Pitting two off-roaders on a drag strip is unconventional and unfair. Off-road vehicles have a straightforward function; to tear through the desert, wade through wild waters, and conquer the impassable. Mat Watson of CarWow put the Toyota Hilux against the Land Cruiser in the ultimate king of the hill drag race.
Watson got the chance to compare the most popular pickup truck, the Hilux, against one of the most recognizable off-road SUVs in the world, the Land Cruiser. He set them up for a drag race, not the drag strip kind, but an uphill off-road king-of-the-hill challenge.
He also put them through various challenges off-road to determine the ultimate off-roader from the Toyota stable.
The Land Cruiser has quite the spec sheet. It comes with a 2.8-liter turbo diesel engine making 204 hp and 420 Nm of torque. Watson’s review unit is the commercial version with a manual gearbox. Therefore, it is pretty devoid of kit and only comes with two seats.
The Hilux, on the other hand, is the Invincible X Edition. Like the Land Cruiser, it packs a 2.8-liter turbo diesel engine and makes 204 hp but with 500 Nm of torque. The Hilux comes with an automatic transmission and an electronically controlled central and rear locking differential.
There you go! Two amazing off-roaders, same engine and horsepower but different torque figures.
The first challenge is an uphill drag race. When it’s time to bolt, the Land Cruiser takes a massive lead, with the Hilux unexpectedly trailing behind. Next was a downward hill drag race. In this challenge, the last to get to the finish line wins. As you would expect, the Land Cruiser’s medieval manual gearbox lost to the Hilux’s hill descent control.
The next challenge was the hairpin challenge through the woods. The Land Cruiser beat the Hilux by 2 seconds. On the uphill slippery surface challenge, the Hilux win owes to the better ground clearance and a rear locking differential. Watson does two more challenges, a turnover challenge won by the Hilux and a grip challenge on a hill bagged by the Land Cruiser.
At the end of the challenge, it’s a complete draw. What do you think, is the Hilux equal to the Land Crusier off road? Well, I thought the Hilux won fair and square. It comes with better features driving off-road compared to this Land Cruiser.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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