We Took The Toyota Hilux On An Off-road Expedition!

The premium pickup is quite a desirable lifestyle offering, we find out how it handles itself on both tarmac and dirt

The Toyota Hilux legacy began around 55 years ago and the iconic pickup truck only graced our shores in early 2022. It arrived with a hefty price tag well over Rs 30 lakh even with localised assembly as a CKD kit, putting it beyond the reach of many. As such, the Hilux has become a highly desirable lifestyle vehicle. So when Toyota invited us to join them on their first-ever Great 4x4Xpedition for a short road trip, we were thrilled to get the keys to the Hilux for all of it.

What is the 4x4Xpedition?

Given its popular range of premium off-road vehicles, Toyota has kickstarted an event that would allow its customers to experience their cars to the fullest. Hence, the creation of this new experiential event, the "Great 4x4Xpedition". 

As of now, this event is not exclusive to Toyota customers and open to all who wish to participate with their 4x4 cars. In this first iteration itself, the convoy of 30-odd cars included a few Mahindras too (Thar and Scorpio N). There was even a kitted-out Isuzu D-Max V-Cross. 

There were over ten Toyota Hilux pickups in our convoy, showing its popularity despite the pricing. They were all the top-spec variants which cost almost Rs 40 lakh on-road. Many joined us in their Fortuners while Toyota even brought along a company-owned Land Cruiser LC300.

What was the plan?

The route for this event would take us around 200 kilometres away from Bengaluru and into the hills. There, the Japanese carmaker had organised an off-road course that would showcase the full potential of the Hilux's rugged capabilities.

This expedition gave us a chance to experience the Toyota Hilux pickup in a variety of driving conditions, similar to how most of its owners would use it, and more.

On the highways

The pickup is offered with a 2.8-litre diesel engine and the one we were piloting was the 6-speed manual transmission. In this variant, the diesel plant has plenty of grunt on offer, at 204PS and 480Nm. Although a manual, the torquey delivery of the powertrain made for a smooth and relaxed cruise for the 150+ kilometres of highway driving. 

The pickup does offer cruise control, but there was rarely a chance to implement it given Indian driving conditions. It even gets an iMT function, but we chose to drive the Hilux as a proper three-pedal manual offering.

Thanks to its height, the Hilux has a very commanding driver's position with a great view of the road ahead. The rear leaf springs do make the ride a bit stiff, especially for the rear passenger.

In terms of convenience, the Hilux is a fairly premium and well-equipped offering. Its 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system was easy to use but it really should offer wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well. As the top-spec High variant, it offered the comforts of dual-zone climate control, a power-adjustable driver's seat, and leather seat upholstery. 

In the hills

The Hilux is big, and that size is even more noticeable when you take it into the narrow hilly roads. It is surprisingly dynamic through the corners despite its long body with the spacious truck bed behind the cab. Once again, the torquey nature of that large diesel engine is plenty sufficient for overtaking even on an incline. Even when the tarmac runs out, the Hilux just keeps going undeterred.

Taking a few wrong turns meant getting familiar with the Hilux's turning radius in those narrow spaces. Thanks to its high ground clearance, small ditches do not limit you from making room to do a full U-turn in an otherwise cramped spot. 

Through the trenches

The Toyota Hilux gets 4WD as standard with on-the-fly switching. We got into the automatic variant for the off-roading course, to make life a little easier. The course was dug up specifically to be completed by the participating vehicles.

The first thing to do was to turn the drive control dial from 2H to 4-low to engage the low-range gearbox. It started off easy with a positive-side incline (the car is tilting towards the passenger side), followed by driving in and out of a deep ditch, and then a negative-side incline (the opposite of the first one). These are relatively mild off-roading obstacles that show off the car's ground clearance, its approach, break-over and departure angles, and its overall stability.

Next was the articulation test which shows off the Hilux's body rigidity. For this test, we had to engage the electronic rear differential lock. This ensures that there is no loss in power delivery when the system detects a lack of grip on any of the four wheels. With a little guidance from the experts regarding steering input to keep us from getting stuck, the Hilux makes easy work of this test. You can even stop in the middle and balance the pickup with only one tire of each axle on level ground. 

Going up!

We kept the differential lock on for the next challenge as well - the hill climb. The gradient of the incline was approximated at 45 degrees with only a dirt path, but it's not a problem for the Hilux whatsoever. Just pick your line of ascent and keep your foot down in 4-Low till you reach the top of the hill.

What goes up...

The last challenge required the least driver input - the hill descent. The rear differential lock was disengaged and we switched on the Downhill Assist Control (or DAC as the button's label).

Simply feather the throttle till the ground falls below your eye line and feel the car tilt over the drop, and then take both feet off the pedals. The DAC electronically applies the brakes to make sure you descend the hill in a slow and controlled manner. You can just focus on steering it in the right direction. In the case of a long descent, while driving an automatic, it is advised to switch to manual gear selection and lock it in first gear to retain maximum vehicle control.

Through every obstacle, the Hilux gave plenty of confidence with the heavy steering and the 4WD system. It was so easy, that even my colleague who'd never done any kind of off-roading course was able to complete the course in the pickup without any hassle.

Final thoughts on the Toyota Hilux

We spent three days with the iconic Toyota pickup, covering close to 500km in total. In every scenario, from the driver's seat, the Hilux was hard to fault. The thrust of that massive diesel engine is somewhat addictive, it feels stable at highway speeds and is relatively nimble when you need it to be. Its off-roading prowess comes as no surprise, but the actual usability across scenarios was impressive. 

If there's one thing that makes the Hilux a bit difficult to live with as a city dweller, it's the size. Yes, it does have front and rear parking sensors that are quite helpful in tight spots and while parking, but it's always a bit stressful through crowded city streets if you are not used to the size.

The Toyota Hilux is not a substitute replacement for conventional full-size SUVs. It's an adventurous choice and one that many of us would like to be able to make.

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