The 2021 Toyota Hilux Mako Is the Ultimate Raptor-Baiting Off Road Special
Straight from the dealership, modified with Toyota accessories and Toyota-approved upgrades—but it’s only available in in New Zealand.
Toyota New Zealand released the ultimate unobtanium off-road delight: the 2021 Hilux Mako. It's Toyota's answer to the Ford Ranger Raptor: A truck you can drive straight off of a dealership's lot that's been modified with Toyota off-road accessories and Toyota-approved upgrades from other companies.
It's based on the notoriously tough four-door extended-cab Hilux SR5, WhichCar reports, and features a lifted suspension and 265/60 Maxxis Razr all-terrain tires mounted to black 18-inch Rhino alloy wheels, among other things.
Sadly, that Hilux base means we're not going to get it in America. In fact, this is a New Zealand-only special. That doesn't make us want it any less, though, and now we'd love it if they did this with our market's smallest Toyota truck, the Tacoma. Taco Mako? Yes, please.
We hope this is a preview of future special editions to come elsewhere because it sounds like a blast. The Hilux Mako features an ARB Old Man Emu suspension kit that lifts the suspension 1.6 inches in the front over the Australian off-road flagship Rugged X trim and nearly 2 inches in the rear, WhichCar notes. It also features Baja race-truck-style BP-50 bypass dampers with adjustable compression and rebound control. The Hilux Mako has steel braided brake lines and larger brakes from the Toyota Fortuner.
Fender flares hide the bigger rubber, plus a more aggressive bumper that includes an LED light bar. Rock rails-slash-side steps, skid plates, mud flaps, bed liner and red tow hooks round out the function-with-form look, TFL Truck reports. Inside are a pair of bucket seats in the front with Mako embossed into the leather trim as well as a sport steering wheel.
Lest you think this is only for bashing around trails, the Hilux Mako can still tow 7,700 lbs and haul payloads as heavy as 2,068 lbs, per TFL Truck.
The Hilux Mako keeps the Hilux's usual 1GD 2.8-liter turbodiesel, good for 201 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, reports WhichCar. (A turbodiesel Ranger Raptor fighter? Hell, sign us up.) Under the hood is also a plaque geared especially towards the New Zealand market: “Handcrafted by the good buggers at Toyota."
A 2021 Hilux Mako would set you back $53,009 U.S. per today's exchange rate (NZD$79,990), and Toyota hopes to sell 250 per year.
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