Toyota HiLux SR and SR5 get new nose and DPF manual burn switch
The Toyota HiLux SR and SR5 variants have been given the Aussie-designed nose from the HiLux Rogue, but it’s the manual burn DPF switch that’ll be of most interest to buyers.
HILUX SR and SR5 variants (extra cab and double cab) have been given the same Aussie-designed nose that the recently-launched HiLux Rogue wears. The 4×2 and 4×4 SR and SR5 variants have copped an $80 price rise as a result of this styling change and the fitment of the DPF manual burn switch.
Toyota’s Melbourne-based product planning and development team designed the Rogue in conjunction with the Toyota engineering team in Thailand, where HiLux is manufactured for global markets.
Toyota Australia’s vice president sales and marketing Sean Hanley said, “When we styled the Rogue, we knew it was the right design for the growing top-end recreational ute market and our faith in that has now been borne out with the same face adopted on SR and SR5 HiLux models.
“The ute market has clearly shifted in the past decade and as Australia’s best-selling vehicle, HiLux now offers a more contemporary, bold and refined style to go with its ‘unbreakable’ reputation,” he said.
According to Toyota, the tweaked snout has afforded some slight efficiency improvements. Combined fuel consumption for 4×2 SR and SR5 automatic models has been cut by 0.2L/100km to 7.9L/100km. Automatic SR and SR5 4×4 models gain a 0.1L/100km improvement with combined fuel consumption falling to 8.4L/100km.
But it’s the addition of a diesel particulate filter switch on both 2.4L and 2.8L diesel engines that will be of interest to most buyers. The switch allows drivers to manually initiate a burn to cleanse the filter.
Most DPF burns are controlled by the car’s ECU there are times, like when city-based drivers use their ute for tootling around town that the system won’t reach the desired operating conditions to burn off and cleanse the filter; in those situations, being able to manually burn off the DPF is useful and prevents it clogging and requiring a mechanic to manually unblock the DPF. The driver will be alerted to the need to operate the manual burn function by a light on the dash that looks like the one below. A DPF switch has also been fitted to all Toyota Fortuner SUV variants.
