2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport unveiled, due in Australia this year
The latest version of the Toyota HiLux GR Sport – the first to be sold in Australia – has been unveiled overnight. Here’s everything we know so far about the new Toyota HiLux hero.
The 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport – the boldest and most powerful version of the special edition to date – has been unveiled overnight ahead of Australian showroom arrivals later this year.
Previous versions of the Toyota HiLux GR Sport have been introduced in Europe, Japan, Thailand and South Africa over the past two years, but the flagship ute has never made it to Australia. Until now.
Toyota says the bold new nose was designed in a wind-tunnel to deliver enough cooling to the uprated version of the Toyota HiLux 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine, which has had a 10 per cent boost in power and torque to 165kW and 550Nm.
Photos of the 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport released overnight by Toyota show the new top-end model has the same wider track and extended wheel-arch fender flares as the recently updated Toyota HiLux Rogue, but gains all-terrain tyres, heavy-duty suspension, rear recovery points, and heavy-duty ‘rock sliders’ instead of side-steps.
The Toyota HiLux GR Sport gains paddle shifters on the steering wheel for drivers who want to manually select ratios in the revised six-speed automatic gearbox, which has been recalibrated to handle the extra power and sportier driving.
The 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport also gains four-wheel-disc brakes (replacing the rear drum brakes, as with the latest version of the Toyota HiLux Rogue) and new lower control arms for the front suspension.
The rear shock absorbers have been moved outboard of the chassis rails for better on-road stability and off-road wheel articulation.
Toyota says new monotube shock absorbers with higher damping force and heat-dissipation capacity – and stiffer coil front springs – are designed to improve the front-rear suspension balance.
The four-piston front brake calipers and 338mm front discs are the same highly regarded set-up as the standard vehicle, but the brake calipers are painted GR Sport red.
The 312mm rear discs are clamped by a single-piston ‘floating’ caliper, as with the Toyota HiLux Rogue.
The tyres on the 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport depicted in the press photos appear to be less aggressive than the off-road rubber seen on prototypes caught on camera in Thailand.
The 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport is equipped with 17-inch alloy wheels (which offer better availability of hardcore off-road rubber), versus the 18-inch rims on the Toyota HiLux Rogue and Toyota HiLux SR5.
As with the latest Toyota HiLux Rogue, the front and rear axles are longer to deliver a wider track (for a total 140mm-wider track up front and a 155mm-wider track at the rear) to deliver a broader footprint and better stability.
Australian pricing and arrival timing for the 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport are yet to be announced.
Toyota Australia says the new top-of-the-range Toyota Hilux GR Sport – which effectively replaces the hugely-popular Toyota HiLux Rugged X discontinued late last year – is due in local showrooms by the end of 2023.
As a guide, the latest version of the Toyota HiLux Rogue is priced from $70,200 plus on-road costs.
As with the Toyota HiLux Rogue, the Toyota HiLux GR Sport sold locally is expected to be manufactured in Thailand before having its finishing touches (rear recovery points and ‘rock sliders’) added in Toyota Australia’s dedicated final assembly facility on the former Toyota Camry factory site in Melbourne.
In addition to the redesigned grille – with a T-O-Y-O-T-A logo said to be inspired from the 1980s HiLux – the 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport gains paddle shifters on the steering wheel, a rally-style red-line top-dead-centre marker in the steering wheel, a GR badge on the steering wheel garnish, a GR badge on the start button and instrument display, and redesigned GR Sport partial leather seats with larger side bolsters.
Previous versions of the Toyota HiLux GR Sport sold overseas were equipped with the same 2.8-litre turbo diesel four-cylinder engine (150kW/500Nm) as other HiLux variants.
However, the 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport has received a 10 per cent boost in power and torque (165kW @ 3000rpm and 550Nm @2800rpm).
While the 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport is the most powerful Toyota HiLux diesel to date, it’s not a match for the twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol-powered Ford Ranger Raptor (292kW/583Nm) paired to a 10-speed auto and all-wheel-drive.
Toyota Australia’s previous high-performance pick-up – the supercharged V6 petrol Toyota HiLux TRD edition introduced in 2008 – had claimed power and torque outputs of 225kW and 453Nm.
As reported yesterday, the Toyota HiLux was Australia’s top-selling vehicle outright in the new-car sales charts for the seventh year in a row in 2022 – and the first nameplate to top 60,000 deliveries in a calendar year since the Holden Commodore in 2005.
The recently revamped Toyota HiLux Rogue – and the arrival of the 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport – are intended to keep the HiLux fresh against newer competition (Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-Max) as this generation enters its eighth year of production.
Below is the technical information Toyota Australia has supplied so far on the 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport.
2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport
- Engine: 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel
- Power: 165kW @ 3000rpm
- Torque: 550Nm @ 2800rpm
- Transmission: Six-speed auto
- Length: 5320mm
- Width: 2020mm
- Height: 1880mm
- Wheelbase: 3085mm
- Front track: 1675mm
- Rear track: 1705mm
- Approach angle: 30 degrees
- Departure angle: 26 angles
Previous versions of the Toyota HiLux GR Sport not sold in Australia
The 2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport edition is the first to be offered in Australia.
There have previously been at least four different takes on the Toyota HiLux GR Sport theme sold in various markets around the world.
Previous versions of the Toyota HiLux GR Sport had different grille and front bumper treatments from each other – and different wheel designs – across Europe, Thailand, Japan and South Africa.
Here’s how they compared.
Previous Thailand variant of the Toyota HiLux GR Sport pictured below:
Previous Japanese version of the Toyota HiLux GR Sport pictured below:
Previous European version of the Toyota HiLux GR Sport pictured below:
Previous South African variant of the Toyota HiLux GR Sport pictured below:
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