2019 Toyota Sequoia TRD Sport Gets Put to the Trails/Towing Test

The Sequoia may be long in the tooth, but this facelifted 2019 TRD Sport model holds its own on off-road and on-road with a trailer behind it.

The second-generation Toyota Sequoia has been around for more than a decade. That’s an eternity in terms of modern vehicle lifecycles, but Toyota has updated the three-row giant inside and out over the years. For the 2018 model year, the automaker added a new TRD Sport model to the Sequoia lineup. Popular YouTuber Mr. Truck (aka Kent Sundling) recently got his hands on one with four-wheel drive and put it through not one, but two tests: off-roading and towing.

The TRD Sport trim brings several cosmetic and mechanical upgrades to Toyota’s aging behemoth. On the outside, there’s a new grille surround, new mirror caps, black 20-inch wheels, and black TRD Sport badging. New hardware includes sport-tuned Bilstein shocks and TRD front and rear sway bars.

Sundling took his $59,745 Sequoia tester out near Colorado’s Poudre River Canyon to attend a Honda side-by-side ATV media event. Along the way, he had the opportunity to take it off paved roads. Despite it only having a locking center differential, the Sequoia TRD Sport got the job done. “We ended up going over some really tight, steep, rocky stuff, but it did very well just using that center-lock differential,” Sundling said.

Sundling also hooked a loaded trailer behind the Sequoia TRD Sport. Despite its age, the trusty 5.7-liter V8 under the hood had more than enough grunt (381 horsepower and 401 lb-ft of torque) to handle it. With a total weight of 3,300 pounds, the load left more than half of the SUV’s 7,100 pounds of maximum towing capacity on the table. Of course, it still managed to drag the Sequoia’s fuel economy down. Not that it was great before; according to Sundling, his press loaner gets an EPA-estimated 13 city, 17 highway, and 14 combined miles per gallon unloaded. The trailer he pulled decreased his average fuel economy to roughly 10 mpg. As Sundling said, the Sequoia’s “got a 26-gallon tank, but it feels like about 20 gallons. It goes through a tank pretty fast.”

The six-speed automatic’s behavior in tow/haul mode over long grades didn’t help matters, either. “This thing would shift way down and hold high RPMs for a long time,” Sundling said.

Despite its issues, the Sequoia offered a lot to like, such as its large center console knobs, heated and cooled front seats, big side mirrors, and spacious second row. It also got Sundling to his destination, where he went off-roading again – in a 2019 Honda Talon 1000R side-by-side all-terrain vehicle.

Join the Yota Tech forums now!

Derek Shiekhi

Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.

After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.

While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.

Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.

In addition to writing for a variety of Internet Brands sites, including JK Forum and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Derek also contributes to other outlets. He started There Will Be Cars on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to get even more automotive content out to fellow enthusiasts.

He can be reached at autoeditors@internetbrands.com.

Twitter