Not to be outdone by its U.S. counterparts, Toyota is planning to launch diesel and E85-powered versions of its full-size Tundra pickup truck and Sequoia SUV. Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge have all announced that their light-duty full-size pickup trucks will be available with a diesel engine option in the near future, and Toyota will follow suit.
According to Edmunds, Toyota will launch a 4.5L clean diesel in its full-size Tundra pickup and Sequoia SUV by the 2010 model year. The Japanese automaker already offers a twin-turbo 4.5L diesel V8 in its Australian-spec Land Cruiser, so it’s possible that Toyota will convert that engine for use in its U.S.-bound vehicles.
In addition to the new 4.5L diesel V8, look for Toyota to also offer an E85 version of its current 4.7L V8.
Down the road a little further, Toyota is considering launching a 7.0L diesel powerplant for use in a commercial grade Tundra. If a heavy-duty version of the Tundra gets the green light, look for it and the 7.0L engine to make production in 2011 or 2012. However, if the slumping truck market continues to worsen, it’s possible that Toyota could cancel its heavy-duty Tundra program, along with the monstrous diesel engine.
But Toyota did show a Tundra Crew Max diesel dually concept at last years SEMA show, so a heavy-duty pickup is definitely on Toyota’s mind.
05/29, 10:56 AM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
so why does the pic of this ugly POS show up but the other pics and LameBrainNews do not work?
05/29, 11:01 AM
posted by:
RaineMan
I think this is going to be a case of too little too late. Trying to shove a marginally better engine under the hood isn’t going to improve the rate that these behemoths sell at. E85 is just a joke at this point. Nowhere actually sells the stuff, and you get even worse mileage out of it than you do gasoline. If the truck gets 15MPG on gas… it’s going to get 10MPG on E85… I’m sure that is a big help… and with Diesel going for a dollar or two more per gallon than gasoline… noone is going to fall for that either.
05/29, 11:08 AM
posted by:
HemiRoadRunner
Dude, ethanol is corrosive as hell. AND it drops your mpg’s. I want a car that runs on all the BS spewed by all the import humpers on the road.
05/29, 11:40 AM
posted by:
shaver
I thought they officially killed HD already?
Yes F E85, they added 10% ethanol to all the gas in my area now my mileage is down 10%. Just in time for $4 a Gal. Stupid **** politicians have created another speculative gold rush in the energy markets.
05/29, 11:44 AM
posted by:
jimmy8
E85 is sold everywhere in the midwest, mainly due to the close proximity to all of the corn fields I would assume. E85 nets you a 2-mpg loss, but at times can save you close to $1.00 per gallon, so it makes it worth it. I have run it in my F-150 plenty of times when traveling through the midwest and have noticed absolutly no change in power or performance. I think if it ever becomes widely available across the entire US and not just the corn belt it will be a very popular thing. As for Toyota, they have plenty of things to worry about other than E85 and a small diesel.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWjTbiYo3×0
05/29, 11:44 AM
posted by:
jimmy8
Sorry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWjTbiYo3×0
05/29, 12:01 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
I just got a new Grand Caravan for company wheels to replace my previous ‘02 Grand Caravan. Same 3.3 except that it’s flex fuel E85. I have no idea where to buy the stuff and don’t really worry about it, but what I have noticed is this 3.3 has way less grunt than the old one. Maybe because it’s not broken in, or it’s different gearing or curb weight, I don’t know, but it’s definitely not as snappy. I also noticed last year the 2.7 in the ‘07 Sebring was rated 11 horse less than the ‘06 when it became a flex fuel motor.
05/29, 12:39 PM
posted by:
xyunya
johnnycanuck, cant tell you why new Caravan slower then old, but HP rating is explainable. Couple of years ago SAE ratings were recalculated again (I wish they could do it right the first or second or third time). All engine HP ratings went down for 2007 year compare to 2006 (except those who beefed up output). If you noticed it did nothing for torque numbers. You also probably will never experience all the ponies in the motor since they come alive between 5500-6400 rpm on most US engines and slush box shifts at most at 4000 rpm (all the way to top speed).
05/29, 12:45 PM
posted by:
xyunya
The sad part about E85 is that from 1 ton of corn biomass you can only get 1.3 tons of E85. In comparison in Brazil from 1 ton of sugar cane they get 9 tons of biofuel. Then there is oil: from one ton of oil you get 18 tons of different type of fuels (gasoline, kerosene, diesel, jet fuel).
05/29, 1:01 PM
posted by:
Impulsive
Who cares? How about launching something that looks good? I don’t want an ugly 100mpg truck.
05/29, 2:54 PM
posted by:
NoNameDenton1
So, with the truck market slumping, Toyota is going to make more trucks? I thought they were the green company.
05/29, 3:08 PM
posted by:
DrFill
Diesel will definitely be more efficient, so the new 4.5 will be ready to compete with the new light-duty diesels that all truck makers will release withing the next 18 months.
The 7.0L rumor shows Toyota, just as with the 5.7, is not content with being competitive. Expect a true beast, with close to 400HP and over 700 lb./ft of torque.
The E85 thing is neither here nor there.
Oddly, Ford relies on the E85 to get the most out of the warmed-over 5.4 Triton, so it can squeeze a 4th-rate HP rating out of the old girl (320HP moves it ahead of 317 for Titan).
I think Ram will grab more share than F-150 will this fall.
DrFill
05/29, 3:10 PM
posted by:
DrFill
Meaning the New Ram will slow their decline better than the new Ford.
DrFill
05/29, 3:13 PM
posted by:
t-ak-box
This seems like a silly move. Diesel prices rising and only getting so-so mileage. E85 users have been complaining of getting bad gas mileage and developing slug in their engines. Might as well bring out a crappy Hybrid to complete the circle of Failure that will surround this move.
05/29, 3:25 PM
posted by:
NoNameDenton1
Actually the diesels going into the half ton domestic trucks will get pretty great milage, in the 20’s both city and highway, and the Cummins V6 diesel that Dodge will being our shoudl push close to the 30’s
05/29, 3:55 PM
posted by:
lamboz get a life
nonamedenton1, agreed. Finally a sensible person on this site.The haters on here think all pickup owners are rednecks.
05/29, 8:07 PM
posted by:
TOZO
I don’t remember the last time I saw yellow corn at the grocery store. It’s all white and pricey now. Thanks for nothing, E85.
05/29, 8:45 PM
posted by:
autonut
In UK Land Rover is sold with 4.5L diesel. It’s hard to detect a diesel it’s so smooth. There is a little audible clutter at the red light, but once it moves impossible to detect. Actually true for most diesels in Europe now.
05/29, 9:06 PM
posted by:
tripleonefive
That Youtube clip was from Ford who are the same ones who have test drives where they put an AWD v6 Fusion against a 4 cylinder Ce Camry and do handling tests
Also the Volvo test drive I went on had a MB and Acura MDX with 14 inch wheels that were not OEM lol
They should be charged with fraud