[venus1975]

Thank you for an excellent review! I have one question though.

I see this in the list of Cons: The same money can buy you a proper 7-seater SUV.

Why is this comparison? Are the target customers the same for a pickup truck like Hilux, and a 7-seater SUV like Fortuner?

[d.w.w.]

I was excited to see Toyota bringing Hilux to Indian market, but the price is a big letdown. People may pick it for its off road capabilities or the road presence or even to get attention from other road users, but a regular Joe wanting a family vehicle +truck capabilities or a DIYer looking for a similar vehicle(like in US) will run away after looking at the price tag.

[Accelerati]

Originally Posted by KaranP

What's this sudden slew of Hilux reviews?

Strange, because It's been on sale for quite some some right?

Almost every auto publication has had some branded content for the Hilux in the past few days

It was launched an year ago and it bombed. There were no takers for the car. I was quoted a discount of 8.5 Lacs on the High AT model.

Right now dealers are being dumped with Hilux again. A little birdie from Toyota tells me that there again are no buyers and the car would go under heavy discounts again.

Toyota doesn't want to advertise the product on TV since they would never recover the cost and hence are trying BTL marketing . That's why every car portal is covering it.

No way is this going to sell even a hundred units consistently.

[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by Accelerati

...... I was quoted a discount of 8.5 Lacs on the High AT model.

......

Could you please share the dealer who offered such a discount.

[bhphog]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

One of the most pointless launches. Still don't know why will a manufacturer like Toyota takes all the pain to sell what - 1000 units in a Year. Though I haven't driven one, the use case scenario in India is very limited. I will save monies and pick a Thar (& probably Jimny)

Well said, Sir!
Absolutely true, Toyota instead should have brought in the Yaris or Corolla.
Let the mainstream enthusiast get a taste of the GR models maybe

[corneliu]

Originally Posted by nissar

Hi all, I own a Hilux myself and I am on stock tires. I have set the tire pressure to the minimum recommended by Toyota to 29psi on the rears for an empty bed and that helped a lot with the ride quality and no noticeable impact on mileage. Have always got 10kmpl+ with moderately hard driving. I am planning a trip to Bhutan from Bangalore with maybe 100 kg cargo. Any suggestions on the tire pressure i can run on the highway?

If you're planning on stowing the cargo in the bed, then you can keep the front at 30 and rear at 32-33, it should be fine. Anything more than 33 with this payload, and you'll really feel the rear bouncing around.

One thing I've realized with tyres is that there is a confict of interst between the vehicle manufacturer and tyre manufacturer. Toyota will always tell you to run low pressures to improve your ride quality (at the expense of the tyres and mileage), while the tyre company will always tell you to run very high pressures to reduce tyre wear and improve mileage. One has to experiment with various setups and choose a setup which is an ideal balance for one's level for comfort vs. fuel economy and tyre management.

Wrt to mileage, is the 10kmpl number you are quoting is for city or highway driving? This car starts guzzling fuel when the revs are consistently kept >2200rpm and speed is >100kmph on the highway, and the best mileage you get is if you keep the revs around 1200-1300rpm and the speed between 80-90. When my car was stock I was getting a highway mileage of >16kmpl under these conditions. Now that my car is modified and an extra ~120kgs deadweight has been added on, I still manage to get around 13.5-14kmpl on a decent highway.

[Mustang Sammy]

Now if someone (Tata, Mahindra, cough cough…) were to launch a smaller pickup along the lines of the Scorpio getaway, I can see more people taking an interest.
The Hilux and V-Cross are way too big for Indian urban areas.

[nissar]

Originally Posted by corneliu

Wrt to mileage, is the 10kmpl number you are quoting is for city or highway driving?

I am very happy with 29psi with minimal load which enough to completely smoothen out rough roads, with the planned load will try 32psi as you suggested. Thanks!

I have never had a chance to cruise sedately on the highway yet, mostly because it is fun to pull on the torque wave at every opportunity. And I have used it a lot in the city though rarely in bumper to bumper traffic. Maybe that explains. I am hoping for better milege on my trip to Bhutan as we plan to drive sedately based on your mileage figures.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Mustang Sammy

Now if someone (Tata, Mahindra, cough cough…) were to launch a smaller pickup along the lines of the Scorpio getaway, I can see more people taking an interest.
The Hilux and V-Cross are way too big for Indian urban areas.

Jeep Wrangler Gladiator version of Mahindra Thar?
Hmm!

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by corneliu

One thing I've realized with tyres is that there is a confict of interst between the vehicle manufacturer and tyre manufacturer. Toyota will always tell you to run low pressures to improve your ride quality (at the expense of the tyres and mileage), while the tyre company will always tell you to run very high pressures to reduce tyre wear and improve mileage. One has to experiment with various setups and choose a setup which is an ideal balance for one's level for comfort vs. fuel economy and tyre management.

There is a sticker in the driver door sil or owner's manual that provides cold tyre inflation pressure - this is what is expected to be followed.

