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Toyota Goes Huge with FTX
The purpose of Toyota's new FTX concept is simple and to the point: "To show that Toyota is serious about full-size trucks." The FTX, we were openly told, gives a preview of how the next-generation full-size pickups from Toyota will look. Designed with "the power of the fist," the FTX is intended to look much more macho than the Tundra or any of the trucks currently in the lineup.
The FTX is huge. Significantly larger than the Tundra, it's nearly 19 feet long, over 77 inches high, and rides on humungous 22-inch tires. The concept is powered by a V-8 gasoline-electric hybrid system, although the production vehicle will initially offer only gasoline engines. Press said that they feel the hybrid system, which will offer V-6 fuel economy with V-8 power, is an option that many customers will want, and that the company is considering it for the pickups but it won't be offered at the debut of the next generation.
Designers opted for a crew-cab design with suicide doors for more convenient access to people who will work with the truck, and virtually all elements of the design are catered to brawny work or play. Senior designer Craig Kember added in a release, "The FTX interior is a work station a sports locker, or just a sanctuary from the elements." Electrical hookups are offered on the outside, and in the bed cargo tie-downs take the form of camping caribiners and there's also a built-in metal job box. The interior has an emphasis on luxury but still with a tough look, with big, comfy seats that are suspended for comfort in rough terrain. Perhaps the most novel interior piece is the 3D gauge cluster that gives separate readouts on different layers of the same round gauge.