Toyota HiLux muscles up against Ford Ranger Raptor

This is probably the closest thing to a genuine desert-duelling Toyota GR HiLux you’re going to see before the next-generation 4x4 ute arrives around mid-decade.

Built by Thailand-based tuning group Rad Bumper, the jacked-up tough truck is based on a 2021 Toyota HiLux 4x4 dual-cab and boasts a heavily redesigned front-end, including a wider steel front bumper with winch, a new grille and a power bulge on the bonnet.

Along with a wide-body kit thanks to its pumped wheel-arches, the rippling Toyota HiLux also gets a tailored LED light bar on the roof and a redesigned tailgate.

Bringing the design together is a significant lift kit and heavily upgraded suspension which includes Old Man Emu suspension parts.

It also rides on oversized alloy wheels shod with mud-terrain tyres.

Some of Rad’s catalogue is now offered in Australia, and although it looks like it would tear the Ford Ranger Raptor to pieces, it’s not clear how much design and development work has gone into the mechanical changes.

As it stands, the vehicle appears to be powered by the same 2.8-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder powertrain (150kW/500Nm) as its donor car.

The Toyota HiLux Rugged X (from $70,750 plus on-road costs) is currently the most capable HiLux dual-cab ute offered by Toyota Australia from dealerships and features a locally-developed steel front bar, while the HiLux Mako is New Zealand’s version.

Toyota does not yet have a rival for the Ford Ranger Raptor and with the next-generation Ranger all but certain to deploy turbocharged petrol and diesel V6 engines, it begs the question – when is Toyota going to release its own tough truck?

It’s highly unlikely to occur for the current-generation HiLux, which isn’t due to be replaced until later in 2024 or into 2025, at which point it will leverage the same TNGA-F platform as the new Toyota Tundra full-size pick-up truck and Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series.

This is when the first factory-developed Toyota GR HiLux is set to launch, and like other GR-branded models will take learnings from the brand’s motorsports endeavours, with the new 300kW-plus twin-turbo V6 Toyota HiLux GR firmly in the frame as its inspiration.

But until that happens, customers wanting a hard-core, mud-plugging HiLux tough truck will have to continue watching the aftermarket for models such as this Thai creation.