Your 21st birthday is a right of passage . Like fall behind a tooth or make your first scar … which were all very real possibilities at the Toyota Tacoma ’s twenty-first natal day party , an event called Hotel Tacoma . The bacchanal took place in the Hualapai Mountains of northwest Arizona , and over the trend of the weekend , I ripped a Tacoma through hilly terrain , partied with multiple Olympic Au medal winners , watched 960lbs of meat get cooked , and break on a cliffside Can - Am drive that left me caked in a healthy level of dirt and adrenaline .
The causa for such a jubilation ? The 2016 Tacoma , which for the first time in 10 years , has received a laudable upgrade : a 3.5 liter V6 with a unmediated injection organisation and a six fastness robotic transmission . Translation : more power from the engine – 278 HP to be precise – and improved infection control .
When I first step into the 2016 Tacoma , I ’d be lie down if I said I was n’t straightaway impressed . The interior was aerodynamic and mod , yet maintained the distinctive degree of functionality you ’ve follow to look from Toyota ( not a mess of fancy Alexander Bell and whistles … aside from the brand new moonroof , which was dope ) . However , it was the truck ’s capabilities and carrying into action I was most interested in – I wanted to see how that new powertrain apply up in the Hualapai pile on an off - route trail chock full of sandpit and rattlesnakes .
Courtesy of Toyota
Teaming up with Drew Bezanson ( a pro BMX rider , who doesimpossibly rad stuffthat defies my basic savvy of physics ) , I hop in the driver ’s keister and slammed on the gas . The truck was tremendously responsive , and I always felt in everlasting control – even when opening it up to drift through a few touch-and-go turns that leave no shortfall of racing stripes ( read : long scratches ) along both sides of the fomite . The motortruck ’s tweaked interruption – the old Tacoma ’s suspension , while basic , was dead ok , so Toyota did n’t experience the need to get fancy – was amazingly antiphonal over the jolting terrain . The JBL sound organisation , which sport a subwoofer behind the back seat , kept the adrenaline flowing as we of course bumped everything from 2Chainz to Slayer . If this motortruck were an album it would be " Reign in Fun . "
later on that afternoon I ended up at the fairgrounds with a couple pro from Nitro Circus , ride dirt bicycle and doing a damn o.k. job of not completely wrecking myself . After rip around for half an minute or so , I looked up and regard a Tacoma drift across the horizon , leaving what looked like a sandstorm following in its tracks . I had to get in on this .
Although I was n’t grant to drive , sitting shotgun and find out while the gadget driver ( a professional vagrant whose name I unfortunately forgot ) expertly whipped the wheel and switch the e - brake was still an insane experience . No less than 10 times did I think we were lead to flip over this truck … and no less than 10 times was I proven wrong ( see above re : tweaked suspension ) . Slayer ’s " Black Magic " played on .
That ’s the point of the Tacoma : it ’s a pick-me-up made for pure enjoyment , fun and play . It was n’t made for ugly ranchers hauling around preview filled with barn animals and/or livestock and/or Mumford & Sons – although , if you ’re enquire , it ’s adequate to of tow up to 6,800 lbs . It was made for the venturer : the weekend warrior who does n’t postulate a full size , but something reasonable that will haul around their gearing as they go play around on the trails for the good afternoon . It ’s one of those vehicles that opens up doors to adventures you could n’t take otherwise .
The next sunup , after a gallon of coffee and eating my weight in eggs and 1st Baron Verulam , it was time to attain the Can - Ams . I partner up with Brad Oberhofer ( hint singer of the bandOberhofer … who you should give a listen to ) and jumped in a 2 - seaterCommander .
" You ready ? " I asked Brad .
" I guess so . I ’ve never ride in one of these before , " he answer . I nod , told him we ’re about to get dirty , and then beat back off a drop .
expect … no … and then drove off on a trailadjacentto a drop . If you ’ve never had the pleasure of rip around in a Can - Am , the experience is akin to driving a go kart … that ’s lift … with unbelievable reprieve , four - wheel drive , and the ability to literally drive over anything in its route . At one pointedness , we might have even drive over another Can - Am . I really do n’t know , it was super cold .
At night , assortment of meat were passed around and conversations with professional athletes , likeElena HightandAnastasia Ashley , about double - backflips and other tricks I could n’t do echoed off the mountains and into the valley . Our last night there , Oberhofer put on one hell of a show , we raven give suck fuzz , were treated to a Bourbon dynasty tasting , and endeavor to make s’mores by the flack that was completely too large to make s’mores by ( I burned off ⅓ of my supercilium ) . Behind us , 28 beautiful , firebrand new 2016 Tacomas slept with the moon glinting off their lens hood .
Courtesy of Toyota
felicitous birthday , Tacoma . You throw one hell of a political party .
Courtesy of Toyota
Courtesy of Toyota
Courtesy of Toyota
