August 22, 2006 - Toyota has made some big claims about its Tacoma-based X-Runner sports pick-up truck, the biggest claim being that the X-Runner can go head-to-head with the Nissan 350Z. While Toyota may say that the X-Runner was able to pull .9Gs on the skidpad and deliver a sub 7-second 0-60 time in testing, the X-Runner is no Z killer. This X-Runner is a mixed-bag for us; its "street" stance and features render it practically useless for "truck" things like off-roading and towing heavy loads, yet its inherent "truck-ness" prevents it from being a good sports car. Don't get us wrong, it's good for a truck, but saying a "sports" vehicle is "good for a truck" just strikes us as all sorts of wrong.
Due to this dual nature of the X-Runner, we have a bit of a "love/hate" relationship with the thing. We absolutely love the way it looks. We're not fans of chrome, so we love the X-Runner's mono-chromatic paint scheme and blacked-out grille. We also really like the full aero kit - blistered fenders and all. These larger fenders really accent the 18-inch sport wheels and TRD large front brake kit. The X-Runner looks every bit the part of a sports car, it's really hard for us to not like it. But then we drive the thing. It's not a bad-driving vehicle, but it drives very much like a truck. Toyota gave the X-Runner a serious suspension upgrade: re-designed springs and specially-designed Bilstein shocks lower the truck an inch, the frame got some special X bracing to increases the truck's torsional rigidity, beefier sway bars have been added and the stock off-road wheels were ditched in favor of some 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped in performance V-rated rubber. All told, the X-Runner corners much flatter than most trucks we've driven, but damn the ride is bumpy. Seriously, the X-Runner has one of the roughest rides we've experienced, and we spend a lot of time in slammed vehicles. This beefed-up suspension also doesn't help out with the truck's high-speed stability. The X-Runner feels floaty and seems like it wants to dart all over the place at moderate 75-mph freeway speeds. A sports cruising machine the X-Runner is not.
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