mrkjd

May be starting a contract which will involve a fair amount of off road driving visiting remote work sites in the desert. Car being proposed is a Toyota Hilux Autobox. I’ve always had manual Landcruisers or similar before and have some reservations as to whether an auto will hack it. Anybody drove an autobox Hilux? How was it?

nonthaburi

without a doubt my most hated vehicle on the roads.

Saudis seem to bash the hell out of them on and off road though, so I'm sure you'll be fine.

Youtube is your friend there.

uk_grenada

they are tough, very tough, the Taliban would use nothing less... All Made in South Africa.

I have had them, currently I have a similar Isuzu d-max. With an auto plus the relevant toys they are all very capable, the Isuzu has a more sophisticated 1-2-3-4 wheel drive system so is even better off road. They all have hard back ends.

one drawback , all trucks do this - they are light at the back end if you don't carry 1/4-1/2 ton in the back, makes them slightly more likely to fish tail at high speed if you are heavy handed.

Only the VW truck has a 4x4 that really sorts this, but its not as tough a thing if used in anger.

mrkjd

Well it’s somewhat reassuring to know the auto box can hack it. Not much chance of hammering down highways at speed or driving to local norms as all company vehicles will have driver monitoring in them! Last couple of contracts have been out of the Sandpit so a bit out of touch but I guess industry cut backs have scuppered us getting a blinged up land cruiser. On the plus side it’ll be easier to dig out when I hi-centre it on a sand ridge! Happy days!

jam25mack

I'd be surprised if you get an auto IMO. All the ones I have driven in the last decade here (and that's a lot) are manual.

I use Hilux's on site and compared with other pick ups about they're decent (essentially they're just a Fortuna with leaf springs on the rear). Both the diesel and petrol versions are OK. I've recently got a 2017 petrol model and inside it's a relatively nice place to be.

As someone mentioned though, they're not going to be great offroad unless you add some weight over the rear wheels. We used to weld in a few sections of excavator track.

All that said, if its for work (not pleasure) you'll be just looking to get to where you want to go not conquer the highest dunes and so I'd say it'd be fine in both Auto and Manuel formats.

Millhouse

my fortuner had leaf springs ...

jam25mack

I stand corrected. Explains why they handle terribly under breaking though.

uk_grenada

I yhink its a lot to do with balloon tyres and soft rubber bushing - its all a bit wobbly but it helps comfort in the rough stuff...