A friend of mine just bought a 2017 Toyota Tundra and he let me drive it. As I got behind the wheel and adjusted the very comfortable seat for a perfect fit he turned on the radio to a nice sound level and the sound was so clear I could have sworn that the singer and the band was in the back seat. When I looked around, however, they weren’t there but it did give me an opportunity to see just how wide and roomy the cabin was. Just incredible! It was quiet too. It felt like we were the only ones on the planet because I couldn’t hear any of the outside noise at all.
I was in the SR5, which came with fog lights, exterior chrome trim, 60/40 split folding rear seats, a 7-inch touchscreen, which was so user friendly I almost got out right there and went to Atlantic Toyota to buy a Tundra for myself. But I was also pretty engrossed in all the other things this great truck came with such as, HD and satellite radio, traffic information, a navigation app, a power rear window and an overhead console.
My friend upgraded to front bucket seats, auto-dimming rear view mirror, telescoping steering wheel, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, eighteen-inch wheels and a larger gas tank came with his 5.7-liter V8 workhorse of an engine. When I started that puppy it hummed and purred like a cheetah. When I accelerated it reminded me of the same cat when it chases prey. From a dead stop the Tundra with the 5.7-liter V8 can hit 60 in 6.8 seconds. Almost as fast as a cheetah and just as good looking, no doubt. The 5.7-liter V8 pumps out 381 hp and 4012 lb-ft of torque. Fuel economy gets about 15 mpg combined and its standard tow package can pull 10,500 pounds.
The Tundra was designed for safety. It comes with a lot of standard safety equipment like: stability and traction control, trailer sway control, anti-lock brakes, rear view camera system, blind-spot monitoring system and side curtain, front side impact and front knee airbags. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gave the Tundra its highest safety rating of “Good” in the moderate-overlap front impact, side-impact, roof strength and seat/head restraint (whiplash protection) tests. It also received five stars (highest) for side-impact protection.
The drive was such a great experience that I am going down to Atlantic Toyota for a test drive.