Toyota Hilux

Well-established workhorse receives an on-trend pseudo-sporting makeover

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MODEL TESTED 2.8 D-4D GR SPORT

Price £49,000 Power 201bhp Torque 369lb ft 0-60mph 10.0sec 30-70mph 9.5sec Fuel economy 28.9mpg CO₂ emissions 249g/km 70-Omph 53.4m

Plenty of car makers have abandoned Europe's light pick-up truck market, having made their doomed experiments. But for two pick-up-market institutions in particular-namely Ford and Toyota - the battle to be top dog in Europe's flatbed showrooms rumbles on, and as it does so, it's letting off some interesting fireworks.

The second-generation Ford Ranger is now in production, and it will present some stiff competition to this week's road test subject. But the Blue Oval's offering needs to get some years in yet to make it to its eighth model generation or its sixth decade on sale, as the Toyota Hilux has already managed.

For the past half-decade, the Ranger and Hilux have duked it out to be Europe's biggest-selling pickup, just as they have in Australia and elsewhere. Ford already has the newly turbo V6-powered Ranger Raptor to grab our attention for its flatbed. So now we turn to Toyota's riposte for that workhorse-withracing-tackle: the Dakar Rally inspired Hilux GR Sport.

With a four-cylinder diesel engine, this Hilux may be considered closer in concept to the first-gen Ranger Raptor diesel than the second-generation V6. Rather than trading carrying capacity for a high-end suspension makeover as the Ford did, however, the Toyota retains its leaf-sprung rear axle, its one-tonne load-bay rating and its intended role as a working vehicle.

But will that decision grant it a dynamic selling point alongside any other Hilux model in the range, other than simply a cosmetic one?