Robust Toyota Hilux eats up ‘Fury Road’ on Namibian road test

In the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max what would you drive? Logic suggests a Toyota Hilux.

Toyota's pick-up has earned a reputation as both workhorse and warhorse. That's built on Top Gear toughness and something Toyota is coy to use in marketing campaigns: war-zone popularity.

Having lost its tagline “The best built cars in the world”, perhaps the car giant could opt for “Toyota Hilux: Falluja’s favourite car, where reliability is a matter of life and death”. Judging by news reports from the war-ravaged city, the advertising authorities couldn’t argue with that.

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Last October, US officials asked Toyota to figure out why its Hilux has become the vehicle of choice for Islamic State forces. US deputy assistant secretary of defence for Middle East policy, and a former US army ranger, Andrew Exum told Newsweek: "It's the vehicular equivalent of the AK47. It's ubiquitous to insurgent warfare. And actually, recently, also counterinsurgent warfare. It kicks the hell out of the Humvee."

That's its warhorse credentials. As for workhorse pedigree, Top Gear turned this Toyota into an icon. The Clarkson-era show bought an 18-year-old Hilux diesel with 190,000 miles on the clock. It then proceeded to crash it into a tree, submerge it in the ocean, hit it with a wrecking ball and set it on fire. The piece de resistance was to place it atop a tower block that was then demolished in a controlled explosion. Still it kept running. Follow that.

With no demolition-ready tower blocks to hand, we turned to the dystopian world of Mad Max – or more correctly the Namibian desert film set to the most recent movie in the series. Welcome to Fury Road. The sun rises early over the plains of the Naankuse animal sanctuary, 50km outside the capital Windhoek. It is greeted with cries, screeches and screams, mostly from the local wildlife, a few from unhappy warthogs and jet-lagged motoring hacks. By 6.30am our convoy is on the first leg of our 600km trek on the rutted, suspension-bending dirt tracks that make up most of this nation's road network.

Mineral wealth

Namibia is a fast-growing, vast little nation, with a population of just 2.2 million people, but a land mass nearly three times as big as Germany. It is rich in minerals, particularly diamonds, and there is renewed interest in the southwest African state, particularly from China. One natural resource attracting attention is uranium. In 2008, North Korea funded an impressive new state house for the Namibian president, no doubt another altruistic endeavour by Kim Jong-un.

On the outskirts of Windhoek we come to Seán MacBride Street. It may not be a grand avenue, but it’s close enough to the president’s residence to symbolise the importance the Irish statesman and Nobel Peace Prize winner had in Namibian society. As UN high commissioner in the 1970s, MacBride campaigned for its independence.

No sooner have we skirted around Windhoek’s tarmac streets than we are back in the African dust bowl. The Hilux kills off the kilometres without a twitch. Sitting on what should be a rudimentary leaf spring rear suspension, it’s remarkably adept at soaking up the bumps. Up front, there’s a new 2.4-litre 150bhp diesel, available with either 6-speed manual or automatic. For a pick-up, it’s remarkably quiet, something the car’s chief engineer tells us was key to the brief.

Hiroki Nakajima, whose last project was the IQ city car, visited more than 110 countries to hear from users and see the conditions the cars were experiencing. He found that, among some users, the Hilux had lost some of its toughness: “I knew this had nothing to do with the vehicle’s road-going capabilities.”

He says “the users’ idea of toughness had far exceeded durability alone, and they had come to expect similarly high levels of on-board comfort and safety”. Nakajima says the owner profile now stretches beyond the traditional base in commercial fleets “to include more recreational usage, as well as families seeking an SUV-like cabin”.

Tropic of Capricorn

Back on the dirt, and as our convoy crosses the Tropic of Capricorn, I have counted just four local vehicles in the last two hours: two Toyota pick-ups, an overladen truck and a horse-drawn cart. There are no towns, houses, electricity pylons and very few trees to seek shelter. A breakdown out here is more than an inconvenience.

By lunchtime, we enter Namibgrens, a mountain camp about 20km from the aptly named settlement of Solitaire. The evening offers the first real test of the Hilux climbing power as we criss-cross nearby mountain ranges. The pick-up is pitched against rock-strewn tracks and verges normally reserved for goats or antelopes.

The Hilux’s transmission is fitted with a switchable high- and low-range transfer case and both front and locking limited slip-rear differentials. The system can turn from two-wheel drive to four-wheel – in either high or low range – at the turn of a switch. Other features include hill descent control and traction control, though this is best switched off for the really rugged stuff. All these give the Hilux access to areas normally off-limit to anything but a mule or a camel.

Dirt-road trek

Back in camp, the effect on our convoy of a day’s dirt-road trek and mountain climbing is one slow puncture and a meandering crack on our windscreen. Despite several hours behind the wheel and some hair-raising mountain routes, we’re all still relatively relaxed. It’s another example of why those in the harshest environments opt for a Hilux.

The next morning takes us across the Namib Desert, at speeds of 120km/h. A word of praise for the hydraulic steering at this stage: it's surprisingly sharp, particularly for a pick-up. On the outskirts of the port town of Walvis Bay, a series of mountainous sand dunes play host to our next challenge. This is where the desert action scenes for Mad Max: Fury Road were filmed.

The fine-grain sand on the dunes swallows your feet, yet with tyre pressure lowered on the Hiluxes, we criss-cross the dunes, ascending sheer slopes. At one stage we descend a slope that looks more like a cliff face.

Our intrepid convoy leader, Len, lays down the guiding tyre tracks with his older version Hilux, and lays down the law on how to conquer the dunes. He warns us to take the hill in low ratio first gear “and whatever you do, don’t hit the brakes”. If we start to slide we need to accelerate. “Hit the brakes, the rear will slide out and then you’re likely to flip and roll down the hill.”

The engine snarls and we tip over the edge, a windscreen full of sky quickly swapped for a fullscreen view of the sandy earth below. The seatbelt strains to keep me from falling on to the steering wheel. It’s over in about 10 seconds but it feels like a lifetime. And then it’s on to the next, steeper, sandy bank.

And so it goes, up ridiculously steep banks before plunging down the other side. After conquering a couple of them, fear gives way to fun and then a degree of nonchalance. All the while we’re managing speeds of 60km/h or more. This is a natural habitat for a Hilux.

Toughened chariot

Toyota’s efforts to enhance the comfort and ride quality will no doubt be welcomed by armies and aid agencies on all sides. That said, I have an issue with the touchscreen infotainment system. Despite repeated assurances from the engineers, I suspect it may be the Achilles heel of the Hilux’s ironclad reliability. This car is engineered with an eye to easy repairs. A back-street garage in Namibia or the Congo should be able to get the car back on the road with a spanner, a hammer and a can of WD40. It shouldn’t need an electronic engineer.

Since 1968, the Hilux has been conquering the Arctic, Antarctic and everything in between. This latest iteration blends well-earned warhorse and workhorse credentials with the refinement of regular SUVs, making it a more viable proposition for those who need a working family vehicle.

The road warriors of the world need not fear the Hilux is going soft. This is still the best option for the fury road.

The lowdown: Toyota Hilux
Engine: 2,393cc four-cylinder diesel putting out 150bhp @ 3,400rpm and 400Nm of torque. Six-speed manual or six-speed auto transmission with high and low ratio gearing
Format: Single cab or double cab (five-seater)
Towing capability: 3.5 tonnes
0-100km/h: 13.2 seconds
Fuel economy: 6.9 l/100km (double cab with stop-start)
Emissions: 169 g/km (double cab with stop-start)
Prices: From €29,250 for single cab entry level; from €36,500 for double cab
Arriving: July