REIGNING CHAMP

TOYOTA’S HILUX IS AUSTRALIA’S MOST POPULAR 4X4 AND HAS BEEN FOR THE PAST 11 YEARS.

THE new-generation Hilux with its 2.8- and 2.4-litre diesel engines, in place of the outgoing 3.0-litre, now has a full year of sales behind it. The result: Hilux sales have climbed 5137, or around 20 per cent, sufficient to keep it ahead of the hard-charging Ford Ranger 4x4, but only by the narrowest of margins.

Part of the sales strength of the new Hilux comes off the back of an expanded range that includes 19 4x4 models, five more than what was offered with the previous generation. The range includes three engines (two diesels and one petrol) and three gearboxes (two manual and one automatic) in 4x4 models.

This is the first time two diesel engines have been offered in the Hilux range, but both are smaller than what was offered previously and notably smaller than the 3.2-litre five-cylinder diesel offered in the Ranger. The perception that a smaller engine has to work harder than a bigger engine to do the same job is thought to be working against the Hilux in its sales war against the five-cylinder Ranger.

Hilux does offer a bigger and more powerful engine in the form of the 4.0-litre petrol V6, carried over from the previousgeneration Hilux, but it’s shunned by buyers and accounts for just one per cent of Hilux 4x4 sales. This is despite the fact it’s offered in both SR and SR5 spec, where previously the petrol V6 was only available as an SR5.

The most popular engine in the range by far is the 2.8-litre diesel, as the 2.4-litre diesel is only offered in Workmate spec. Compared to the outgoing 3.0-litre diesel, the 2.8-litre offers marginally better pedal-to-the-metal performance but is smoother, quieter and more refined, an attribute you especially notice in relation to the Ranger’s gruffer 3.2-litre diesel.

In fact, on-road refinement and a sense of quality is very much what this new Hilux is all about. It also brings big improvements off-road thanks to more ground clearance, a far more effective traction control system and, more than anything else, class-beating rear wheel travel… all 520mm of it.