SIDE TRACKS
THERE are a busy couple of months ahead for ute lovers.
Hot on the wheels of the fresh Mitsubishi Tritons has arrived the next Nissan Navara. By September an upgraded Ford Ranger will be here and around the same time Toyota’s much-anticipated new HiLux should roll into Australian showrooms.
The Toyota ute, as seen in early release photographs, has new style, perhaps more appealing around the nose than before. There’s some extra muscle tone to mudguard flares too
Cabins are apparently a bit bigger and now filled with all manner of mod-cons. A reverse camera is standard on all pick-up versions.
There’ll be 31 versions of this eighth-generation HiLux, two and four-wheel drives plus a choice of body styles.
There’s a 2.8 litre diesel and a 2.4 litre diesel engine, the 2.7 litre petrol engine’s been reworked, the four-litre V6 petrol continues as before; these are hooked up to new six-speed auto and six-speed manual transmissions.
Toyota’s also making lots of noise about this HiLux – the first new HiLux since 2005 – having been suspension-tested and tuned here in Australia to best suit local driving tastes and conditions.
It’ll have to be good to better the road manners and ride of the Ford Ranger, now the Toyota’s ute archenemy in the marketplace.
The Ranger was developed here by Ford and Mazda engineers and that shows in a number of areas, not the least its on-road dynamics.
The September upgrade for the Ford centres around a couple of style changes and a raft of new technology available from tyre pressure monitoring systems to trailer sway control, from a cooled centre console to heated front seats.
Payloads for the refreshed Ford Ranger will also go up while the ute continues with the choice of 2.2 litre diesel or 3.2 litre diesel, sixspeed auto or manual transmissions.