Toyota will provide an inflation pressure taking into account something like a few dozen parameters including being able to dodge a Kangaroo on the highway and not get wrapped around a tree! This is why one should follow the OEM recommendations, all the R&D has been done and you have paid for it, just follow it.

[corneliu]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

There is a sticker in the driver door sil or owner's manual that provides cold tyre inflation pressure - this is what is expected to be followed.

Toyota will provide an inflation pressure taking into account something like a few dozen parameters including being able to dodge a Kangaroo on the highway and not get wrapped around a tree! This is why one should follow the OEM recommendations, all the R&D has been done and you have paid for it, just follow it.

Completely agree with you on this if one is running stock tyres. However, if you swap out to some other tyres, the dynamics will change. For example, in my case I swapped out the stock tyres to BFG KO2s and BFG, which also does a lot of testing for it's tyres, has a much higher pressure recommendation. Personally, in my case though, I started off with going with BFGs recommendations, but found the ride quality to be too stiff, and now find myself operating at Toyota's recommendations or somewhere thereabouts.

[indian21r]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

Could you please share the dealer who offered such a discount.

Even I am keenly watching this space for the High AT.

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Jeep Wrangler Gladiator version of Mahindra Thar?
Hmm!

I want one. Can't see where they wouldn't sell more of these than of another Scorp Getaway. Especially if priced considerably less than the Japanese competition.

-Eric

Originally Posted by ritedhawan

...may be Toyota decided to try its hand on a niche segment where previously well entrenched indigenous car makers like Mahindra and Tata burned their fingers...

...I think first they need to get rid of the negative connotation the word 'truck' brings up in their head--i.e., truck driver, transportation, hauling. Etc.

I believe you've hit the nail on the head. A friend (non-gearhead) looked over / sat in our Getaway and commented, "It's actually quite luxurious... the only part that doesn't look luxurious is the back" ! (that was someone in the plains)

Up here in the hills people are a bit more pragmatic (bought Nanos in droves), don't mind the rugged "truck" image, derive their image/status both from that and other things (how many apple trees they've got, how many cases of booze they served at their daughter's wedding, whatever), thus such vehicles as Bolero Camper can be far more practical/desireable for the average family than their SUV counterparts. So we see countless Campers (some modded), loads of V-Cross, a handful of Getaway/ Xenon, and now a couple HiLux too. Drove near 9,000km's back and forth across India over the winter and saw very few of any of these outside of ML/MZ/HP.

For the Indian masses such negative associations probably do exist, and being an outlier is too often frowned upon. Moreover parking issues abound and diesel gets gulped in these vs. sipped... And we must also bear in mind that the *DIY*-camping-outdoor-hunting-etc culture is part of what drives / justifies pickup sales in places like the U.S. Market may be in its infancy here or it may have not really even been conceived.

Not sure crew-cab (well, there you go, "crew" - as in laborer-friendly) pickups can ever sell in significant numbers in India and that's ok.

We love our Getaway because it works for us. Lots of people have been drawn to it and claim they'd like to have one, how many would actually take the plunge is doubtful.

But in 2019 a 4x4 Getaway cost only 11L - a couple lakhs less than a similarly equipped Scorp SUV and a superb VFM proposition in my view. Now here we have a HiLux reduced to quite a lot less than a similarly equipped Fortuner, and within its class. I'd call that a relative bargain, too.

-Eric

[joybhowmik]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Toyota Hilux Review

Toyota Hilux Pros

.
• No petrol engine (Fortuner offers one) for customers from Delhi-NCR, or those with low running

I am from NCR-Delhi. This is not a fair comparison.
Point is that the Fortuner's petrol engine is a RWD , which does not make the reference to it an apples to apples comparison.
Instead you may have considered comparing this to the 4WD Jimny (petrol) or the 4WD Thar(petrol) - this is all about capability when comparing these classes of vehicles - even if the fuel type is the common denominator.

[ritedhawan]

Originally Posted by ringoism

I believe you've hit the nail on the head. A friend (non-gearhead) looked over / sat in our Getaway and commented, "It's actually quite luxurious... the only part that doesn't look luxurious is the back" ! (that was someone in the plains)
Up here in the hills people are a bit more pragmatic (bought Nanos in droves), don't mind the rugged "truck" image.
-Eric

Exactly. In the himalayas, vehicles like the Gateway, V-cross, and Hilux show thier true colors in terms of the various means by which thier drivers can exercise the utility of such vehicles.

I quite imagine a sort of aluminium or iron contraption that can we welded on top of the flat bed of Hilux. Then put a tarpin sheet around its perimeter. You have the flatbed covered, two or three people can easily fit in. The use would come into picture in the monsoon time in Himalayas when a sudden downpour and you have one or many parts of the main highways broken down and that you need earth movers or people to be brought in to do the hard labour.

....thus such vehicles as Bolero Camper can be far more practical/desireable for the average family than their SUV counterparts.

I clearly remember on my multiple trips in my Honda Accord 2.4L AT to HP. Especially on the Bilaspur - Manali route, being overtaken by these nifty Bolero's! No matter how much I try, they will always stay on my car's tail, and eventually surpass me.