Jump to content

Toyota T100

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ric17 (talk | contribs) at 03:19, 3 December 2007. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Toyota T100
T100 Extended Cab
Overview
ManufacturerHino
Production1993-1998
AssemblyHamura, Japan
Gibson County, Indiana
Body and chassis
ClassFull-size pickup truck
LayoutFR layout/All wheel drive
RelatedToyota Hilux
Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
Toyota 4Runner/Hilux Surf
Toyota Tundra
Toyota Tacoma
Powertrain
Engine2.7 L 3RZ-FE I4 Template:Auto hp
3.0 L 3VZ-E V6 Template:Auto hp
3.4 L 5VZ-FE V6 Template:Auto hp
Transmission4-speed automatic
5-speed manual
Dimensions
WheelbaseTemplate:Auto in.
LengthTemplate:Auto in.
WidthTemplate:Auto in.
HeightTemplate:Auto in.
Chronology
SuccessorToyota Tundra
File:T100Greysml.jpg
1993 Toyota T100 4X4 SR5

The Toyota T100 was a mid-sized to full-sized pickup truck introduced by Toyota in late 1992 as a 1993 calender year vehicle to essentially compete with the American-made Ford F-150, Dodge Ram, Chevrolet C/K and Dodge Dakota. Although Toyota claimed the truck was really meant as an alternative to the compact trucks, including its own Toyota Hilux, the T100 was criticized for being too small to appeal to buyers of full-size work trucks. Another drawback many considered was the lack of a V8 engine which Toyota proclaimed was planned to showcase the T100's advantage in fuel economy and true purpose - to offer a larger truck that drove, acted and "felt" like a compact. Even though this was Toyota's official marketing plan, rumours at the time claimed that Toyota was trying to acquire small block V8 engines from General Motors (305 cubic inch/5.0 liter and 350 cubic inch/5.7 liter) for use within the trucks. Whether or not this ever went beyond someone's imagination or actual talks, no one knows, but ultimately the T100 never got a V8 and this was a serious limiter to sales.

Although sales were slow at start, the T100 sales did reach into the mid 40,000 vehicles sold range (1996) in the United States. Although decent numbers, from Toyota's standpoint (at the time), General Motors pickup sales were roughly 700,000 per year, while Ford sales surged from 550,000 to nearly 850,000 and Dodge went from 100,000 to 400,000.

Beyond the issues of size and horsepower the T100 did receive some praises from the media, acquiring J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Survey "Best Full-Size Pickup" award and the "Best of What's New" award by Popular Science magazine in its first year on the market. It should also be noted that the T100 was the first vehicle - car or truck - ever to receive an "Initial Qulaity Survey Award" in its first year of production. 1n 1994 (the truck's second year) and 1995 (the third) the T100 was again awarded "Best Full-Size Pickup in Initial Quality" by J.D. Power and Associates. In 1997 the T100 was awarded "Top Three Vehicles in Initial Quality - Full-Size Segment" J.D. Power and Associates.


1993 Toyota T100 4X2

As Toyota firmly established itself in the North American compact truck market in the 1980s and 1990s, it seemed to many only logical that Toyota needed to capture part of the lucrative full-size truck market. Rumored for many years until finally becoming a reality in 1993, the first big Toyota truck boasted a full-size (8 ft) bed but retained the engine and suspension characteristics of a compact truck. It was a bit larger than the mid-size Dodge Dakota but still smaller than a typical full-size pickup. It gave a the T100 a unique position within the truck ranks. Though economical and reliable, in the grand scheme of things it was not the greatest selling vehicle and had not captured as much of the market as Toyota had hoped. Although many of it purchasers would disagree many critics maintained the T100 was still too small, despite being bigger than Toyota's other truck, the Toyota Hilux and later the Tacoma.


File:Silverxtracabt100.JPG
1995 Toyota T100 Xtracab 4X4 SR5

When it was introduced, the T100 had one cab configuration, a regular cab, and one available engine, a 3.0 L V6 with Template:Auto horsepower and Template:Auto ft.lbf of torque. In 1994, a 2.7 L I4 engine with Template:Auto horsepower (like the 3.0 V6) and Template:Auto ft.lbf of torque was added in the hopes new buyers would be drawn in with promises of greater fuel economy and a lower price (than previous models). Toyota ultimately realized there was no other alternative but to add more power to the truck and in 1995 Toyota added the Template:Auto horsepower and Template:Auto ft.lbf of torque 3.4 L V6. An Xtra Cab model came along several months into the 1995 model year as well.


File:RedT10098.JPG
1998 Toyota T100 Xtracab 4X4 SR5

Toyota's Racing Development (TRD) division introduced an available supercharger for the 3.4 liter engine in 1997 and it became available for the T100, the Tacoma and the 4runner with the 3.4 liter V6 (and later the Tundra). Horsepower jumped to the Template:Auto horsepower range (depending of the generation of the supercharger) and Template:Auto ft.lbf to Template:Auto ft.lbf of torque.


The T100 was manufactured and partially engineered by Toyota-subsidiary Hino. Three trim lines were offered: the base model, the DX, and the top-of-the-line SR5. The maximum towing capacity was 5,200 lb (2,360 kg) and the truck had a payload limit of 2,450 pounds.


All T100s were assembled in Tokyo, Japan. In late 1998 production moved to the United States with the opening of Toyota's new Tundra Gibson County, Indiana plant. Before moving production to the United States, the T100 was the last Japanese-built pickup made for North America. The US retail price of the T100 built entirely in Japan included a 25% import tariff. The Japanese-built T100s proved to be very reliable compared to US-built trucks during the same period. The T100 was discontinued in 1998 and replaced by the larger Tundra.



Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Toyota_T100&oldid=175402964"