Every Fourth-Gen Toyota Tacoma Engine Ranked By Torque

Having spent seven years on the market, the third-gen Toyota Tacoma was treated to a full redesign for the 2024 model year as part of a natural evolution, bringing it in line with the then-fresh third-generation Toyota Tundra, which debuted for 2022. Like the Tundra, the fourth-gen Tacoma was based off Toyota's GA-F truck platform, which is also shared with the likes of the Toyota Sequoia and Land Cruiser. 

The result of that update was a sharp-looking pickup truck with many up-to-date features, such as a standard 8-inch touchscreen display, a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, voice recognition, as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Safety wise, the current fourth-gen Tacoma offers standard adaptive cruise control, pedestrian detection, forward automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, and traffic-sign recognition. While its rugged good looks and all of these technologies already made for a fantastic truck, the headline-grabbing changes were those made under the hood. 

There, the Japanese automaker dropped both the naturally aspirated 159-horsepower four-cylinder engine and 278-horsepower V6 option found on the third-generation Tacoma — in favor of a 2.4-liter inline four-cylinder that was available in both hybrid and non-hybrid variety. Because Toyota offers these powertrains in four different power levels, it can be tricky to know what you're actually getting with each. To help make things easier, we've compiled all four Toyota Tacoma engine options and ranked them based on their torque output.

Buying a base level car involves a lot of compromise, and the Tacoma SR is no different. Being the entry-level model, it offers the least powerful engine of all fourth-gen Tacomas, with its turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder generating 243 pound-feet of torque (and 228 horsepower). The inline four-cylinder is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission that routes output to the rear or all four wheels. When specified with the rear-wheel SR XtraCab that comes with a six-foot bed, the engine can tow up to 3,500 pounds and carry a maximum payload of 1,460 pounds. 

Opting for a four-wheel-drive SR XtraCab model with the long six-foot bed reduces payload to 1,230 pounds. Which means, if you're set on the fourth-gen Tacoma SR but want the most payload, the Double Cab is your best bet. In rear-wheel-drive, shorter five-foot box guise, it provides up to 1,495 pounds of payload capacity, whereas the four-wheel drive variant offers a 1,500-pound payload capacity. 

As for fuel economy, rear-wheel drive SR trims with this engine are estimated to earn 20 mpg in the city, 26 mpg on the highway, and 23 mpg combined. That average return is 2 mpg better than the base third-generation Tacoma managed, given its 21 mpg combined return. As you'd expect, four-wheel-drive fourth-gen Tacoma SR versions are less efficient than their rear-wheel-drive counterparts, with both XtraCab and Double Cab models delivering 19 mpg in city driving, 24 mpg on the highway, and 21 mpg combined.  

The next step-up on the fourth-generation Toyota Tacoma engine range is a high-output variant of the engine found on the entry-level SR. Paired with an available six-speed manual transmission, it produces 270 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. It is offered as standard on 2025 Toyota Tacoma SR models with the manual six-speed transmission and four-wheel drive system, TRD Off-Road with manual, as well as Tacoma TRD Sport with manual.

Every fourth-gen Toyota Tacoma manual with the 270-horsepower turbo-four engine is rated to tow 6,400 pounds of stuff, but payload varies depending on the model you opt for. The Tacoma SR manual is good for 1,380 pounds, while the TRD Off-Road manual provides a higher payload capability at 1,525 pounds. The TRD Sport, for its own part, can carry a payload up to 1,570 pounds. Despite the higher power output and capability, this engine still manages to achieve 18 mpg in the city, 23 mpg on the highway, and 20 mpg combined.

If 310 lb-ft of torque still doesn't seem like much grunt for your application, you can up that slightly by pairing the higher-output turbo-four with the automatic transmission, rather than the manual. That, however, requires choosing fourth-gen Toyota Tacoma trims like the SR5, TRD PreRunner, Limited, automatic-equipped TRD Sport, or automatic-equipped TRD Off-Road models.

Specifying this engine grants you a whopping 278 horsepower and 317 lb-ft of torque, which is enough to unlock the Tacoma's maximum towing capacity of 6,500 pounds. Not every model tows that much, though: Case in point is the SR5 Double Cab with the shorter five-foot-long box, which is tow-rated at 6,400 pounds. The XtraCab SR5 models, which feature the longer six-foot box, are rated to tow up to 6,500.

Payload capacity also varies depending on the model you choose. The TRD PreRunner, for example, can carry up to 1,405 pounds of payload; while the SR5 is good for between 1,230 and 1,510 pounds. Tacoma models such as TRD Sport Double Cab with the six-foot-long bed are even more impressive, as they can carry up to 1,700 pounds.

With up to 326 horsepower and 465 lb-ft on tap, the i-FORCE MAX hybrid is the most powerful Tacoma engine Toyota has ever made. The setup comprises the 2.4-liter turbo-four and an electric motor that, together, enable up to 6,000 pounds of towing capacity and a 1,705-pound payload. The i-FORCE MAX hybrid engine can be had with the Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro, TRD Off-Road i-FORCE MAX, TRD Sport i-FORCE MAX, Limited i-FORCE MAX, and Trailhunter trims, which produces 323 horsepower — instead of 326 — due to its high-mount air intake.

Thankfully, all that thumping output doesn't come at the expense of fuel economy, as the i-FORCE MAX hybrid is also currently the most efficient fourth-gen Tacoma engine. The most efficient models return 23 mpg in the city, 24 mpg on the highway, and 24 mpg in combined city-highway driving, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The likes of the TRD Pro are slightly less efficient, owing to a combined fuel economy of 23 mpg.