It is without doubt that South Africans love their bakkies, hence my reason for asking Toyota South Africa for a Hilux to keep me company over the December holiday period, to find why we aspire to the bakkie side of life.
On the 9th of December, I was handed the keys to a double cab 2.4 GD-6 SRX 4x4 model. The SRX is the brand's entry level Hilux model and from the outside, it most certainly shows when parked next to its more upmarket Raider siblings.
There are many black plastic bits which fill the places where one would normally find chrome inserts. For example, the SRX does not feature front fog lamps and the door handles are black as well as the wing mirrors.
Now one might think that this is a bad thing, but in reality, not once did I look at the Hilux and wish I had fog lamps with chrome trimings, or chrome door handles. Another noteworthy addition is that the alloy wheels are the same as to what you will find on the Raider. This is a much better addition than the steel wheels previously offered.
On the inside, the SRX didn’t come across as the poverty spec model. It had electric windows all round, central locking, Bluetooth, USB/AUX, a multifunction steering wheel and a fantastic air-conditioning system. The seats are be cloth but the material used seems to be durable. The interior is made up of some hard plastics, however, I never got the feeling that I was sitting in a Chinese plastic shop.
As for the engine, well I was very impressed. The 2.4 GD-6 turbodiesel motor develops a decent 400 Nm of torque quite low down in the rev-range. Add a six-speed manual gearbox as well as an Eco and Power driving modes, the bakkie returned an impressive 8.1l/100km over my 4 000 km odd time with it. On the highway to the Pilanesberg Game Reserve, that figure dropped to around 7.6l/100km.
So what about the bakkie life? I life in the pothole riddled town of Witbank, all my friends have bakkies and they also tend to do these random, spur of the moment 4x4 trips. Having a vehicle that would fit that lifestyle was key. So after spending many kilometres behind the wheel of the Hilux, I can report that bakkie life is bliss.
Not once did I have to worry about a pothole, the big wheels and the ground clearance means that you can sail on over just about anything. I didn’t have to wash it every day because a dirty bakkie doesn’t look bad. I also noticed that taxis seemed to respect me more as not a single one decided to take chances with me, while slow drivers would quickly get out of the fast lane.
I also made good use of the load area a few times which adds to the practical advantages. I towed a friend’s boat to the dam and even launched it. I went camping and was able to load quite a lot of the gear onto the back of the Hilux. I will caution though, as much as I enjoyed the Hilux in its basic form, there is one massive annoyance and it is that every time you lock or unlock the doors, it gives off a very loud hooter sound. I get that it is there to notify you if the car has been locked or unlocked for safety reasons, however, at 12am on a Saturday night waking up all the neighbourhood dogs when you lock the car is just a bit bothersome.
If it is a blissful, stress free driving experience you are after, then you should consider a bakkie. However, just between Toyota and Ford, nearly 5 000 bakkies were sold in December so I guess many South Africans know this already.
