2026 Toyota Tundra Capstone Review: Towing Test
Our automotive expert hitches up a trailer and tests the 2026 Tundra's towing skills.
Benjamin Hunting
- Pros: Helpful trailering technology that pairs well with this truck's surprisingly nimble character and excellent power.
- Cons: I wish the Tundra offered better acceleration off the line when towing, and that its large infotainment screen was more useful.
- The Takeaway: The 2026 Toyota Tundra is a compelling choice as a tow rig.
The 2026 Toyota Tundra Capstone is the most luxurious version of Toyota's full-size, light-duty pickup truck. It comes exclusively with the automaker's hybrid drivetrain, and, compared with the standard turbo-only engine in other Tundra models, that extra boost of power and torque gives it an advantage when towing heavier loads.
Yoking it to a trailer hauling just under half of the Tundra hybrid's maximum capacity proved the electrified engine was more than up to the task, and that its suite of towing software stood above more complicated and less successful efforts from rivals. Don't expect a boost in fuel mileage from its relatively small battery, however.
The 2026 Toyota Tundra Capstone I drove delivers 437 horsepower and 583 pound-feet of torque from a 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6 matched with an electric motor. Sitting at the top of the Tundra lineup, the Capstone starts around $83,000, including the $2,195 destination charge.
My test vehicle didn't include the available load-leveling rear height-control air suspension, Tow Tech package with wireless trailer camera system, or power-extending tow mirrors. I didn't miss any of it, really, which underscores just how strong a towing platform the Tundra truly is.
Benjamin Hunting
Towing Tech That Actually Works for the Tundra
Truck manufacturers often leverage the many safety-related cameras and sensor suites packaged into modern pickups to add towing-related tech features. These are not always successful: I've had trouble getting them to work properly on some full-size half-tons, such as the Ram 1500. But the Tundra gave me no trouble in this department.
The Toyota Tundra's trailer-brake controller uses hard buttons to the right of the steering wheel to dial in the level of assistance required from the trailer stoppers, with the selected level displayed on the left side of the gauge cluster. That kind of feature is commonly found on full-size pickups, and so are the towing-related gauges (showing boost, hybrid assist, and mechanical temperatures) on the right side of the display.
More impressive is the vehicle's automatic detection of the trailer's presence, its length, and its subsequent incorporation into the Tundra's safety systems. The blind-spot-monitoring system automatically extends to include both the trailer and the truck, which is a bonus after passing a slower vehicle on the highway. The lane-centering and rear-collision-avoidance systems are disabled, but the lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist remain active.
The trailer-recognition feature also worked flawlessly. I set up the trailer in the vehicle's system as a "car hauler," and it remembered the profile each time it connected. This is not always a given with these types of systems.
Most impressive was Toyota's backup-assist feature. The only difficulty in using it came with setup — you really need a huge, open area to properly calibrate the system, which asks you to drive forward, then perform a sharp turn, then straighten the truck and trailer out. That requires plenty of space, and you may not have that available where you're hitching up.
Once active, however, the system worked well. While reversing, it overlaid arrows on an overhead view of the truck's rear and the trailer's front, indicating the direction of the load based on steering inputs. This is something you can see in the truck's mirrors or through the back window, as long as there's daylight. When night falls, it's much harder to see the end of your trailer, which is when the arrows really prove their worth.
The feature also includes a Straight Path assist that, when activated, takes over the steering to keep the truck and trailer pointed true while reversing at very low speeds. The feature functioned flawlessly and is genuinely useful — it helped get me out of a pickle where I had to reverse the trailer between two giant mounds of gravel down a narrow path.
Still, I have a problem with how it's activated that ties into a broader issue found on other Toyota vehicles. Toyota crams almost all of its towing, safety, and vehicle-setup features into the gauge cluster. While this is fine for some data readouts, changing settings requires you to scroll through small menus using the steering wheel controls — all while the Tundra's massive infotainment screen sits idle.
The one exception? The Straight Path assist button is located on the infotainment screen, which splits your towing attention across three separate areas of the dashboard: the gauge cluster (for most towing info and features), the backup-assist activation button (located under the infotainment screen), and the big touchscreen (for the Straight Path feature). That center-mounted screen is big, useful, and sorely underutilized by Toyota's software designers.
Benjamin Hunting
Low-End Power Is Missing, but Overall Capability Is Excellent
I loaded my aluminum car hauler with 3,750 pounds of Cadillac for this tow test, bringing the total load to about 4,650 pounds, give or take the weight of the fluids in my CTS-V. With so much horsepower and torque on tap, I wasn't concerned about the Tundra's ability to handle the weight, as it checked in at just 45% of my test example's official 10,290-pound tow rating.
With that in mind, the truck's somewhat languid acceleration from a stop was unexpected. Once rolling, I could pick up speed with ease, but off the line, the hybrid system's instant-on electric torque didn't seem to play much of a role in hurrying things up. It's perfectly acceptable day to day, just not a standout if you need to pull out into traffic at a rapid pace.
The Tundra was also calm, cool, and collected regardless of how steep an incline I faced or how twisty the mountain roads around my home were. Even with the load riding close to the front of the trailer (necessary to access the rear tie-downs), the truck shrugged off the trailer's presence and delivered a comfortable, stable ride.
Even with the Tundra's hybrid setup, brace yourself for a dip in fuel economy. Towing always punches efficiency way, way down, and despite the Tundra's EPA rating of 20 mpg in combined city and highway driving, I saw half that (10 mpg) on my 50-mile test loop.
Benjamin Hunting
The Tundra is Surprisingly Maneuverable in Tight Situations
The Tundra's nimble feel with a trailer attached also extended to its ability to deal with tight spaces. There is a kink in my driveway, bordered by shrubs on one side and a tree on the other, and I need to navigate it in reverse to park the trailer beside my garage.
I've never been able to do that with any gas-powered full-size pickup, only EV trucks with rear-wheel steering that shorten their wheelbase thanks to the magic of a shifting back axle.
Not only did the Tundra ace this test, becoming the first of its cohort to do so, but it also did it on the first try. That bodes well for any driver who has to deal with cramped trailer parking, whether it's at a campsite, a storage lot, or a boat launch.
Overall, the 2026 Toyota Tundra Capstone proved to be a well-rounded tow vehicle with excellent power, useful trailer tech, and better maneuverability than many other full-size pickups when hauling a load.
Toyota provided the vehicle for this 2026 Tundra review.
Benjamin HuntingNearly two decades into his career as an automotive journalist, Benjamin has had his hands greasy, his hair blown back, and his heart broken by more than one project car. In addition to his work at Capital One, he has contributed features and reviews to Motor Trend, Car and Driver, Hagerty, Driving Line, Inside Hook, Super Street, European Car, Roadkill Magazine, Motor 1, The Drive, the Toronto Star, the National Post, Business Insider, NAPA, Autoblog, Automotive News Canada, and AutoGuide. He is also cohost of the Unnamed Automotive Podcast and cocreator of the Code 45 and Dead Air graphic novels. In his spare time, he's a friend to vinyl and enjoys keeping the shiny side up during track days.
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