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Acceleration test
With a start line made of loose soil and small stones, I had no hopes that the Hilux would be able to have a good start without its wheels spinning at the same spot. And with 2WD, the rear wheels felt like a cat scampering for grip with its hind legs on a smooth floor. After a little fish-tailing, this pick-up darted ahead towards the finish line, leaving a huge trail of dust behind. The Hilux recorded 5.06 seconds in Vikrant’s first sprint in the Sport mode, and 4.84 seconds in the Normal drive mode.
The Power mode was active in both runs but the Sport mode took a while as the gearbox held on to the revs till the redline. On the other hand, in the Drive mode, it shifted up to provide some more boost. I tried the same run in 4WD and managed it in 4.63 seconds. This showed that the car managed to send power to all the wheels and moved ahead with zest with reduced wheel spin. This Toyota wasn’t the slowest of the lot but with three other cars posting a quicker time, it lost crucial points right at the start.
| Mercedes-Benz G Wagon | 4.47 seconds |
| Land Rover Defender | 4.50 seconds |
| Maruti Jimny | 4.50 seconds |
| Toyota Hilux | 4.84 seconds |
| Mahindra Thar | 5.06 seconds |
| MG Gloster | 5.09 seconds |
Slalom test
Another heartbreak coming up was in the case of the slalom. Imagine a car with the longest wheelbase manoeuvring around tightly placed cones. The other cars with a compact footprint and tight overhangs definitely had a clear advantage over the Hilux. And as luck would have it, the start line again had some loose soil – just like the acceleration test. But then, this time the slalom was designed to provide a mix of a little dirt and grass. So, the Hilux had bits where it could find grip and get in line instead of struggling on the dusty surface. However, the steering required quite a lot of effort and the kickback didn’t help either. It’s a long and heavy vehicle after all, and that could really be felt from behind the wheel. Being amongst the slowest to complete this test is nothing less than a heartbreak.
| Mercedes-Benz G Wagon | 13.53 seconds |
| Maruti Jimny | 13.93 seconds |
| Land Rover Defender | 13.97 seconds |
| Mahindra Thar | 14.19 seconds |
| Toyota Hilux | 15.53 seconds |
| MG Gloster | 16.00 seconds |
Beaker test
To further dampen my spirits, we had the beaker test to indicate how stable it keeps the passengers inside. Now, the double wishbone suspension setup at the front and a leaf spring rigid axle one at the rear speak of the car’s solid and robust nature in tackling any terrain. However, the thing with pick-ups or with such a setup is that they work well with a good payload. But with no load at the back, the rear keeps bouncing and moving sideways if you don’t go slow. Our test involved completing the task in the quickest way possible. With Vikrant not planning on slowing down for a fair comparison with all vehicles, the results were quite obvious as I could not save the water from spilling. By saving only 360ml, the Hilux turned out to be last on the list and scored the least.
| MG Gloster | 430ml |
| Land Rover Defender | 420ml |
| Mercedes-Benz G Wagon | 390ml |
| Mahindra Thar | 380ml |
| Maruti Jimny | 380ml |
| Toyota Hilux | 360ml |
Hill descent
How steadily a vehicle can face a steep incline or a decline shows how good it is off the road. This hill descent test portrayed exactly this, and I was confident the Hilux would perform with its 4LO hardware paired with descent control (DAC). At the top, just before the steep inline, I realised the side-step might touch due to the protruding edge. However, despite the long wheelbase, the ground clearance was good enough for it to not scrape and the Hilux started showing off its true colours. Apart from engine braking, the electronics were smartly braking every wheel to not let them jam and slip. I trusted the vehicle and it managed to overpower its weight, slowly gripping the stock tyres, and got down in 18.69 seconds. This is impressive for the heaviest of the vehicles, but unfortunately, two other cars did it slower, displacing the Hilux from the top spot.
| Land Rover Defender | 41.97 seconds |
| Mercedes-Benz G Wagon | 29.50 seconds |
| Toyota Hilux | 18.69 seconds |
| Mahindra Thar | 17.69 seconds |
| Maruti Jimny | 15.16 seconds |
| MG Gloster | 14.00 seconds |
Timed lap
There was no hope for me to recover from the lost points, but I was pretty sure the Hilux would be able to perform well, if not win. And it did. This timed lap involved a little straight stretch, some tight right-handers including a U-turn, and a muddy patch. The sprint was good but the Hilux surprised me by taking the U-turn without a three-point turn. A wider entry pointing towards the apex and the rear sliding out to position the car back on the track did the trick. It was flawless even in the muddy patch, making all the other sections seem easy-peasy, and landing amongst the fastest laps.
| MG Gloster | 51.62 seconds |
| Mercedes-Benz G Wagon | 51.72 seconds |
| Land Rover Defender | 55.68 seconds |
| Toyota Hilux | 59.37 seconds |
| Mahindra Thar | 59.40 seconds |
| Maruti Jimny | 1 minute, 06.60 seconds |
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