Photo: Toyota South Africa
Toyota's Hilux pickup truck has already established a name for its industrious character, in a segment where we find names like Ford Ranger, Nissan Navara, and Mitsubishi L200. Hilux sales are also looking good, so a reward was imminent.
When someone comes across the Hilux name, all they can think of is reliability, ruggedness and an enormous appetite for pulling or carrying stuff from A to B.
But that might change when we're dealing with an anniversary edition, imbued with no less than 455 horsepower and motorsport know-how. Wait, is this the Dakar rally, or what?
No, in fact, it's Toyota South Africa celebrating the delivery of the one millionth Toyota Hilux, one model that build its reputation using its "invincibility" as the chief asset.
The car we wanted to tell you about is less a pickup truck and more a racing offroader after Toyota South Africa had their ways with it. So engineers took a Lexus IS-F V8 engine and fitted it inside the Hilux. But that wasn't enough.
According to Iol, they also added a Dakar-spec inlet manifold and a Pectel Cosworth engine management system. The clutch is a twin-plate AP racing unit, but the transmission was kept in its standard setup. In addition, both rear and front differentials were re-tuned, and the engineers also changed gear ratios because, after all, this could very well be the most powerful Hilux ever built.
Again, power without a way to harness is basically useless, so the pickup-turned-Dakar-racer rides on a suspension system lowered by 50 mm and beefy 18-inch wheels kept on a leash when necessary by 350mm Power Bake discs and billet callipers.
When we're dealing with such comprehensive changes, the price is a relevant chapter of the story. All we can tell you is the cost of this one-off Hilux could go as high as $72,000.
But that might change when we're dealing with an anniversary edition, imbued with no less than 455 horsepower and motorsport know-how. Wait, is this the Dakar rally, or what?
No, in fact, it's Toyota South Africa celebrating the delivery of the one millionth Toyota Hilux, one model that build its reputation using its "invincibility" as the chief asset.
The car we wanted to tell you about is less a pickup truck and more a racing offroader after Toyota South Africa had their ways with it. So engineers took a Lexus IS-F V8 engine and fitted it inside the Hilux. But that wasn't enough.
According to Iol, they also added a Dakar-spec inlet manifold and a Pectel Cosworth engine management system. The clutch is a twin-plate AP racing unit, but the transmission was kept in its standard setup. In addition, both rear and front differentials were re-tuned, and the engineers also changed gear ratios because, after all, this could very well be the most powerful Hilux ever built.
Again, power without a way to harness is basically useless, so the pickup-turned-Dakar-racer rides on a suspension system lowered by 50 mm and beefy 18-inch wheels kept on a leash when necessary by 350mm Power Bake discs and billet callipers.
When we're dealing with such comprehensive changes, the price is a relevant chapter of the story. All we can tell you is the cost of this one-off Hilux could go as high as $72,000.
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