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2022 Toyota Tundra: Design Breakdown
2022 Toyota Tundra: Design Breakdown-July 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:12:15

Image for article titled 2022 Toyota Tundra: Design Breakdown

There’s a , finally! Toyota’s old full-size pickup design was so old that, were it a human, it would have been well-passed ready for that talk about Your Changing Body and These Strange New Feelings. But there’s an all-new design, so let’s really dig into it and see what our strange new feelings are.

First off, I have to note that the new inverted-horseshoe grille design, when bordered in aluminum/chrome-ish brightwork, sure does look like the alabaster moustache of our old pal . This may or may not be a selling point to potential buyers; as I feel like I have to say all too often here, I don’t kink-shame.

It not, there are actually based on trim level. With that grille commanding so much frontal real estate, it’s a pretty effective way to change the overall tone and look of the truck without modifying any body panels.

Image for article titled 2022 Toyota Tundra: Design Breakdown

Overall, the new Tundra is definitely a product of modern truck design, with all the absurdity and caricature that entails. Yes, the grille is massive, the hood is high enough that you may need oxygen if you’re up there changing out a coil pack or something, and the greenhouse seems too short. That’s just the state of modern truck design, and I’ve accepted this, for now, so this is all the bitching I’m going to do about that. It is what it is.

There are some good details throughout the design, even if I don’t think it’s particularly outstanding overall. Toyota’s recent tendencies have calmed down over the past few years, and I think the result here is a truck with a number of interesting design choices all over.

Here, I broke them down for you:

Image for article titled 2022 Toyota Tundra: Design Breakdown

Those wheels do seem strangely small, don’t they? Maybe that will feel different in person. Or everyone will just get crazy huge tires.

I think the new Tundra’s best angle is its butt, with a tailgate design that feels unique in this segment. There’s an interesting outward rake to the upper edge of the bed, and the main tailgate area is a horizontal extrusion that lines up with the taillights as well.

Speaking of the taillights, they’re a striking design, and incorporate a genuinely useful feature that would make life with the Tundra appreciably better:

Image for article titled 2022 Toyota Tundra: Design Breakdown

The driver’s side taillight has this little hip-bumpable latch that opens the tailgate, so when your arms are full of sofabed or dead llama or kiddie pool full of gumbo, you can get that tailgate open even if you forgot to do it before you picked up that heavy thing. It’s clever and useful.

Another clever touch, this one in the interior:

Image for article titled 2022 Toyota Tundra: Design Breakdown

The phone wireless charging pads are near-vertical, allowing you to easily glance at your phone (when safely at a stoplight or whatever, of course) to see why the hell it keeps beeping at you. It’s thoughtful.

Image for article titled 2022 Toyota Tundra: Design Breakdown

It’s not a radical design for a modern truck, all told, but there are enough novel touches throughout that I think it stands out, at least a bit, especially from the rear.

I mean, it did take them long enough.

More on vehicle protection from G/O Media’s partner:

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