The first thing we noticed as we headed out with the Workmate unladen was some of the criticism we’ve levelled at the ride of the new HiLux didn’t pertain to this particular model grade. It might have something to do with the smaller rims and chunkier rubber, but whatever the reason, the Workmate’s around town ride is a little more comfortable than an SR5 for example.
The ride obviously gets better when you load some weight into the tray. We headed up to our mates at Lower Blue Mountains Landscape Supplies and tossed a few bags of garden rocks into the tray. Once again, we went with around 400kg of ballast and the result was a much more settled ride. The suspension coped with the weight easily too. So much so, in terms of driving response, you’d barely register it was there.
One thing we did notice is the height of the load tray when you’re lugging heavy weights like 20kg bags of rock. Getting the bags in wasn’t so hard, but hauling them back out was a little more difficult. It’s the trend across the segment, but the height of the tray floor isn’t quite low enough. If you’re loading and unloading heavy toolboxes or work equipment often, you’ll get a solid workout.
The HiLux is covered by Toyota’s three-year/100,000 warranty and has six-month/10,000km service intervals. Those intervals don’t quite match some of the segment leaders like Ranger, but Toyota offsets that impost with cheaper costs. For the first six services up to 60,000km, the cost is capped at $180, which is comparatively quite cheap.
Comments
Post a Comment