The 2019 Toyota Tundra soldiers on with little change since the current version came along 2014, a refreshed version of the same truck that has existed since 2007.
While many stylistic and feature updates have come in a dozen years, the truck is virtually identical mechanically to the one that we’ve been driving for over a decade. In this time all of the major competition have vastly redesigned their products and modernized their powertrains.
Our tester was a relatively new trim grade to the lineup, a TRD Sport which came along starting in the 2018 model year. Building on the mid-grade SR5, the TRD Sport adds visual cues like LED headlights, 20-inch wheels, body color grilles, bumpers and mirrors and a number of interior touches to sport it up.
Mechanically you also get upgraded Bilstein shocks and TRD anti-roll bars in red to show the world there more underneath. The package does well to give the truck tighter handling and make it look slightly more contemporary.
With a host of options and packages our TRD Sport 2WD came in at $47,864 which puts it up into a territory with higher trim grades sans options. The cloth seating is a nice change from the leathers we get in to many test vehicles, sturdy and handsome.
Under the hood remains the tried and true 5.7-liter DOHC V8 with its 381 horsepower and 401 pound-feet of torque, mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission. It works well but falls well behind in its fuel economy compared to its peers.
While it is older than most of its competitors it offers something they don’t, a level of solid quality and thus resale value that is above average. This combination of traits makes it the least likely to get huge discounts or rebates at the dealer, so be willing to pay up when you get there.
