Ram 1500 and Toyota Sequoia at Eagles Canyon Raceway

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Ram 1500, Toyota Sequoia Named 2023 Truck, SUV of Texas By Texas Auto Writers

Written By: Amy Plemons | Nov 3, 2022 1:18:20 PM

The Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) is kicking off the month of November by naming the winners of its recent 2023 Texas Truck Rodeo. The annual event draws its member journalists to an off-road course to evaluate pickups and SUVs. This year's event was held at the Eagles Canyon Raceway off-road circuit in Decatur, Texas on October 3-4th.  I'm a current member of the TAWA board and was present for both days of the event.

This year’s attendees rated vehicles from automakers including Acura, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Jeep, Lexus, Mazda, Nissan, Ram, Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen and Wagoneer. TAWA members evaluated vehicles based on their interior, exterior, value, performance and overall personal appeal.

ttr-tawa-amy-2022Winners were announced November 1st in partnership with the Houston Auto and Boat Show. Recipients keep their titles for the following year ahead.

 “The Texas Auto Writers Association thanks and congratulates all automotive members and partners for joining us for this year’s Texas Truck Rodeo. We are delighted to give special congratulations to the title and category winners of the 2023 Texas Truck Rodeo,” said TAWA President Teia Collier. “To experience and put these world-class vehicles through their paces at Eagles Canyon Raceway is a rugged opportunity to see what these legendary machines can do.” 

2023 Truck of Texas


Honors for the 2023 Truck of Texas go to the Ram 1500.  (The Ram 1500 Limited also won an award for Luxury Pickup of Texas.) I'm always impressed by the Ram 1500's amazingly smooth ride thanks to the new suspension system it received with its redesign in 2019.

“Texas is the world’s largest pickup truck market so Ram 1500 winning the Truck of Texas title is truly a significant accomplishment,” said Mike Koval Jr., Ram brand CEO. “The Texas Auto Writers Association has a long tradition of recognizing the best truck available for the hard-working needs of Texas truck buyers. We are honored the Ram 1500 has captured this year’s prestigious award.”

ram-1500-06-1404x1112Photo credit: Kevin McCauley/Capturing the Machine.

2023 SUV of Texas


Honors for 2023 SUV of Texas went to the all-new Toyota Sequoia. What a terrific redesign by Toyota. It's sure to please families looking for a 3-row SUV that can go off the beaten path. The camera views are just incredible and there are so many convenience features.   And it's very capable. I drove one TRD Pro model off-road and easily tackled the water pit. I also tried out Toyota's new Crawl Control which is so quiet! A huge difference to the last generation system you can find still in the Tacoma.

Toyota's Greg Thome also showed me around a TRD Pro in Solar Octane that was strictly on-road only at the Rodeo. You can check out both videos below:

“The all-new Toyota Sequoia provides all the room, technology, power and efficiency our customers need, and we appreciate TAWA recognizing all that the Sequoia offers,” said Mike Sweers, executive chief engineer for the Toyota Tundra, Sequoia, Tacoma and 4Runner vehicle programs at Toyota Motor North America, Research and Development (TMNA R&D). “After the successful launch of the Tundra, which TAWA named Truck of Texas at the 2021 Truck Rodeo, we are excited to be accelerating into the next chapter in our truck-family story with the Sequoia.”

CATEGORY AWARDS




CALCULATED AWARDS

FEATURE AWARDS

  • BEST NEW FEATURE:  HURRICANE TWIN TURBO, WAGONEER


Check out pics of the winners on our Facebook page:

 

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Feature photo credit: Kevin McCauley/Capturing the Machine.