Will Toyota Bring Back The X Runner

Here's what we know about this new iteration of Toyota's midsize pickup truck. Better than the original Tacoma X-Runner? Toyota's Tacoma X-Runner held the sports truck banner for Toyota in some ways to compete with the Ford SVT Lightning, but today it's out of sale, which is a shame as it was a cool truck in many ways.

With the might of their current model lineup and technology behind them in 2022, surely Toyota could now bring back the Tacoma's sporty sister. The company recently debuted a concept harkening back to a previously discontinued trim level: the X-Runner. In light of the buzz surrounding this concept, we're using this guide to cover Toyota's X-Runner trim, including what it is, its history, and details of the all.

Toyota brought back the X-Runner name from the past and applied it to a 2024 Tacoma sport-truck concept with a lowered suspension and extra power, among other modifications. Here at SEMA, Toyota has shown that someone on its team is dreaming that same dream: the Japanese automaker has revived its mid-2000s performance pickup, the Tacoma X-Runner, as a concept vehicle. But that all may be changing if the engineers and designers at Toyota can get enough engagement to bring the X-Runner back in a sportier form.

Which is why Toyota's Calty Design Research just debuted its latest incredible concept at SEMA 2023. 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. The brainstorming sessions pointed to a street truck build, a modernized X-Runner Concept, based on the all-new 2024 Toyota Tacoma.

When asked about the inspiration behind building an X-Runner Concept for the SEMA Show, Adam Rabinowitz, chief designer at Toyota's Calty Design Research, Inc. shared a part of the team's thought process. The X-Runner Concept is the brainchild of a collaborative effort between Toyota's Engineering teams at Toyota R&D and the design team at Calty Design Studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The concept diverges from the off-road focus that has dominated the truck market, opting instead for a street truck build based on the all. From 2005-2013 Toyota sold a lowered version of the Tacoma, called the Tacoma X-Runner. It's been over 10 years now, since the sportier Tacoma was offered, but is Toyota bringing it back with.