Personally, I was expecting something like 285 HP and 300 FT-LBS.
I think you do have a point - they know a lot of these cars do get flogged. Obviously they want it to be durable. And obviously durability goes down as state of tune goes up.
I expect power and torque to be bumped incrementally over the 5-6 year model life. They could do 5 HP/year and in 5 years be close to 300 HP, and more torque too.
They’re gambling that the power was already adequate and a significant increase wasn’t needed. I think they’re right, and this thing will sell plenty.
Ive heard it oft-repeated lately that every new model these days gets piled on in social media when it’s released, and then the vehicle goes on to meet or exceed sales targets.
Just look at the thread here about the new Tundra. Everyone’s trashing it, but I can almost guarantee you that it’ll go on to break sales records.
It’s just how it goes these days. OEMs are having to go more and more radical and different with their designs in order to distinguish themselves from the competition. Folks go, “whoa”, when they see it. Then they get used to it and buy one!
I'm on the fence about the tundra. I actually was excited about it because I am a big fan of the TT V6 approach(I tow with an F150 Ecoboost) but I think Toyota will do a better job of it than Ford.
But I spend time on the Tundra forums and the reception has been pretty luke-warm. You have the die hards who want a port-injected V8 and Toyota will have to rip the 5.7L out of their cold dead hands, and then the rest think its hideous. There are a few that do like it.
I think it will maybe spike for a couple years being new and exciting and then they will continue to sell 150k units like they always did. This new tundra is not a game-changer like the 2007 was.