June 4, 2020

The 2021 Toyota Hilux Now Has the Power to Hunt the Ranger Raptor


After having motorsports legend Fernando Alonso drift it, Toyota has now pulled the wraps off the refreshed 2021 Hilux. Coming with a slew of design and mechanical changes, it hopes to maintain its “unbeatable” positioning in the pickup truck segment.

The refreshed Hilux comes with styling close to its North American cousin, the Tacoma. The entire front-end is new with the larger, flatter trapezoidal grille, deeper front bumper, and re-designed LED headlights. At the back, it also gets LED “light guiding” taillights.



The top-trim Rocco (the Philippine-market Conquest variant) adds more differentiation thanks to re-designed alloy wheels with white letter tires, exclusive front grille, bumpers, and even black wheel arch extensions.

Underneath, the suspension has been revised to heightened the shock absorption ability. The “Superflex Suspension” adds high-tensile steel to its rear leaf springs along with new bushings to the front Double Wishbones. All in all, according to Toyota, improves the ride to an SUV-like level. Also seen in the refreshed Fortuner, A Variable Flow Control (VFC) power steering adjusts the stiffness of the steering wheel depending on the speed to improve its stability, while the wheel angle can now be displayed on the multi-information display.



Tractive effort is provided by either a 2.4- or 2.8-liter GD diesel engine. The 2.8-liter GD engine gets a power bump to 204 horsepower and 500 Nm of torque, enough for the Hilux to hit 100 km/h in about 10 seconds, while idling has been reduced from 850 rpm to 680 rpm to increase off-road traction. The 2.4-liter GD remains unchanged at 150 horsepower and 400 Nm of torque. As always, the 4x2 models get the smaller engine, while the 4x4 ones get the bigger engine. Thanks to the power upgrade, towing capacity is now at 3.5 metric tons for the 4x4, and 2.8-tons for the 4x2.

Inside, the 2021 Hilux gets an 8-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, new TFT gauges, and improved switchgear. The Rocco variant adds sportier cues including a unique interior lighting scheme.



The refreshed Hilux also gets the Toyota Safety Sense for the first time as well. This adds Pre-Collision System, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, and Lane Departure Alert. Also, Vehicle Stability Assist has now been installed as standard on mid to high-grade variants.

The 2021 Hilux rolls into Thai showrooms this month and was launched alongside the 2021 Fortuner.

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