[TheMonk]

Not supposed to be aligned. The top one is the tacho and the bottom is the coolant temperature. No connection at all.

Regards

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Congratulations on getting the “The Indestructible” Hilux. Why did the first owner sell it so soon though, if you don’t mind sharing?

Hope you enjoy the truck for years to come!



Why aren’t those needles aligned properly? Or is it the camera angle? My OCD would drive me crazy if I had to look at them everyday

[Shreesharai]

Conragulations on your ride sir 🙌🏻I had seen this up for sale in UDUPI cars. I still wonder why would the previous owner immediately sell his brand new car, hope you got a good deal on this 😬😬

[carfreak]

Originally Posted by TheMonk

Thanks for your review. Would like to disagree on 3 points.

I don't find the handling nervous at all. Though it does have body roll, the Hilux is surefooted. Good steering control - the nose points where you want it to go. No noticeable under or over steering issues.

The same with braking - I think it's par for the course. Of course you cannot compare it to a sports car or even a high end sedan. No issues with road noise or underbody vibrations as well. The cabin is fairly well insulated and the NVH levels are quiet low. With the windows rolled up, you barely hear the engine or feel any vibrations from the oil burner.

Cheers!

The comments on handling is in comparison with monocoque SUVs, about which I have good experience with. I have driven many and had owned the first generation Creta diesel. I feel the Hilux handles like a typical BOF SUV- which is to say it cannot hold a candle to the monocoque ones. If you feel it is as good as them, then good for you.

I felt the brakes are not that good especially during sudden braking at high speeds. No, I am not comparing to sedans obviously.

Regarding the NVH levels, lets just say we can agree to disagree. I can never say it is refined, especially after 2000rpm. It does not have a clatter- but a boomy note. My Rapid is more refined than this one. My wife's brezza is more noisier than both in comparison.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Congratulations on getting the “The Indestructible” Hilux. Why did the first owner sell it so soon though, if you don’t mind sharing?

Why aren’t those needles aligned properly? Or is it the camera angle? My OCD would drive me crazy if I had to look at them everyday

Thank you Dry Ice. Regarding the reason for the early sale, I have mentioned it in an earlier post, in a reply to Corneliu.

I guess the camera angle is responsible for the alignment issue. No such problems in person.

Originally Posted by Shreesharai

Conragulations on your ride sir 🙌🏻I had seen this up for sale in UDUPI cars.

Thank you Shreesharaj

[corneliu]

Attaching some recent pics.

• Got a graphene coating job done on the car.
  
  
  

• Did a steepish offroad hill climb. 4LO was good enough to take the car halfway up, but at one point the car lost traction, and couldn't move up. Deploying the rear diff lock fixed this.
  
  
  
  

• Some snaps from some other off road sessions.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

[vredesbyrd]

Originally Posted by TheMonk

I don't find the handling nervous at all. Though it does have body roll, the Hilux is surefooted. Good steering control - the nose points where you want it to go. No noticeable under or over steering issues.

The same with braking - I think it's par for the course.

OT:
Agreed. Though not the Hilux, I drove the 4x2 Legender sometime back and the handling was fantastic. Was easily able to weave in and out of traffic and take long sweeping turns. Definitely sure-footed.

Braking was far superior to my Vento. The only vehicle that had worse braking than the Vento was the Thar.

I'd love to hustle a Fortuner/Hilux up the Ramnagar to Marchula section just to feel the handling over sections - both fantastically smooth and terrifyingly broken tarmac, that the route offers.

[carfreak]

Originally Posted by corneliu

Attaching some recent pics.
[list]
Got a graphene coating job done on the car.

[list]Did a steepish offroad hill climb. 4LO was good enough to take the car halfway up, but at one point the car lost traction, and couldn't move up. Deploying the rear diff lock fixed this.

It looks superb after the graphene coating. I am planning some thing similar, though at a later stage.

It is nice you are taking the ute off the beaten path. This is where a Hilux should be going, especially with the 4x4 hardware. And after the monsoons, the hills look green and beautiful. Maybe we should have a Hilux meet up at Goa some time

[corneliu]

Originally Posted by carfreak

It looks superb after the graphene coating. I am planning some thing similar, though at a later stage.

Thanks! Definitely recommended for non-white cars if you want to keep the paint looking good for a long time

Maybe we should have a Hilux meet up at Goa some time

Absolutely! Looking forward to it. If you do come this side let me know, and we will surely catch up.

[corneliu]

Originally Posted by //M

Saw this Hilux with a lift kit in Delhi last evening, looked mean and mafiaso.

This is the one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB6OJ4gKGCk

[TheMonk]

Absolute utility. Handles well at high speeds with a lot of load!

[corneliu]

Originally Posted by TheMonk

Absolute utility. Handles well at high speeds with a lot of load!

Close to 300 kgs handled with ease! Out of curiosity what tie down straps do you use, and what is the arrangement do you use to strap the GSA down to the bed? It will be great if you could share some close up photograhs of the arrangement.

[TheMonk]

Hi,

Sorry I didn't take the pics - the bike is now sold.

I have a foldable aluminium ramp for loading and offloading. Used rachet straps to secure the bike with the bed using the 4 strap down points. The bike is long - it had to be placed at an oblique angle, which helped as the front corner acted as a wheel chock.

The ramp was partly open and also secured with a strap to prevent flutter.

Cheers

[corneliu]

Originally Posted by vkiran_2000

Another good side effect is that the bed space is better utilised, the lining has some bumps and curves that eat up space around the bottom edges.

Not only that, but they also completely block off the underside channels on the upper side-edges of the bed. You need to access these channels in order to fix clamps/bolts for HD tonneau covers, cross bars etc.

Here is what the stock bedliner looks like:



And here the channel is exposed after removing the bedliner:



You can make cuts through the bedliner in order to affix clamps, but then this is very impractical.

More worryingly, it seems like the stock bedliner is actually not good for the bed in the long run. A combination of shoddy installation & the fact that the plastic becomes soft and distends in the heat can mean that there are gaps everywhere, through which rainwater and dust enters and stagnates. This will eventually cause rusting much faster as these corrosive materials remain trapped between the bedliner and the bed.

Heating gaps in the bedliner + shoddy TKM installation work:





I was shocked to see the amount of rainwater dirt that got to the bed:

[TheMonk]

What is the best alternative for the bedliner? Even my bedliner is peeling off. Extremely shoddy installation.

Regards

[Turbanator]

What's the future of Hilux in India?

I do see 20 units dispatched in the last month, even as most of the dealers have old inventories of a unit or two.

Why Toyota took all the efforts and launched something that was bound to fail and the way Toyota had priced, it was absolutely clear. That rear bench seat and the overall comfort (lack off) at prices so close to Fortuner, why did they bother to launch?

Is this end of such lifestyle vehicles? I doubt anyone will like to give a try in this segment again in the near future.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

What's the future of Hilux in India?

Certain markets have demand/needs for certain type of vehicles only. OEMs can't expect to sell hordes of a lifestyle pick-up truck or say, a maxi-scooter in India.

Looking at the sustained sales numbers (or lack of) of V-Cross, I am sure Toyota knew the Hilux would have similar demand. They must have launched it as a pure branding exercise. If they thought otherwise then it's a case of bad market research.