Car Moon

Toyota has blessed its European market HiLux pickup truck with a mid-life facelift for the 2012 model year. The cosmetic surgery starts with the exterior that gains a redesigned front end sporting a different grille dressed in chrome, new bonnet, headlamps and front bumper. The changes continue with the redesigned front and rear wings, a new crop of 15- and 17-inch steel and alloy wheels, plus new door mirrors. Read more »

Roughly the same time when the Moon Regan Transantarctic Expedition used the highly specialized Bio-Inspired Ice Vehicle for an epic Antarctic crossing, Toyota also sent a fleet of four Hilux pickup trucks to the South Pole, as part of an expedition carried out by the members of the Indian National Center for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR).

Having few things to do this weekend, I decided to crash a Toyota event. It was the 2010 Toyota Experience, which will eventually cover 17 Romanian cities and is meant to promote the Japanese manufacturer's European line-up, from the cute-and-cuddly iQ to the rough-and-tough Hilux truck and the more stylish Land Cruiser. Video after break.

We're not sure how many owners of the Toyota HiLux are interested in boosting the performance of their pickup truck, but for those that do, electronics expert Unichip Europe has now launched a new ECU upgrade for the Japanese model.

A remap of the ECU's settings for fuelling and turbo boost has got the stock 3.0-liter turbo diesel engine's output up from a measured 155-bhp and 254 lb-ft of torque to 184-bhp and 295 lb-ft at 3,000 rpm.

A team of scientists took a specially prepared Toyota Hilux pickup truck for a ride on the wild side of Iceland's fiery Eyjafallajökull volcano just hours before its eruption on Wednesday grounded thousands of flights across Europe.

And if you're wondering what they were doing there, the scientists scrambled to the volcano to set up monitoring equipment before the long-dormant mountain blew its hat off sending a vast cloud of ash 30,000 feet into the sky.

Aside from the guards, winch and additional lights, the most prominent upgrade on Toyota's Hilux were the giant low pressure 38-inch tires. Follow the jump for the complete gallery.

Today, Toyota's European division released details on its new model year Hilux pickup truck that benefits from a tweaked 2.5-liter turbo diesel engine with a 20 per cent increase in power and extra torque as well as revised equipment specifications for 2010.

A little bit of fun -especially when it concerns promotional activities- never hurt anyone. As part of a series of events in the lead-up to this Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, Panasonic Toyota Racing pilot Timo Glock took a few lessons from Toyota's Hilux Heroes stunt drivers and managed to drive a near-standard Hilux V6 for 60 meters (around 200 feet) on two wheels. The 27-year-old German then moved on to doughnuts and formation driving where he entertained a large group of invited members of the press.

Toyota has gone ahead and fully revealed its facelifted HiLux that will go on sale in Europe before the end of the year. For 2009, Toyota’s popular pick-up truck benefits from a series of styling, technical and equipment upgrades. On the outside, the subtle styling tweaks include the new trapezoidal grille and grey plate bar along with the more heavily profiled bumper and the new 15 and 17-inch alloy wheels. Inside the ’09 HiLux has been updated with a new four-spoke steering wheel with integrated controls for the audio system and multi-information display and a new air conditioning system. Toyota says it has also revised the instrument cluster and controls for the wipers and lights. -Continued

Under the skin, Toyota has upgraded the 169bhp (171 HP) 3.0 D-4D diesel engine in the automatic version with an increase of 17Nm in maximum torque to 360Nm. Moreover, the Japanese automaker replaced the available four-speed automatic transmission with a new five-speed unit that promises to improve performance and fuel consumption. According to Toyota, fuel efficiency in the combined cycle for the automatic version is increased from 30.1 to 31.7 mpg UK.

Toyota’s engineers also tweaked the suspension settings and added a new double-row roller-type rear axle bearings and more responsive valve structure on the front shock absorbers along with new bushes. Additionally, the new Hilux gains larger brakes with 297mm diameter ventilated front discs and 295mm drums for all four-wheel drive models, apart from the models equipped with VSC, which have 319mm ventilated front discs.

Depending on the market, Toyota says that it has improved the standard equipment on all models across the HiLux range.

Toyota’s official Malayisian website has gone ahead and revealed the first image of the mildly facelifted 2009 Hi-Lux pick-up truck. Unless you own a Hi-Lux, you will probably have a hard time spotting the differences between the 2008 and 2009 model. Minor changes on the outside include a heavier profiled front bumper, a new grille, restyled wing mirrors with integrated indicators and new alloy wheels. Toyota Europe has yet to make an announcement but expect the revised Hi-Lux to hit European showroom floors towards the end of 2008 or early 2009.

Via: Jalopnik