When it was launched for 2007, the full-size Toyota Tundra raised the bar on working truck interiors. Nothing has changed for 2008, save a shuffling of the standard equipment on each model. The Tundra remains one of the most comfortable, best outfitted pickups available.
Visibility from the driver's seat is excellent. The standard mirrors are large, and can be adjusted to deliver a panoramic view all the way around the truck. The optional tow mirrors are also superb. They feature a large traditional mirror that's power operated, with a small convex mirror at the bottom that's manually adjustable. They can be adjusted to cover all blind spots. The tow mirrors can be manually extended outward to help the driver see around enclosed car trailers and other big trailers. They can be folded inward when parked to reduce the chance of damage.
The rear-seat entertainment system's drop-down LCD screen is only barely noticeable in the rear view mirror. The optional navigation system includes a back-up camera. It's particularly useful on 4x4 models, as the top of the tailgate towers well above the height of small children. It's also extremely useful when hitching a trailer, allowing the driver to position the ball directly below the trailer coupling without having to jump out of the truck 27 times while jockeying into position. Headrests on the back seats can block the view rearward if not in their lowest position. Removing them or flipping the back seat down affords the best view.
The cabs are roomy. In occupant measurements, the Tundra generally gives up little or nothing to the competition, although where it trails, it's sometimes by more than an inch: In hiproom, for example, where the Ford F-150 offers almost 2.5 inches more in front, the Dodge Ram offers almost two inches more both front and rear. Yet all these vehicles are wide enough that hiproom will not likely be a major concern. In all-important rear seat legroom in the top-selling Double Cab, only the Dodge Ram tops the Tundra, with the F-150 coming up two inches short.
The seats are comfortably cushioned but not too soft, with modest side bolsters in front. Deep seat bottoms provide ample thigh support. The fabric upholstery feels durable and the leather does, too. It's more a heavy-duty grade than luxurious, and probably appropriate for a truck. We've found them comfortable in daylong towing trips across the state.
The passenger seatback in the Regular Cab folds forward to present a flat work/writing area, and there's room behind the seat for a small generator and a five-gallon bucket. This is in addition to bins, both open and capped, for tools and such, and it emphasizes an area where Tundra stands out among full-size pickups: interior storage and conveniences.
The seat bottom in the center section of the front bench seat pivots forward to reveal an otherwise fully concealed storage compartment. There's a bi-level glove box, with an upper compartment big enough to hold a Thermos bottle. The lower compartment, more than twice the size of the upper, is lighted and fitted with a damped door. The front-door armrests house flip-out compartments beneath the power window switch plates, though models with manual windows forgo this storage. Front-door map pockets are molded to hold two 22-ounce water bottles, and so are the rear-door map pockets on the CrewMax. The Double Cab rear doors hold one bottle.
Similarly, both the Double Cab and the CrewMax incorporate assorted storage bins and compartments beneath and behind their rear seats, though in the Double cab, a subwoofer replaces the lockable under-seat bin when the up-level stereo is ordered.
Column-shift Tundras have two, flexible-sized cup holders in a slide-out tray beneath the climate control panel, and two more in the backside of the fold-down center section of the bench seat. In the Double Cab, two more cup holders fold out of the backside of the front-seat center section, while in the CrewMax, there are two more still in the rear seat's fold-down center armrest. The console in floor-shift models contains three cup holders, with two in a lift-out plate covering a large compartment. Between this compartment and the shift gate sits a narrow slot, concealed beneath a snap-out cover, that's just the right size for the typical map book.
The crowning touch inside the Tundra might be the center console compartment in models equipped with front bucket seats. This compartment transforms the cabin, for all intents, into a road-going office, to a greater extent than any of the competition. The middle third of the compartment can hold either a removable bin good for stowing CDs or letter-size, hanging file folders, ideal for stowing contracts, permits and other work papers. There's room for a laptop computer on either side of the middle section, and the side nearest the driver has a power point to keep the gear charged up and ready.
Generally, the CrewMax is the more comfortable of the two stretched-cab Tundras for rear passengers. It starts with the doors, which are near full length and make climbing in easier. The back seat in the CrewMax is closer to the 40/20/40 front bench seat in shape and contours, with deep seat bottoms and a slide-and-recline feature that allows a more comfortable rake to the seatback. The Double Cab rear seat is the more bench-like, and legroom is less expansive (though still decent). Dogs may prefer the Double Cab, however. With the seats folded for cargo, the Double Cab has a significantly lower load height, which should make it easier for canines to get in and out.
Ergonomics inside the Tundra are generally good, though if we have a complaint, it's here. The dash-mounted controls, and especially more critical and frequently used knobs for fan, temperature and airflow, are extra large, with solid detents and a nice positive feel that lets the operator know how far they've turned. They're tuned more for work gloves than polished fingernails, and that's good. The steering wheel is large, but properly scaled for the largest Toyota pickup. The floor-mounted shift lever has a manual-shift slot on the driver's side of the gate. It feels more natural and more precise than the column-shift, but neither transmit any sloppiness.
The problem lies more in design than execution. The Tundra's basic dash layout is different, almost avant-garde as pickups go, and the center stack (the switch panel dropping in the middle toward the floor or center console) is split into two portions. The narrower left portion, toward the driver, is finished in the same silver-metallic plastic as the gauge package, and rises up around the steering column and into the gauges to create a cockpit-type effect for the driver. The slightly wider right half of the center stack is finished with the trim material on that particular Tundra model, either wood-grain or dark plastic. It looks good, but it creates some operational issues.
Most of the knobs and buttons, including the audio cluster, frequently adjusted climate controls and nav screen, are located in the passenger half of the center stack. In the psychological sense, this moves these controls out of the driver's domain and gives control to the passenger. In a very practical sense, it moves them to the edge of the driver's reach. The Tundra is a wide vehicle, and while drivers below average height will have no trouble getting comfortable to operate this pickup, they might have a harder time operating some of the controls. When the seat is comfortable for driving, they may have to literally lift up from the seat back and lean toward the center of the truck to adjust airflow direction. They'll do the same to get a clear view of the navigation screen.
