Before the Ram 1500 TRX, There Was the Supercharged TRD Toyota Tundra
Not many people have heard of the Toyota Tundra TRD Supercharged. But long before the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor “R” or the Ram TRX, this rare Tundra was the world’s fastest truck. What’s more, this incredible Toyota dominated that title for a decade.
The Ram TRX is the world’s fastest V8 truck
FCA’s Street and Racing Technology (SRT) team engineered the brand’s first factory supercharged engine: the Hellcat. This 6.2-liter V8 leverages a twin-screw supercharger to make upwards of 700 horsepower.
For the 2015 model year, Dodge offered Hellcat editions of both the Challenger and Charger. In the past 5 years, SRT has managed to install the engine in nearly every drivetrain FCA offers in the US, from the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk to the Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat. The first Ram pickup prototype with a Hellcat was 2016’s Ram Rebel TRX. But it wasn’t until the 2021 model year that FCA unleashed the Ram 1500 TRX.
The resulting Ram is the fastest internal-combustion truck in the world. When MotorTrend tested the 2021 Ram 1500 TRX, the reviewers found the 4WD monster could accelerate to 60 MPH in just 4.1 seconds. It went on to finish the 1/4-mile in 12.7 seconds at a top speed of 106.3 MPH.
MotorTrend crowned the TRX the world’s quickest truck. But for the new Ram to earn this distinction it had to dethrone a Toyota: the Tundra TRD Supercharged.
Toyota offered an early warranteed, supercharged truck with the 2008 Tundra TRD Supercharged
Just like Dodge’s SRT division, the engineers at Toyota Racing Development (TRD) build hot rod versions of standard Toyota products. TRD immediately set about modifying the Toyota UR engine series. The automaker began installing the naturally-aspirated 5.7-liter V8 iteration of the engine in the 2007 Tundra. By 2008, TRD offered a supercharged version.
Unlike the Ram 1500 TRX, the Tundra’s supercharger was not installed at the factory. But the Tundra TRD Supercharger was a dealership option. When factory techs upgraded the engine, the speed gear did not void the factory warranty.
The Tundra’s stock 5.7-liter V8 made 381 horsepower. The TRD supercharger bumped its output to 504 horsepower. Customers could combine the high output engine with other speed gear such as lowered suspension, larger rims, and anti-roll bars.
The 2008 Tundra TRD Supercharged beat the Dodge Ram SRT-10 to become the world’s fastest truck
Before the Tundra TRD Supercharged arrived on the scene, the 2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 was the truck to beat. When MotorTrend first tested the acceleration of SRT’s Viper-powered truck, it blew the doors off everything else on the road.
The truck’s ten-cylinder engine made 504 horsepower and 525 lb-ft of torque. As a result, the 2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 was the first truck to break a 5.0-second 0-60 mph time in MotorTrend’s tests. After running a 4.9-second 0-60, the SRT-10 went on to complete the 1/4-mile in 13.2 seconds.
In 2008, Toyota TRD sent MotorTrend a short bed /standard cab version of the Tundra with a supercharged engine and lowered suspension. MotorTrend ran its standard acceleration tests and the new Tundra trounced the outgoing SRT-10.
The 2008 Toyota Tundra TRD Supercharged made it to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds. It finished the 1/4-mile in 13 seconds even. This astounding Tundra held the record for fastest truck MotorTrend had ever tested until SRT took first place again with the 2021 Ram TRX. But Ram’s victory was short-lived. An all-new 2022 pickup has beaten both the Toyota and Ram–by over a second! Read more about the new world’s fastest truck.
