Meet the 2024 Tacoma Trailhunter: Toyota’s Ultimate Overlanding Rig

This guide covers:

• Release date and price
• Power and performance
• The factory-installed Trailhunter accessories
• Interior and cabin tech

Kona, HI — We get it: there’s a sense of joy hitting the aftermarket shop for that new truck winch, roof rack, knobby tires, and skid plates. And Tacoma owners have been at it for decades, converting their mid-size pickups into bonafide overlanders built for adventure.

Well, with the first-ever, hybrid-only Tacoma Trailhunter, Toyota wants to make the process easier, propelling Taco owners out in the wild quicker with a truck equipped with all the off-road and camping upgrades straight from the factory. Best part? Expect a plethora of other Tacoma aftermarket goods coming in late 2024.

Release Date: Spring 2024 Starting at $62,900

All hybrid-powered i-FORCE MAX Tacomas are slated to go on sale in Spring 2024, including the Tacoma Trailhunter equipped exclusively with the hybrid powertrain. Gas-powered 2024 Tacoma models go on sale in late 2023. If you’re interested in these ICE models, we’ve got a couple of reviews already:

• 2024 Toyota Tacoma SR5 First Drive Review: Base But Not Basic
• 2024 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road First Drive Review

Trailhunter Price: Now Confirmed

Pricing for the 2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter is now available. The Trailhunter starts at $62,900 USD ($82,950 in Canada), reflecting its off-road capabilities and hybrid i-FORCE MAX powertrain. For context, the gas-only Tacomas with the 2.4L turbo engine start at a lower price point, but the Trailhunter justifies its premium with factory-equipped off-road gear and hybrid power. Here’s pricing for the gas-only Tacomas with the 2.4L turbo.

Here’s where the Trailhunter sits in the Tacoma lineup:

Related – 2024 Tacoma TRD Pro Vs. 2024 Tacoma Trailhunter

Power and Performance: A Hybrid Turbo with Abundant Torque

The single powertrain for the Trailhunter, a Tacoma variant only offered in Double Cab format with either a 5- or 6-foot bed, is also the lineup’s most powerful: a 326 horsepower hybrid i-FORCE MAX with an impressive 465 lb.-ft. of torque.

Compare that to the gas-powered i-FORCE 2.4L turbo’s maximum 278 horsepower and 317 lb.-ft. of torque. Feeding the hybrid i-FORCE MAX some fresh air is an exclusive air intake routed up the A-pillar on the passenger side, shown below. Here’s the entire 2024 engine lineup:

The Off-Road Upgrades Exclusive to Trailhunter

Sure, Toyota will continue offering their genuine parts and accessories for the new truck, along with the option for additional accessories available through the Associated Accessory Products (AAP) program recently announced. But the Trailhunter is fitted with everything you need to go off the grid straight from the Toyota dealership. 

Riding on 18-inch bronze-coloured rims exclusive to this trim, wrapped in 33-inch Goodyear Territory R/T rubber, the Trailhunter (along with the range-topping TRD Pro we look at here) gain an electronically activated rear locking differential and front stabilizer bar disconnect. The whole setup gives this overlander a nice two-inch height bump up front and one-and-a-half inches at the back. 

Traversing mountainsides can take a toll on any truck. Here, Toyota added rock rails and high-strength steel skid plates for protection. Lighting duties are handled by an integrated LED light bar on the bronze Toyota heritage front grille, coupled with RIGID white/amber switchable LED fog lamps and Trailhunter signature LED headlamps.

Co-developed with Australia’s ARB engineering team

Toyota didn’t manufacture this little beast alone. Instead, teaming up with ARB, an Australian-based company, to fit the Trailhunter with the correct goods — from a steel bumper and bed utility bar with removable panels to rear recovery points and position-sensitive 2.5-inch forged monotube shocks paired to external remote reservoirs in the rear. 

ARB also pitched in with the steel rear bumper, red recovery hooks up front, full roof rack support for attachments like a camp shower and roof tent, and ARB Fridge Freezer. Plus, both Old Man Emu (OME) and RIGID also helped co-develop some of the Trailhunter’s off-road chops. 

Tacoma Trailhunter Interior: Premium to the Core

Despite being a bold, brash off-roader, Toyota still gave this small hybrid pickup the premium touch inside. Aside from the dashboard fitted with three pre-wired auxiliary toggle switches, it also gains the 12.3-inch gauge cluster over the 7-inch version and the large 14-inch touchscreen with Toyota’s latest multimedia setup over the standard 8-inch screen in the entry-level models. 

It also finds the head-up display you can’t get in entry-level models like SR and SR5, along with heated and cooled front seats. Plus, we discuss the 10-speaker JBL premium audio system with the new portable speaker system in our 2024 Tacoma interior story here. 

To charge up small devices, the cabin finds the usual USB-C ports. Taking it a step further, there’s also a reasonably powerful 2400W AC inverter to power up devices in two locations located in Tacoma’s cabin and the rear deck, along with 12V and USB ports.  

Also, 2024 Tacomas get Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 as standard — a suite of safety features including lane departure warning, road sign assist, auto high beams, pre-collision & pedestrian detection, proactive driving assist, and radar cruise control. 

There you have it, essentially everything you need to know about the first-ever Trailhunter-flavoured Tacoma. We will be driving this thing sometime in early 2024, so stay tuned for our full review with drive impressions. In the meantime, visit our Tacoma Reviews and News page for more updates and resources.

Here’s our quick Tacoma Trailhunter video on YouTube.