All Tundras will be powered by the self-charging i-Force Max hybrid V6 engine.
The announcement made back in June, the local arm of renowned vehicle importer Rospa, Rospa Imports South Africa, has confirmed local pricing of the right-hand drive converted Toyota Tundra.
Not ‘in-house’
Revealed in 2021, the Tundra has so far only been sold in one other right-hand drive market, Australia, but with full Toyota backing and converted by former Holden tuner, Walkinshaw Automotive.
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For South Africa though, sales, importation and conversion are done without any support from Toyota South Africa Motors, but does carry a three-year/50 000 km warranty.
“Since the early 1990s, we have carefully re-engineered over 5 000 right-hand drive vehicles for export all over the world. We can now add South Africa to that list through Rospa International, a company that shares our vision and passion,” Autogroup International CEO, Rob Hill, said in a statement.
Three models, hybrid-only power
Based in Durban, the partnership between Rospa and Australian-born Autogroup will see three Tundra derivatives being offered; the off-road focused TRD Pro, luxury 1794 Edition and the flagship Capstone.
Up front, all variants use the twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre badged 3.4-litre V6 from the Land Cruiser 300, but in hybrid i-Force Max guise.
This means the inclusion of an electric motor and battery pack, the former located in the bellhousing of the 10-speed automatic gearbox, which increases power from the Land Cruiser’s now discontinued V6 of the same non-electrified displacement from 305kW/650Nm to 326kW/790Nm.
Apart from the 1794 Edition, both the TRD Pro feature full-time four-wheel drive as standard. The claimed fuel consumption across all models is 10.7 L/100 km.
Based on the TNGA-F platform that underpins not only the Land Cruiser 300, but also the Lexus LX, Tacoma, Sequioa, Land Cruiser Prado and Lexus GX, the double cab-only Tundra has a claimed payload up to 880 kg and the ability to tow 5 443 kg depending on the model.
1794 Edition
Its name referencing the ranch built in 1794 situated on the piece of land now home to the Tundra’s factory in San Antonio, Texas, the 1794 Edition boasts 20-inch chrome alloy wheels, a 12-speaker JBL sound system, heated and ventilated front seats, a panoramic sunroof and heated rear seats.
As with the rest of the Tundra range, it comes standard with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 14-inch infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Air suspension and Head-Up Display can be specified as cost options.
TRD Pro
Toyota’s rival for the Ford F-150 Raptor in the States, the TRD Pro sports not only revised aesthetics, but also Fox Racing shock absorbers, TRD skidplates, all-terrain tyres, a retuned TRD suspension and the Multi-Terrain Select system with Crawl Control from the Land Cruiser 300.
Unique interior additions are a TRD steering wheel with red 12 o’clock marking, red stitching on the seats, TRD floor mats, TRD embroidery work on the seat headrests and a block letter TOYOTA badge on the passenger side dashboard.
Capstone
For the Capstone, the Tundra gets 22-inch polished chrome wheels, electrically deploying side-steps, Capstone badging and a chrome grille.
Unique to the interior are wood accents, semi aniline leather, the mentioned Head-Up Display and acoustic glass.
Price
Aside from the mentioned warranty, spare parts will be flown in from America when needed, with Rospa also stating that local support will come via “factory-trained technicians based in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban”.
- Tundra i-Force Max 1794 Edition – n/a
- Tundra i-Force Max 1794 Edition 4×4 – n/a
- Tundra i-Force Max TRD Pro 4WD – R3 920 000
- Tundra i-Force Max Capstone 4WD – R4 000 000
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