While some owners think the seats are cool, others find them an annoying gimmick that cuts into rear seat legroom.

Toyota finally did Tacoma fans a solid when an all-new generation of the pickup debuted in late 2023. In addition to big updates like the availability of a new hybrid, fan favorites like the TRD Pro made a comeback better than ever. In addition to all the off-road goodies like a stabilizer disconnect mechanism and crawl control, Toyota considered passenger comfort when off-roading and threw in some slick seating. But three years into the 4th generation and these cool looking seats have some owners divided on just how great they actually are. 

The Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro is the most capable Tacoma yet. And with a starting price of just over $64,000, it’s also the most expensive Tacoma yet. But that price gets you some cool features, the main of which are what Toyota calls Isodynamic Seats. Exclusive to the Tacoma TRD Pro trim, the seats are all about maintaining passenger comfort while off-roading. The key to the seats is a trick shock absorber system engineered into the seatbacks. As Toyota explains:

“The IsoDynamic Performance Seat uses an air-over-oil shock absorber system allowing for vertical and lateral seat movement simultaneously to dampen body movement and stabilize the head and neck to keep alignment with the spine. This dampening effect is tunable based on body mass and occupant preference and can be bypassed, if desired, via levers on the seatbacks.”

There’s literally two exposed shocks in the rear seatbacks as well as knobs that allow for adjustment of seat comfort. They really do look cool and seem to work as intended. I got to see the seats in action first hand at SEMA in 2023, where Toyota had set up a demonstration with a gaming rig to show how the seats perform on a rough virtual off-road trail. In the real world though opinions about the seat have Tacoma owners split on just how useful they are. 

Searching through places like Reddit and Toyota and Tacoma owners forums, the positive side of opinions like the Isodynamic seats for their surprising comfort, the ability to dial in and control how firm the seat’s are, the fact that they actually work off-road to keep you from bouncing around and how cool they look. There are more than a few downsides though. One of the main ones is how much of a hit the Tacoma’s practicality takes with the seats.

Toyota says that across all trims of the Tacoma Double Cab, there’s 33.7-inches of legroom behind the rear seat. But when taking a look at the backseat of a TRD Pro with the Isodynamic seats, anyone with a set of eyes can see that can’t be true.

When comparing the rear seat of another Tacoma without the Isodynamic seats – such as the Tacoma Trailhunter pictured – you can see that there looks to be about a half-inch or so of less legroom with the Isodynamic seats. Admittedly, that’s not much. But when you’re hauling people and stuff that kind of thing makes a big difference.

One owner disliked the seats enough that they took to the forums to see if anyone would be willing to swap seats with them, specifically seats from a 6th generation 4Runner TRD Pro. Other owners don’t like that Toyota is seemingly forcing the seats on buyers by not offering them as an option. In a post on 4GTaco, Youtuber TRD Jon questioned if the seats would be an option in the future  given that the TRD Pro will spend the majority of its time on pavement and that the Isodynamic seats have too many downsides to be used on a daily basis.

“There are just too many cons of these seats when you try to drive a TRD Pro Tacoma as a daily. These seats make for virtually no rear seat space for rear passengers. The seats are extremely bolstered, so if you are a huskier individual, you may not like them at all. Another con is that they recline with a manual lever rather than automatically. I know, first-world problems. There is also a fixed headrest rather than an adjustable one.”

Other forum members agreed, with one saying that they haven’t gone to purchase a TRD Pro to replace their 2020 specifically because of rear seat room (although in Toyota’s defense, it should be mentioned here that the new Tacoma gained 1.1-inches of rear legroom over the prior generation).

Not everyone is hard on the Isodynamic seats though. Over on Reddit, members of r/Toyota were a bit more forgiving of the seats considering the TRD Pro’s mission. Sort of. One Redditor came to the defense of the seats hard, saying that “If you don’t go out to the dunes and blast over bumps at 55mph, then you shouldn’t be getting this truck anyways.” They continued down in the replies, when another Redditor called the seats stupid because they impede on backseat space. “If you need the back seat space more than you need a seat stabilizing system, then save yourself $10k and buy the TRD or the hybrid trim with the premium package is functionally identical save for the difference in suspension and the seats.” Others came for the seats, calling out everything from the lack of rear legroom, to the aforementioned fact that they aren’t an option to Toyota charging nearly $70k for the TRD Pro and its backseat is nearly useless ( their words, not mine). 

Could the seats someday be an option? Some may be hoping for that. It would be interesting if they were made part of some hardcore off-road package. But then that would defeat the purpose of the TRD Pro itself as it’s supposed to be the top dog of off-roading for the Tacoma. It’s also interesting that the seats aren’t offered on the Tundra, 4Runner and Sequoia TRD Pros. And while it’s cool the seats exist and they seem to work for their intended purpose, it might be a bit of a hassle living with these things on a daily basis.