An auto exec at the 2026 New York Auto Show commented (off the record) that Toyota "owns" the mid-size truck segment. That ain't news. Still, when an exec for a competing brand says it, you know it's a tough concession. Nobody can top the Taco. Hyundai will be the next brand to try—four years from now!Everyone else in the hunt isn't really. Nissan's Frontier gets outsold four-to-one. Ditto, Ford with their Ranger. The Colorado actually edged up sales last year, so Chevy sells one for every 2.5 Tacos. But you get the point. There's no actual number two, like, say, Mercedes-Benz vs. BMW.Yet there's one Tacoma battle that isn't as talked about—the internal one. Toyota's i-Force Max Hybrid powertrain starts at a pretty painful $48,830. You can get into a base Tacoma for a mere $34,040. The question is why you'd even bother with the hybrid, given the price premium. After a week of driving the base hybrid, the TRD Sport, I can tell you exactly why I would want one—and also why I wouldn't.A Lot Of GruntMichael Frank | TopSpeedOn paper, the Tacoma really comes with three different horsepower specs, not two, as you might suspect. Here's that quick breakdown.What this means is that unless you're willing to get the relatively gutless base motor, the price difference between the turbo four and the hybrid four is just slightly less drastic. That's still ten grand, and what you see in the above table, too, is that the hybrid doesn't buy you better fuel economy. What you're getting instead is astonishing torque that rocks the room at just 1,700 RPM. Midstream acceleration, from, say, 30-50 MPH, is really where you feel the distinction, because 184 foot-pounds of torque is coming from the electric motor, and that added pop is absolutely instant. Why Not Get The Hybrid? TopSpeed | Michael FrankIt's really a matter of money, right? As I wrote last year, higher-trim Tacomas are expensive, and the i-Force Max, as addictive as it is, doesn't sell at anything like the pace of the non-hybrid Tacomas. So if I'm arguing for the mainstream Taco, then it's going to be the TRD Sport at roughly $40,000, or above. How come? Because only at that grade are you getting coil springs out back vs. ancient leaf springs.And, one reason why I recently wrote that pickup shoppers ought to cross-shop the $41,870 Pro-4X Nissan Frontier is that that truck's ride quality is quite good, especially vs. anything that sits on O.G. leaf springs. Turns out the TRD Sport is already two grand more than that Nissan, but if you're dead set on the Toyota, it does get better fuel economy vs. the Nissan. Nope, neither is particularly roomy in the second row, but I will argue that the Toyota's digs and controls all feel meatier and more premium than the Nissan's, with an optional, oversized 14.1-inch touchscreen and a more user-friendly center console. Why Get The Hybrid? TopSpeed | Michael FrankWell, if it's not about fuel economy, it is very much about payload and towing. Technically, you can tow slightly more with the non-hybrid Tacoma (6,500 pounds vs. 6,000 pounds for the i-Force Max). But given the big torque advantage you're getting with the hybrid, I know which truck I'd rather have with any sort of hefty payload. That's especially true because electrification makes the i-Force Max Tacoma so much quicker to accelerate.But there's also a hidden attribute I wasn't thinking about until I got stuck in a miles-long traffic jam: It's a hybrid! So, for stop-and-go traffic when you're just crawling along, mostly the i-Force Max Tacoma isn't ever switching on the engine. You just crawl forward under electric juice. Even if the EPA fuel economy isn't markedly better, we all know that the slow-mo of traffic is rotten for gas mileage, so if you're planning to commute in a Tacoma, and you live where traffic is a thing (um, where isn't it a thing?), that might also be a deciding factor. Great Handling You Don't Expect ToyotaI won't go overboard and claim the Tacoma TRD Sport I tested handles like a sports car. But it is way sportier than I was expecting. The ride is a little bit firmer than the Nissan Frontier's suspension, and that can lead to plenty of jostling, especially on crappier pavement, but Toyota's really delivered with taut steering and sharp handling. I hustled this truck on some of my favorite backroad twisties where I normally take sports cars to test, and was flat stunned at how well it cornered. Especially because the 4x4 Tacoma is porky, at over 5,000 pounds. One Hidden Downside 2026 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport 14If you're wondering where Toyota stashes the battery for the hybrid system, it's beneath the rear seat cushion. That means a handy spot to stash a toolkit or other gear within the cabin of your Taco gets eliminated. That also makes the rear portion of the cabin a bit less versatile, too, because you can't lift the seat bottom to accommodate an extra-tall object you want to stuff inside when you're coming home from the big box store. Why would you do that rather than just use the truck bed? Well, simple: Weather. You don't want that flat-screen TV to get soaked in a rainstorm, right? Or, you may have to make a stop and are worried about the safety of your payload. Either way, the vertical capacity of your hybrid's rear quarters is going to be less versatile than with some competitor mid-size trucks that have benches that flip forward, like the Ford Ranger. PSST! A Hidden Delight! TopSpeed | Michael FrankJust inside the driver's door, against the end of the dash, you'll find a small stowage cubby. This will hardly make up for the lost capacity beneath the passenger bench, but because it's impossible to access with that door shut, it's a handy spot to stow a valuable (a wristwatch or small wallet fits) beyond the reach of beady-eyed crooks. If you're wondering, the cover has the words, "accessory ready" spelled out in Morse code. Inside that cover, Toyota printed a QR code. Scan that, and you access a secret Toyota website that offers special discounts to Tacoma buyers. Nope, I'm not spilling that link here! Not So Handy Bottle Holders TopSpeed | Michael FrankHowever, speaking of hiding, Toyota's placement of three on-door bottle holders at first seems great. If you use your truck regularly, you'll probably have a spent cup of yesterday's to-go coffee already shoved in one of those slots. The bummer is that unless you happen to play forward in the NBA, the side of the seat makes it ultra-awkward to reach and grab a bottle or cup out of the back to holders molded into the door card. Luckily, you've got two spares in the center console. Why doesn't Toyota move those on-door holders higher, or swap places with that very large speaker? TopSpeed's Take TopSpeed | Michael FrankThe Tacoma is a great truck. I've loved or at least liked it in every grade I've driven. It's the right size, handles easily and comfortably, and its off-road chops are legit even from the base, 4x4 coil-sprung four-wheel-drive entry, at about $40,000. But I'd skip the i-Force Max powertrain unless I towed a lot, plowed driveways, or carried a ton of payload regularly. For those buyers, the hybrid is an awesome option, because it can handle those duties without destroying fuel economy, or forcing you to purchase suddenly exceptionally expensive diesel.That said, buying into this tier will cost you, and most customers say nope. Still, that Trailhunter buyer exists, too, and even if you're buying a base SR at $34,000 and change, be happy someone has $65,000 for that top grade. That dude is subsidizing Toyota R&D and your bottom line, making your base model that much better and more affordable.