Toyota’s Tacoma X-Runner SEMA Concept Is Putting Sports Trucks Back On The Agenda

Affordable coupes and rear-wheel drive sports trucks used to be hugely popular but seem to have mostly disappeared from the market in recent years. But this month we became hopeful for a comeback. First, Honda showed us a new Prelude concept and now Toyota has dropped a big hint that it’s about to resurrect the Tacoma X-Runner.

The original X-Runner was sold between 2005 and 2014 and went into battle with the likes of Dodge Ram SRT-10, where it attempted to prove that trucks could be credible performance cars, and not just when tested in a straight line. The X-Runner could do corners, too.

At this fall’s SEMA performance show Toyota is showing off an X-Runner version of the all-new 2024 Tacoma, and though it’s officially just a concept, we can’t imagine it’ll keep that pretence up much longer. Let’s hope not anyway, because a fast, fun two-wheel drive truck that looks this good is sure to be a sales hit.

Related: 2024 Toyota Tacoma Is The Swiss Army Knife Of Pickups: Offers Hybrid Power, Manual And 6′ Bed

Compared with the stock Tacoma, the concept gets a 3-inch (76 mm) wider track, a strengthened frame and various mechanical parts from its Tundra big brother, including air suspension, 13.9-inch (353 mm) front brakes and a rear axle with a 4.30:1 final drive and electronically controlled locking function. Numerous suspension parts, like the arms, were modified to work with the Tundra components and the 21-inch carbon fiber wheels are controlled by Bilstein shocks with remote reservoirs.

Things get even better under the hood, unless you’re a Greenpeace activist, because in place of the stock Tacoma’s 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and also-four-cylinder hybrid, the most powerful of which makes 326 hp (331 PS), is a 3.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 making a ton more ponies. Lifted from the Tundra, it’s uprated from 389 hp (394 PS) to 421 hp (427 PS) while maintaining the same 479 lb-ft (650 Nm) torque output, and even if this truck doesn’t make production, the engine will be available as a TRD Performance Package upgrade on the Tundra soon.

And then there’s that mean visual makeover. The Speedway Blue paint is a nod to the color worn by the original X-Runner from the 2004 Chicago Auto Show, but the new truck looks way tougher with its black hood and roof, red details, angular front bumper and side-exit exhaust. Do you think there’s still a market for this kind of sport truck and should Toyota put this one into production?