Toyota has revealed the starting price for its Dakar Rally-inspired Toyota Hilux GR Sport II with order books now open.
The top of the range Hilux will cost £49,750 inc VAT, putting it in a similar price bracket to a recently launched Ford Ranger Wildtrak X. The price for the GR Sport II is £41,523, excluding VAT.
As part of the package there's entirely new suspension with a wider track to improve handling. Styling changes include new 17-inch black alloys and an aero sports bar.
Power remains unchanged with the current line-up's 2.8-litre engine producing 201bhp and 500Nm of torque. This is the same engine used in the Toyota Hilux Invincible X which is the top-of-the-range pick-up model in the standard range.
The £50k on the road price is also a whopping £10,000 more than the next model down in the range, the Hilux Invincible X. The price puts in on a par with the £49,000 Wildtrak X - which uses the 2-litre bi turbo engine - and slightly behind the £53,000 Wildtrak the V6 engine.
The inside gets a new Toyota Smart Connect+ multimedia system which includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity as well as a nine-speaker JBL audio system.
Van Reviewer has already been behind the wheel of the new GR Sport II Hilux and was suitably impressed by the new suspension changes. The wider track does improve handling, especially on road where the Hilux now feels far more engaged than the standard model. The increased ride height also gives it a slight performance boost off-road - although the gains are no where near as noticeable as they are on-road.
Toyota also claims the new setup delivers less noise and vibration, which we can confirm.
The improved suspension also enables the new GR Sport II to claim some small wins on the off-roading capabilites, in terms of the numbers it can tackle. The approach angle has increased from 29 to 30 degrees, while the ride height boost of 20mm has improved ground clearance slightly. The front and rear tracks have also been increased by 140mm and 150mm, respectively.
Read the full review of the Toyota Hilux GR Sport II below:
