Toyota HiLux 2020 review: SR5

This is one going to be one of those moments where you mutter to yourself: “#$%$ @#4% @@!#”. That’s because of what I’m about to tell you.

Here goes: there’s a new HiLux coming in a couple of months. It’s not a completely new version, just an update, but it’s been given a new, tougher look and more equipment.

What I’m trying to say is if, like me, you’re the kind of person who will be a bit disappointed every time you pull up in the old HiLux next to the new HiLux that came out almost straight after you bought yours, then wait.

Keep in mind, though, that an all-new HiLux will be launched over the coming years and will make both look old. Damned if you do or don’t, eh? That’s cars… or utes.

Compared to the grades below it the SR5 almost looks too nice to be taken onto a worksite.

For now, let’s look at the current version.

I tested the SR5 which is the fancy HiLux in the range. Well it used to be, until the Rogue, Rugged and Rugged X arrived last year looking like stand-by vehicles for a new Mad Max film with all their snorkels and black bits. There are none of those add-on bits with the SR5 – not unless you option it up yourself using the massive accessories list.

According to my five-year-old son the colour of ours was Fire Truck (actually called Olympia Red), and it wore the standard 18-inch alloy wheels. The steel sports bar is also standard, along with the chrome rear bumper and black honeycomb mesh grille with its shiny metal-looking (because it’s plastic) frame. To a lot of people it will look just like another ute, but to those who know it’s unmistakably a HiLux and up there with the Ranger and Amarok as one of the most handsome utes on the market. It’s hard for anybody to miss what brand it is though, with the iconic T O Y O T A lettering plastered across the tailgate.

The SR5 comes standard 18-inch alloy wheels.

Compared to the grades below it the SR5 almost looks too nice to be taken onto a worksite – it’d be like wearing your going-out pants to mow the lawn - but by gosh you’d look swish doing it.

That premium exterior doesn’t quite make it all the way into the cabin, though. The hard plastic dash has a “leather grain” and pretend stitching, the seat upholstery is called premium fabric in the specs sheet but is better known as vinyl, and the media display looks a little aftermarket and small. That’s disappointing for a $60K vehicle and it’s not as refined or high-end feeling as the cabins of the Ford Ranger Wildtrack and VW Amarok TDI 550 Highline.

The hard plastic dash has a “leather grain” and pretend stitching.

The HiLux SR5 4x4 Double Cab is big, so take note of the dimensions: it’s 5330mm end-to-end (a new Toyota RAV4 is 4.6m long, to put that in perspective), 1855mm wide and 1815mm tall.

The SR5 4x4 is 5330mm end-to-end.

You’ll hear the HiLux SR5 referred to as a pick-up, and even Toyota calls it that, and strictly speaking it is one, because by definition a ute has a tray (or tub) which is connected to the cabin as one continuous piece, whereas a pick-up is traditionally built as a cabin with a tray or tub attached to the chassis.  

The HiLux SR5 Double Cab 4x4 is a five-seater, but it’s not as spacious for people as you might think. See, while there was plenty of room up front for me, my 191cm height and wingspan of 2m meant the rear seating was far from comfy. When I sat behind my driving position my knees touched the seat back and head room is also getting tight.

There is plenty of room in the front.

We installed our son’s car seat in the middle of the second row (I’ll explain why in the safety section below), but those back seats are so close to the front that he kept using the centre console armrest up front as an ottoman for his feet.

The rear seating would be far from comfy for taller adults.

If you have a baby capsule, I’d test fit it before buying this ute to see if the device clears the back of the front passenger seat when in a usable position.

I didn’t test to see if it was possible to fit three car seats across the second row, but from my own experience it can be a bit squeezy to do so in most vehicles.   

