Taco Tuesday: Supercharged First-Gen Toyota Tacoma Gets Smoked by the Ram 1500 TRX
For the Toyota Tacoma pickup truck fans out there, the first-generation model is certainly a beloved favorite. They last a long time, are easily maintained to last an insane amount of miles, and––like any Tacoma––they are fun to customize and add to overtime. Even with all the improvements, this supercharged Toyota Tacoma gets smoked by the 2021 Ram 1500 TRX.
The Fast Lane Trucks recently began a new YouTube series called Run What You Brung. In this demonstration, we first get to watch a 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro with a manual transmission in a drag race. Then, there’s a pickup truck drag race against the 2021 Ram 1500 TRX.
Taco Tuesday: Supercharged first-gen Toyota Tacoma
For this week’s Taco Tuesday, we’ll check out this sweet supercharged first-gen Toyota Tacoma. Every Taco lover can appreciate a first-gen model. Especially, like this one–– single owner, over 500,000 miles, and babied for life.
In the video, we learn that around 480,000 miles, the head gasket blew. Rather than rebuilding the gasket, the owner of this particular supercharged first-gen Toyota Tacoma pickup truck decided to just give this Taco a new engine. It now runs a 3.4 liter V6 with a TRD supercharger. TFL hosts guess the power output to be around 300 horsepower for this supercharged first-gen Toyota Tacoma pickup truck.
It’s a 1997 Toyota Tacoma with a lot of updates. These include various sensors, like a methanol injection gauge. It now has 650,000 miles on it. Well, 649,605 in the video––to be exact.
The 2021 Ram 1500 TRX vs the Toyota Tacoma
There’s a moment of question about whether the supercharged first-gen Toyota Tacoma will beat the 2021 Ram 1500 TRX due to the differing power to weight ratios. The Taco, however, still gets smoked despite how much lighter it is. There’s just so much power under that TRX hood.
The 2021 Ram 1500 TRX is a newly-hatched pickup truck legend. With its own supercharged engine, the TRX is stock equipped to take on serious competitors––if you can find any. But exactly how much power does a 2021 Ram 1500 TRX have?
The 2021 Ram 1500 TRX has a supercharged 6.2 liter Hemi V8. Borrowed from Dodge’s famed Hellcat engine, the one in the TRX generates around 700 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque. The eight-speed automatic transmission sends this power to all four wheels.
Does the 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro have a manual transmission?
The 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro does indeed come standard with a six-speed manual. In fact, we at MotorBiscuit recently had one in review. You can read more about Joe Santos and the manual transmission 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro here.
One of the reasons enthusiasts love original Tacomas like the model this owner turned into a supercharged first-gen Toyota Tacoma pickup truck is for the manual transmission. So many newer models have dropped this feature. But for the purpose of this race, the guys at TFL raced a brand new Taco with a manual against the supercharged model.
Taco vs. TRX drag race
The Supercharged model smoked the 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro. But then the 2021 Ram 1500 TRX crushed the first-gen Taco in the next drag race. The Toyota Tacoma pickup truck may never need to have enough power to beat the TRX, and that’s a good thing. Neither the first-gen nor the 2021 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro had any chance of winning this one.
