New Toyota Hilux GR Sport storms into Mzansi

The king of the Hilux range, the all-new GR Sport, finally hits SA streets wearing a slew of striking exterior modifications including a large black radiator grille, a carbon fibre horizontal cross bar and distinctive Toyota lettering. Flanking it is a pair of night-slicing LED headlamps and vertically stacked air ducts with integrated LED fog lamps.

To further amp up the visual aggression, Toyota has fitted the new Hilux GR Sport with bumpers based on those used on the Hilux Raider as well bolting on wider black overfenders with contrasting inserts. Finishing things off are black mirror caps, black door handles, black side steps and a rear styling bar with prominent GR branding. Customers can also opt for GR door decals for an extra shot of spice. Four paint colours are on offer: Arizona Red, Graphite Grey, Attitude Black and Glacier White.

This extrovert exterior styling is mirrored inside the cabin where you'll find a bespoke instrument cluster with metallic bezels and red needles, a racy leather-trimmed steering wheel with red contrast stitching and sporty aluminium pedals with rubber inserts. Other trick features unique to the Hilux GR Sport include carbon-fibre dash and door finishers, a GR-branded Push Start button as well as racing-inspired front seats with grippy Alcantara inserts and GR badging on the headrests. The driver's seat is now also power adjustable. 

As to be expected, Toyota has tweaked the chassis of the Hilux GR Sport with the addition of new monotube shock absorbers paired with stiffer coil springs; a modification that Toyota says helps to deliver improved high-speed stability as well as sharper handling response. A custom set of 17-inch alloy wheels shod with 265/65 tyres finishes things off. 

Buried beneath the muscular hood of the Hilux GR Sport lurks the firm's familiar 2.8l four-cylinder turbodiesel engine tuned to deliver more muscle than it does in the equivalent Raider. Customers can thus look forward to 165kW (+15kW) and 550Nm of torque (+50Nm). This is transferred to all four wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission that features revised mapping and lock-up control. The sum of these mods result in a 0-100 km/h sprint time reduction of 0.65 seconds while top speed clocks in at a claimed 175km/h. 

In terms of pricing the new Hilux GR Sport will set you back R865,400. This includes a nine-services/90,000km service plan and three-year/100,000km warranty. Service and warranty plan extensions can also be purchased from Toyota dealers.