Toyota Hilux GR Sport brings rally-inspired trim to pickup range

• Exclusive GR Sport styling cues
• Re-tuned off-road suspension
• Prices starting at £44,995

To kick off the new year, Toyota has announced that the Toyota Hilux pickup truck will soon be available in a new GR Sport guise. This trim level features subtle styling and interior tweaks, as well as re-tuned suspension.

Top 6 best pickup trucks 2024

The Toyota Hilux GR Sport is due to arrive in UK showrooms in the summer, with prices starting at £44,995 when order books open in February.

5

As a nod to previous iterations of the Hilux, the GR Sport displays bold ‘TOYOTA’ lettering on the front grille, in absence of the iconic Ellipses logo. The Hilux GR Sport also features a deeper front bumper, black trim and 17-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels. These adopt a more aggressive design and are fitted as standard with off-road tyres. 

Stepping up into the Hilux GR Sport, you can see that this new model benefits from part-leather sports seats. These incorporate GR-inspired red stitching, with other flashes of red in the interior coming in the form of a model-specific starter button and decorative strips for the instrument panel.

5

To further enhance the sense of sportiness, the GR Sport’s interior will also benefit from carbon fibre-style trim pieces and aluminium gear-shift paddles for the standard six-speed automatic gearbox.

The updates to the Hilux for the GR Sport trim are not just skin deep, however, as Toyota has also made tweaks to the pick-up’s suspension. The new car will boast a set of new monotube shock absorbers and upgraded front springs, which Toyota claims will provide improved “performance [and] responsiveness”.

Backing up the GR Sport’s performance credentials, this new model is only available with the Hilux’s top-of-the-range 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel engine. This provides 201bhp and 510Nm of torque, allowing for a 1,000kg payload capacity and the ability to tow a 3,500kg trailer.

What does this mean for car buyers?

Following on from the success of the Toyota GR Yaris hot hatchback, the Hilux GR Sport is the latest in an array of GR Sport trim levels spanning across much of the Toyota lineup, aimed at drivers looking to buy into the sporty ‘Gazoo Racing’ brand. While performance pickup trucks are very popular in the USA, the Hilux GR Sport enters what is a relatively niche market in the UK, accompanied only by the Ford Ranger Raptor. Although both cars are similar on paper, the Hilux manages to marginally undercut the Ford by a little over £2,000, making it a slightly better value proposition.

Looking for the perfect load lugger? Check out our list of the cars with the biggest boots