Hoosier Hauler; Toyota builds a big ol' American truck.(Toyota Sequoia pickup truck)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)

The Toyota Sequoia is not only built in Middle America-alongside the Tundra pickup in Princeton, Indiana, just north of Evansville and the Ohio River-it is also aimed at the heart of domestic automakers' profit centers in big trucks. Bigger than Toyota's stalwart Land Cruiser and less serious about off-road adventuring, the Sequoia targets modern prairie schooners like the Ford Excursion and Chevrolet Suburban, offering eight-adult seating capacity and plenty of cargo space.

On the road, the Sequoia is smoother and quieter than the big-and-bulky Excursion it most resembles from the driver's seat (it's almost identical in dimensions), and seems to use a better grade of interior materials than either the Ford or Chevy. Build quality is up to Toyota standards, which is to say admirable. Once you step on the running board and yank yourself up on the grab handle, the Limited model is like a leather-lined railroad boxcar. Note that the skidpad grip, at 0.66 g, is nothing like cornering on rails.

We didn't say it's like a railroad locomotive because, well, the engine isn't up to the torque-happy expectations of buyers likely to be pulling horse trailers, boats or race cars behind their family haulers. Not that there's anything deficient about the 4.7-liter V8, which also powers the Tundra, Land Cruiser and Lexus LX 470. Its 240 hp suffices for most uses, and it only makes enough noise to intrude on the cabin because the standard four-speed automatic is programmed to let it rev out to 3400 rpm where the 315 lb-ft of torque peaks, and thence to ...