diff. Engineers also sourced the Tundra’s air suspension components to afford the X-Runner a remarkably low ride height, even while carrying a load. The 13.9-inch front brakes from the Tundra sit nestled behind 21-inch bespoke carbon-fiber wheels wrapped in Michelin performance tires.

To brace the X-Runner for all this added grunt, engineers widened the overall track by north of 3 inches and strengthened the truck’s frame. Handling that added width meant lengthening the upper and lower control arms in the front, as well as modifying the lower arms specifically to handle the “slammed” nature of the X-Runner’s desired ride height. They also lengthened the upper and lower control arms in the rear to accommodate that Tundra axle.

Sport trucks are meant to drive with gusto, so Toyota’s engineers set about modifying the suspension by stiffening the springs and adding a set of custom-valved 2.5-inch Bilstein shocks with remote reservoirs to each corner.

Stylistically, the X-Runner makes no pretenses as a trail hunter (which happens to be the name of the new Tacoma’s ultimate overlanding trim). Flared front and side body work incorporates plenty of aerodynamic styling and functional venting, and a custom side exhaust exits just below the rocker panel.

Whether or not such a sporting-minded truck would ever reach the production lines remains to be seen. That said, Toyota is watching and listening to how this concept is received. “There were lots of street trucks in the early 2000s and they all faded, so on the one hand, this was a curiosity check to see if there is any market for street trucks at all, or if the market has entire shifted to what we see today—tough, rugged, lifted vehicles,” said Adam Rabinowitz, chief designer at Toyota’s Calty Design Research, Inc.

If the Tacoma X-Runner strikes a forgotten cord in your soul, you’re not alone. Who knows, maybe a coalition of the willing will form, and the days of trucks pantsing Camaros at stoplights will make a glorious return.

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