ROGUE TRADIE

IF FLAUNTING A WIDER, TALLER STANCE DOESN’T WIN YOU OVER, HOW ABOUT THE 2022 N80 HILUX ROGUE’S NEW SUSPENSION PACKAGE AT NO EXTRA COST?

- MATT RAUDONIKIS

TOYOTA Australia has thrown down its first challenger in the emerging sports 4x4 ute segment, with its 2022 Hilux Rogue. The big ticket item that distinguishes this Rogue from the previous model and all other current Hiluxes is a new suspension package featuring a wider wheel track, both front and rear.

This is no small track increase achieved by simply changing the offset of the wheels, as some manufacturers have claimed before. No, Toyota has seriously re-engineered the Hilux Rogue’s chassis with a new, wider rear differential housing and lengthened front lower control arms, to achieve what the manufacturer claims is around 140mm in extra track width.

This wide track is designed to improve the Rogue’s stability on- and off-road by widening its footprint. While it was under there Toyota raised the ride height a claimed 20mm, for improved ground clearance.

The Hilux Rogue had previously been more of a luxury dress-up pack at the upper end of the Hilux model range. Extras like heated leather seats, a JBL sound system and a powered roller shutter over a carpet-lined cargo tub differentiated it from regular models, but no performance additions firmly positioned the Rogue in the accessory pack realm.

The good news is that the Rogue still gets all of those luxe features but becomes the only model in the range with these new wide-track underpinnings.