There are a few things that are common knowledge: death, taxes and old Toyota Tacomas are tanks. They have one of the best reputations for toughness, reliability. They have a kick-butt resale value. One issue that Tacoma owners struggle with is power. That’s something Toyota (somewhat) addressed over 20 years ago.
We were extremely lucky to get our hands on a single-owner, nearly pristine 1997 Toyota Tacoma regular car equipped with a TRD supercharger. Our friend John purchased this truck brand new in 1997 and had the dealer install the TRD supercharger.
Back in the day, Toyota did sell and had their dealerships install superchargers. These units were available on a variety of different displacement engines, but the TRD supercharger paired with the 3.4-liter V6 was very popular. Torque and horsepower climbed quite a bit and efficiency wasn’t terribly reduced.
One thing that many questioned, was the reliability of the engine when paired with the TRD supercharger. The fact that this example has been driven for hundreds of thousands of miles reliably shows it was a stout pairing. With a few modifications, other supercharged Toyota trucks have done well over time as well.
In this video, you will see some extraordinary numbers and a extremely well maintained pickup truck… one that makes Andre smile like a love money.
Speaking of old Toyota Tacomas, we had an opportunity to compare three generations against each other a few years back. It’s a fun video too!
