Automotive Design & Production is the one media brand invested in delivering your message in print, online, via email, and in-person to the right automotive industry professionals at the right time.
Issue link: https://adp.epubxp.com/i/592275
p The Tacoma is built in two plants: Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas (TMMTX) in San Antonio and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Baja California (TMMBC) in Baja California, Mexico. What's interesting to note is that at the Texas plant, the full-size Tundra pickup and the mid-size Tacoma are manufactured on the same line. (That's not Texas in the background, nor is it Mexico. It is in Washington State . . . not far outside of Tacoma.) p You can try this at home (assuming you live out where there are sand dunes): The Tacoma is equipped with an array of electronic features, such as a Multi-Terrain Select system that regulates wheel spin by adjusting the throttle and brakes, Active Traction Control and Crawl Control (which takes over acceleration and braking, leaving the driver to steer while the Tacoma travels at a driver-selectable sped up to 5 mph). The truck literally drove itself (well, there was a driver behind the wheel who had to steer) out of this sand. two manuals available: a fve-speed for the four-cylinder model and a new six-speed manual for the V6. The V6 engine features what Toyota calls "D-4S" technology. This combines direct and port fuel injection. One advantage is that fuel is injected to the port, in the combustion chamber, either, or both, depending on engine is removed via the heat of combustion. So the injectors are cleaned without any performance issue during engine operation. Safety regulations had a whole lot to do with the engineering of the Tacoma. Sweers cites, for example, FMVSS 214, the dynamic side-impact protection regulation, FMVSS 216, roof-crush cab. This includes 270 MPa, 340 MPa, 440 MPa, 590 MPa, 980 MPa, and hot-stamped 1480 MPa, Toyota's frst application of that material. Sweers says, "We had to add mass to the truck to meet ratings and regulations, but we took the mass back down through the use of ultra-high-strength steel." The weight between the 2016 and 2015 models is slightly changed: for example, There are two engines and two transmissions available for the 2016 Tacoma. There is a 2.7-liter four with a cast iron block and aluminum head that produces 159 hp @ 5,200 rpm and 180 lb-ft of torque @ 3,800 rpm. There is a 3.5-liter V6 Atkinson cycle (there is delayed intake valve closing in this cycle) engine that produces 278 hp @ 6,000 rpm and 265 lb-ft of torque @ 4,600 rpm. Both engines can be mated to a new six-speed automatic. There are also temperature and operating demands. In addition, Sweers explains that a beneft of this approach is that because the direct injectors are in the combustion chamber, there is a tendency for carbon build-up on their exterior, not merely at the tip, but around the lower periphery. So each injector has a slot in its side. When the vehicle is at idle, the port injection can takeover, and the direct injectors are cleaned by closing of the tip of the injector, then shooting fuel through the side such that the carbon resistance, and Global Technical Regulation No. 9, pedestrian safety, as considerations for the way the vehicle was designed and built. And let's not forget the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) star ratings. So for one thing, they added some 93 mm to the length of the vehicle to accommodate crash management. But the major change was the extensive use of high-strength and ultra-high- strength steels in the creation of the AD&P; > November 2015 > FEATURE > On the 2016 Toyota Tacoma > Gary S. Vasilash > gsv@autofeldguide.com 38