Toyota Tundra vs Audi Q8

What's the difference?

The Toyota Tundra, made in America for Americans, was launched in 1999 and since then Toyota Australia has fielded a steady stream of enquiries from car buyers and automotive media about the possibility of its full-size US pickup being available in local showrooms.

Production of RHD Tundras at Toyota’s San Antonio plant in Texas never stacked up as a viable business case for Toyota until 2015, when the Walkinshaw Automotive Group (WAG) commenced OEM-certified right-hand-drive remanufacturing of Ram pick-up trucks (and later Chevrolet Silverados) in Melbourne.

This development finally opened the door to an ‘Australianised’ version of the Tundra, which went on sale late last year after a six-year joint development program with WAG that was a world-first for Toyota.

The Tundra’s local two-model range comprises the entry-level Limited and the new top-shelf Platinum grades, with more power and torque than local ‘1500 class’ US pickup rivals. So, we recently put the fresher Premium model to work for a week, to see how it measures up from a tradie’s perspective.

The Audi Q8 has had a mid-life upgrade and it brings a few minor tweaks to the design, technology and equipment.

Plug-in hybrids tend to rank a little lower on my excitement scale when it comes to available powertrains because I usually find the constant charging inconvenient.

However, the electric driving range of the 60 TSFIe quattro S Line grade has been bolstered by 27km, increasing it to 74km overall.