I don't know what got into me yesterday but I suddenly became very, very curious about the next generation Toyota Tamaraw Utility Van with the automatic transmission.
Right now it checks every box of what I consider a need for our family. It can haul people. In fact according to the website specs it can carry 14 passengers, so 12 in the rear and 2 up front. The rear container has its own air-conditioning unit. The biggest issue for me here is that there are no seat belts and there are two rows of bench seats meaning it will most likely be uncomfortable. Plus the leaf spring rear suspension won't help either.
It can also be used as a cargo hauler, because again, giant boxy rear container. Fold up the bench seats and you have all the space in the world to carry stuff that you can safely lie flat.
I do have some concerns about the Tamaraw (or Hilux Champ in other countries). Aside from safety of rear passengers and ride comfiness, it's also a relatively long vehicle so it will take getting used to driving it and parking it in mall parking areas. As for the width, I was surprised to find it was narrower than 1.8m so that's good. Maneuvering it will also take getting used to since because of the wheelbase and how far back the overhang in the rear is, but I think some modifications will help out in this.
Another concern is safety, because I don't think this has any airbags up front. And I'm not so sure how secure the rear sliding windows are in case someone tries to jimmy them open.
And finally, I'm not even sure if my wife or daughter would want to be seen riding this, let alone driving it. Personally I don't mind but of course people think differently.
Now let's talk about mods I would do should I suddenly have the money to buy and maintain a Tamaraw. First and foremost would be getting both a great quality dashcam with front, rear, and cabin cameras. The next would be getting a permanently on rear camera / reverse camera. I've seen the Tamaraw in Youtube videos and still images and I'm not so sure how great visibility is using the rear view mirror. Side mirrors aren't enough if you ask me, specially when maneuvering this vehicle. So we use cameras as additional support.
Next upgrade would be my new go-to favorite fog lamps, the PIAA S2000 LED flood light kit. This will help with visibility during the night, more so when it is raining hard. I'd even consider adding additional rear reverse lights and a third brake light in case there is none.
Another thing I'd consider adding is an OBD-II device. Some pictures of the dashboard of the Tamaraw show it only has speedo and fuel gauge, and I'd rather have additional information about the vehicle as I'm driving. Information like RPMs, engine temps, and fuel consumption.
I guess aside from those quality of life mods I will also be doing other modifications, like a better horn (if needed), better speakers for both the cab and the rear, some old school Toyota decals for the sides (those read, yellow, orange stripes), and rims. Nothing too fancy. Just making sure the Tamaraw would be a safe, decent vehicle to use.
And that's it. No idea why the Tamaraw suddenly struck my fancy but you can definitely see a pattern of what upgrades I would do to almost any vehicle I would own.
Out.
Edit: I saw this YT video of the GL Utility Van automatic and I just remembered another modification I would do would be to add insulation to the rear, specifically the roof and maybe the sides and the wheel well. This would hopefully help reduce heat and noise in the rear.
