Additionally, a three-speed automatic was optional alongside the standard four-speed manual. In the US, a larger and more powerful 2. The US also had the option of a five-speed manual transmission. Toyota ramped up the HiLux with its third-generation model, which started rolling off the production line in September, Joining the regular rear-wheel drive models for the first time was a 4WD variant and diesel-powered motivation.
As well as a revised face, the new-gen HiLux scored some massaging under the skin, including a wider front and rear track.
The front suspension was uprated too, retaining its double-wishbone layout but dropping coil springs in favour of a torsion bar. Several variants were available, three short- and four long wheelbase utilising a variety of powertrains form the incumbent 1. Additionally, a four-cylinder 2. Transmission choices remained at four- or five-speed manual or a three-speed automatic.
Four-wheel drive variants received the beefier suspension set up of the Toyota LandCruiser, with a live front axle and leaf springs. All Australian-delivered HiLuxes featured the longer body and were powered by either a 1. They were available as either a ute or cab-chassis body styles. Making its debut in gen-four HiLux was the extended cabin bodystyle, allowing for an extra 15cm length of storage behind the seats. Inside, Toyota spruced up the cabin, offering even more comfort, while the choice of powertrains expanded dramatically.
Rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive versions were available with a choice of seven petrol or three diesel engines. Underneath, the solid front axle of 4WD models was upgraded, now featuring an independent front suspension with torsion bar.
Additionally, for the first time, 4WD models were offered with an optional automatic diff disconnect for the front differential. And, for the first time in its history, the HiLux was available with turbocharging, either a 2.
The HiLux had a growth spurt for its fifth-generation, launched in September The regular wheelbase variant mm was joined in the line-up by an even longer version, measuring in at mm while multiple engine — both petrol and diesel — choices greeted customers. And, for the first time, Toyota offered the HiLux with four-doors, aka as a dual-cab ute, further emphasising the increasing lifestyle focus of utility vehicles.
Transmission choices remained at four- and five-speed manuals, as well as a four-speed automatic. Four-wheel drive variants grew wider as well, by 40mm over rear-wheel drive models due to the flared wheel arches of the former. Volkswagen got in on the HiLux bandwagon, too, signing an agreement with Toyota allowing it to assemble the HiLux at its commercial vehicle plant in Hanover.
The one-tonne ute was sold into the German market as the Volkswagen Taro. Production ran from to , the Taro eventually making way for the first Volkswagen Amarok. Toyota now has more than engineers based in Australia — the same number as Holden — developing future models. At Toyota we say if it can survive in Australia it can survive anywhere. The Toyota HiLux has been the top-selling vehicle outright for the past seven years in a row in Queensland, West Australia and the Northern Territory, and has been a Top Three seller nationally for the seven of the past 10 years, and Number One in 14 individual months since Toyota engineers spent 18 months in Australia riding alongside miners, park rangers, builders, plumbers, tradies and farmers to better understand how they use their vehicles.
In , Toyota tore up its plans and started again on the new HiLux just six months into development after the VW Amarok and Ford Ranger reset the ute benchmark for car-like driving. Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda — a descendant of the family that transformed Toyota from a maker of automatic looms for fabric and into a car manufacturer in the s — personally intervened to set the HiLux and on a new path.
Chief engineer Nakajima-san prepared two prototype vehicles to test. When Akio Toyoda tested both side by side the decision was made to invest in an all-new HiLux. It was October Chief engineer Nakajima-san visited countries during HiLux development. Toyota has sold more than 5 million HiLuxes over the past 10 years, and more than , of those were in Australia.
There are now more than , HiLux utes on Australian roads. Toyota used to joke in its ads about the absence of a vanity mirror for the driver. The new model still lacks one even though utes are increasingly used as family cars. There are also two drink holders near the air-conditioning vents, which helps keep drinks cool in summer.
The new Toyota HiLux has rev matching technology similar to that used on the new Chevrolet Corvette sports-car. The engine electronically matches the revs required to make upshifts and downshifts smoother. One of the Toyota bullbars has a James Bond-style numberplate cover that flips up when a winch is used.
For now the alarm is only standard on the flagship SR5 but others may follow. The new Toyota HiLux is the first to have height-and-reach adjustment for the steering wheel only the Volkswagen Amarok and Mitsubishi Triton have this feature, all other workhorse utes have tilt only adjustment.
Bullbars are fitted to more than one-third of all HiLuxes sold in Australia. Not only that, but the mighty Hilux was also still drivable. We know the Tacoma and Tundra are incredibly reliable and durable trucks that hold their value incredibly well, but the Hilux is regarded at an entirely different level after its Top Gear performance. It was back in that the tax was introduced by President Lyndon Johnson, and it was introduced in response to a similar tariff imposed by France and West Germany on chicken meat imported from the USA.
The tax was designed to protect American producers and manufacturers from what was seen as unfair foreign competition, and tensions of the Cold War-era thwarted diplomatic attempts to avoid the Chicken Tax being imposed.
Perhaps a little surprisingly, the tariffs applied under the Chicken Tax to brandy, dextrin and potato starched were lifted a long time ago, but the tariff on foreign trucks and cargo vans has remained in place to protect American automakers from foreign rivals. This allowed a cargo box or bed to be installed once the vehicle was in the USA so it could then be sold as a light truck.
This particular loophole was closed by Jimmy Carter in At first glance, you could wonder if the current Toyota Tacoma is just a Toyota Hilux sold here in the US under a different name. After all, they are both trucks in the same class and they are built on similar platforms. However, there are a number of significant differences that make the Hilux right for international markets but not for here in America.
For a start, the Tacoma is wider than the Hilux, which is fine for the wide roads we tend to have here in America but not conducive to narrower, winding roads elsewhere in the world.
The Tacoma also has a boxy, rugged exterior design that goes down well with American buyers, but the Hilux has a somewhat softer look to appeal to a different buyer. Around the world, the Toyota Hilux is seen as a commercial vehicle, while the Tacoma is more of a retail vehicle here in America. And when it comes to chassis cabs, the Tacoma further emphasizes its retail credentials by not being offered as a chassis cab at all.
While the Tacoma and the Hilux both still use a body-on-frame construction, earlier versions of the Hilux are probably closer to the Toyota 4Runner than they are to the Tacoma.
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