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| Toyota
Hilux Double Cab |
Broadcast
date : 22nd April 2007 |
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Two years after its launch, the
Toyota Hilux Raider still couldn’t be described as pretty.
Imposing, yes, with its massive Pope’s nose, and in top-spec
form, given a veneer of urban elegance with its smart alloys
and running boards.
Of course its pristine build quality has made it one of the
top-selling vehicles in South Africa, outselling many
passenger cars.
The remarkable evolution of the double-cab pick-up from Toyota
and its competitors has seen these great road Goliaths
accepted as bonafide daily transport.
With 175 kiloWatts on tap from its bullet-proof engine, you
can watch the speedo climb to well over a 100 km/h in
second-gear.
This gives it a sub 10 second 0-100 time from a vehicle the
size of a small cluster home, and an unladen weight of around
1750 kilograms.
The engine pounds out tarmac-shredding torque from under 2000
revs, with 343 Newton metres on demand at 2500 rpm.
But with no traction control or stability controls lurking in
the electronics, this big bakkie demands respectful use of the
throttle on the road. In deep agricultural territory, of
course, it’s in its element.
Toyota’s build great off-road vehicles – no fancy bells
and whistles, but the real off-road kit is just so
well-engineered.
Despite all the torque, the throttle is sensitive enough for
taxing low-speed manoeuvres, not always the case with some
so-called icons we tested recently, like the Jeep Wrangler.
In axle twists, again, a simple diff-lock and a well-located
live-axle does the job with no drama and no fancy planetary
gears or clutches to go wrong.
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That live axle is designed to
take serious loads and cope with them on farm roads for years,
if not decades.
Even so, the unladen ride on dirt is not too bad, nowhere near
as bone-jarring as it was a few Hilux generations ago.
The latest-generation Hilux may be due for a cosmetic makeover
soon, but the basic design will remain unchanged for a good
few years which means an extremely elevated ride high above
that rugged ladder-framed chassis.
That’s good for both on-road use and in off-road conditions,
whether you are game-viewing or counting sheep.
As for that tendency to swing the tail out, yes, you need to
treat the throttle with respect, but it makes the Hilux a
great plaything on dirt roads where there’s enough run-off
to avoid scuffing up those shiny alloys and running board
plates.
Take it out of four-wheel-drive, which gives you
rear-wheel-drive only, and you can hang the tail out with the
best of them. Plus the V6 engine sounds the way a pre-diesel
era Dakar rally-engine used to sound.
Toyota Hilux Raider 4,0
Double Cab
- Engine: V6 petrol,
3 596 cc
- Power: 175 kW @ 5
200 rpm
- Torque: 343 Nm @ 2
400 rpm
- Transmission:
Five-speed manual, four-wheel-drive, plus low range
- 0-100 km/h: 9, 34
seconds
- Top speed: 180 km/h
(limited)
- Fuel consumption:
16,3 litres/100 km (Car Magazine)
- Price: R313 100
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