ACTIVE BOOST

THE SR5 HAS ALWAYS BEEN A POPULAR CHOICE IN THE HILUX RANGE. WE FIND OUT IF IT IS ANY BETTER WITH A BIT OF A BOOST PROVIDED BY THE ADDITION OF V-ACTIVE TECHNOLOGY

- MATT RAUDONIKIS

TOYOTA Australia is rapidly moving towards applying some form of electrification to all of its popular models. It recently announced that it is dropping petrol-only variants of popular T cars-like Corolla and Camry, as well as popular SUVs like RAV4 and Kluger - and replacing them with hybrid motivated versions.

This is not surprising when you consider that Toyota has been at the forefront of hybrid technology with vehicles such as Prius and other models for more than 20 years now, and these have paved the way for current and future model hybrids with more evolved petrol/electric systems.

Things are a little different on the diesel-fuelled 4x4 front, which represent a major part of Toyota's Australian sales volume. Most of those 4x4 vehicles are powered by the 1GD-FTV 2.8-litre fourcylinder diesel engine, and earlier this year Toyota introduced a 48V starting and charging system on some of the HiLux variants that use this engine. But Toyota doesn't call this 'mild-hybrid' a hybrid at all, instead opting for the term 'V-Active' technology'.

WHAT IS IT?

V-ACTIVE is essentially a 48V system that can boost performance and improve efficiency with a small amount of electric power applied to the drivetrain. Expect V-Active to filter through to other Toyota vehicles that use the 1GD-FTV diesel engine; Toyota has already confirmed that the new J250 Series Prado will be powered exclusively by this engine when it arrives to market later this year.

We grabbed some wheel time in a HiLux SR5 double-cab 4x4 that features the V-Active system. The popular SR5 starts at $63,260 (+ORC) and this particular vehicle also included the Premium interior pack and premium paint which add $2500 and $675 respectively. This is a price increase of more than $2500 since the V-Active tech was introduced to the HiLux back in March.