Where do I put the shopping? That’s the question I asked myself standing in the car park, the circulation in my hands being cut off by the 12 bags they were holding. The cabin was already full of people, bags, toys and books. On top of that it was raining, so none of that could go in the tray (our test HilLux didn’t have a tonneau cover) and I wasn’t going to pour all the shopping in there , so we had to wedge it under seats along with a case of beer and bottles of wine. I wasn’t happy about that. An accident would have turned all of that into projectiles.

The ride height of the HiLux SR5 4x4 Double Cab makes getting in and out for adults easier than a regular car, and putting kids into cars seats doesn’t get better than this with no bending required to do them up.

The ride height of the SR5 makes putting kids into cars seats easy with no bending required.

If you take a look at the images, you’ll see the standard sidestep works well for kids and also just inside the B-pillar is a handhold moulded in the plastic trim to give them some grip and leverage when hoisting themselves up into the cabin.

It was great to see rear directional air vents in the back row and tinted rear windows, too, but door pockets back there were only large enough to fit a half-eaten apple. 

On the plus side, both seat backs have map pockets to jam full of dinosaurs, dollies, rocks, leaves and banana bread. There are two cup holders in the fold-down centre armrest for shells and sand and another two up front, while the driver and co-pilot get larger door pockets. The double-opening glovebox is a good size, but the centre console bin is tiny.

The tub in the back might not have been useful for grocery shopping, but my hardware and gardening intake increased dramatically.

The Hilux SR5 4x4 Double Cab’s tray dimensions are 1560mm in length, 1645mm in width (at the widest point), while the side panel height is 481mm and the load height is 861mm. That load height is more than any SUV and that’s not convenient for daily domestic use. You might want to invest in a Bed Slide (go to the Toyota Hilux website’s accessories section) which effectively turns the tub into a giant drawer which you can pull out to access gear all the way towards the front.

Our test vehicle didn’t have a tub liner and without one you’ll scratch the heck out of the painted metal surface inside if you’re loading in sharp objects. Fortunately, the heavy stuff I was carrying was just bags of mulch and compost, but the accessories section of the Toyota HiLux website has rubber all-weather cargo mats. You’d be crazy not to get one. I’d also get a soft or hard tonneau cover, that way you can use the tray (if it’s clean) as a big boot for bags.

Two USB ports and two 12V outlets can be found up front, and in the centre console bin is a 100W 202V outlet.

A high level of safety is a priority in a family car and the good news is that the HiLux SR5 4x4 Double Cab is that it scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating when it was tested in 2019. That was after the HiLux was updated in July of that year with Toyota’s Safety Sense package.

The pack added a stack of advanced tech such as AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane departure alert and lane keeping assistance, plus adaptive cruise control.

In crash testing the HiLux SR5 4x4 Double Cab scored 96 per cent for adult occupant protection and 87 per cent for child occupant protection.

There are seven airbags: driver and front passenger; drive’s knee; front side; and side curtain shield airbags which cover the second-row windows.

For child seats there are two ISOFIX mounts for the window seats in the second row, but if you have a top-tether seat like my son’s there’s only one anchor point and it’s located in the centre. You can still install a top-tether seat on the window side but it means threading the strap and hook through the headrest struts and then hooking it to the anchor point. For my own piece of mind I installed his seat in the centre of the row – it just seemed more secure to me.

I found the LED headlights great for the country roads around where the grandparents live, and for the poorly lit ones in the city.   

A full-sized alloy wheel is located under the vehicle.

The HiLux SR5 4x4 Double Cab is covered by Toyota’s five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Servicing is recommended by Toyota at relatively short intervals - every six months or 10,000km, but it’s capped at $250 per regular service.

The HiLux SR5 4x4 Double Cab is covered by Toyota’s five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Toyota says the 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine and six-speed auto should use 8.4L/100km after a combination of open and urban roads. I drove our test vehicle 534.2km, but my fuel test took in 184.1km of motorways, country roads and city streets, and it needed 21.37L to top the 80L take back up to full. That’s 11.6L/100km by my testing.