Cars-Pickup-Truck: >>Toyota T100

วันอังคารที่ 29 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2551

>>Toyota T100

Toyota T100

Toyota T100

Manufacturer	Hino
Production	1993-1998
Assembly	Hamura, Japan Gibson County, Indiana
Successor	Toyota Tundra
Class	Full-size pickup truck
Layout	FR layout/All wheel drive
Engine(s)	2.7 L 3RZ-FE I4 150 hp (112 kW) 3.0 L 3VZ-E V6 150 hp (112 kW) 3.4 L 5VZ-FE V6 190 hp (142 kW)
Transmission(s)	4-speed automatic 5-speed manual
Wheelbase	121.8 in (3094 mm).
Length	204.3 in (5189 mm).
Width	75.2 in (1910 mm).
Height	71.6 in (1819 mm).
Fuel capacity	24 US gallons (90.8 L/20.0 imp gal)
Related	Toyota Hilux Toyota Land Cruiser Prado Toyota 4Runner/Hilux Surf Toyota Tundra Toyota Tacoma

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.

When it was introduced, the T100 had one cab configuration, a regular cab, and one available engine, a 3.0 L V6 with 150 horsepower (112 kW) and 180 ft·lbf (244 N·m) of torque. In 1994, a 2.7 L I4 engine with 150 horsepower (112 kW) (like the 3.0 V6) and 177 ft·lbf (240 N·m) 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 190 horsepower (142 kW) and 220 ft·lbf (298 N·m) of torque 3.4 L V6. An Xtra Cab model came along several months into the 1995 model year as well.

1998 Toyota T100 Xtracab 4X4 SR5

Toyota Racing Development (TRD) 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 260 horsepower (194 kW) range (depending of the generation of the supercharger) and 250 ft·lbf (339 N·m) to 265 ft·lbf (359 N·m) 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 V8 powered Tundra.