Earth-shattering biturbo V8 for next Toyota Tundra

Monday, 6 July 2020

Watch F1 champ Fernando Alonso put the new 2020 Toyota Hilux through its paces.

Toyota is reportedly planning a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 monster for its range-topping next-gen Tundra.

The new engine will produce an excess of 450kW/750Nm, plenty to put some hurt on Ford’s F-150 Raptor. The outgoing hardcore Blue Oval truck uses a 3.5-litre turbocharged EcoBoost V6 good for 336kW/692Nm while the updated version is yet to be detailed. It’ll also do some damage to Ram’s upcoming Hellcat-powered 1500 TRX.

Back to the Tundra, its epic engine will come courtesy of Lexus, which was developing it for sports car use. Lexus’ Japanese website says it will eventually find its way into “large pickups and SUVs exclusively for North America.” According to other reports, Lexus has hit pause on the development of the LC F prototype destined to debut the V8.

This is the current Tundra, only for North American buyers. Wonder if it would sell well here as a left-hook model...

Nothing about the new truck is official just yet but rumours reckon Toyota will launch the updated model in late 2021. Other rumblings indicated the new Tundra would share athe TNGA-F platform with the next-generation Hilux, which could result in right-hand drive Tundras emerging at lower cost than other third-party solutions.

**READ MORE:

A future Lexus LC was to debut the new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 but that plan looks to have been shelved for now.

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Look at how much family fun can be had with a Tundra!

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* Refreshed and powered-up Hilux revealed

* Toyota to kill its V8 in favour of boosted V6

Previously, it was understood that Toyota was phasing out its V8 engines in favour of turbocharged and electrified V6s. Evidently this only extends to Toyota’s in-house engines, with Lexus’ donks unaffected. We could see other Tundra, Land Cruiser and Hilux models using the smaller engines as well as the range-topping V8.

However, we wouldn’t expect to see the new V8 make it to the Hilux. Local buyers lean more towards diesel power for their utes, owing to its better economy, torque and cheaper buy-in price. Adding cylinders and power will no doubt push price up beyond the typical realm of affordability, even though a roaring bent-eight would be great to see in the Hilux. The nearest we got to that was when Ford considered slotting the Mustang’s V8 in the Ranger. Unfortunately, coronavirus put a stop to that.

We’d be interested to know though – if someone offered a V8-powered ute with a price tag breaching the $100k mark, would you buy it?

Toyota Australia hasn’t shied away from expressing desire for the Tundra, with Toyota Australia’s product planning and development boss, Rod Ferguson, previously telling carsales that customers are looking for “something above the Land Cruiser 200 for heavy towing, heavy van usage, horse floats, that sort of thing.”

Over the ditch, Toyota Australia will only consider a fully factory-built Tundra, meaning it isn’t interested in aftermarket converters shifting the driving equipment from the left side to the right, à la Chevrolet Silverado or the Shelby F-150.

We’ve reached out to Toyota NZ to see if there’s any chance of us getting the Tundra in the near future and were told by local CEO, Neeraj Lala, that while the project has “been in consideration and planning for a long time”, the conversion to right-hand drive and getting such a powertrain through emissions certification remain the big stumbling blocks.

As such, he couldn’t confirm if New Zealand would be able to get the new Tundra. But we can hope…