The venerable Toyota Hilux has added to its list of achievements by completing an Antartic journey of more than 9,500 km, further than any vehicle of its type has managed before – the truck can now list reaching both Magnetic North and South Poles in its resume.
The feat was achieved as part of the longest expedition in polar history, the double trans-continental crossing organised by Extreme World Races.
Three Hilux, including two 6 x 6 models, completed the expedition, running on standard 3.0 litre D-4D engines and transmissions. Of course, to meet the demands of temperatures as low as -50°C and harsh terrain rising to above 3,400 metres, the vehicles were specially engineered by Icelandic conversion specialists Arctic Trucks.
Necessary modifications to the vehicles included fitting a crane to lift heavy equipment and a 280 litre fuel tank – 800 litres in the case of the six-wheel models.
The suspension and drivetrain were strengthened, crawler gears were added to the transmission, and the extra large tyres were filled to between 2.0 and 3.0 psi (compared to 29.0 psi for a regular road-going Hilux), giving a “footprint” 17 times larger than standard tyres. The trucks also ran on Jet A-1 fuel, to cope with the extreme cold.
Other Hilux units were also on call, deployed by the expedition team to meet the demands of setting up a fuel depot and weather station and providing essential support to scientists and competitors in a ski race.
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This is NOTHING new. Proton has done it with its Wira in North Pole…
If nt mistaken Proton jz use a plane and drop it there right ??? did Wira traveled 9500km ??
Uhh… P1 Wira… is P1 Wira entirely made by P1? Engine? Ask P1 to send it’s P1 Persona to this super extreme part of world.. modify cukup2. lets see if they survive this land. ops!! doesn’t P1 needs 4X4 to rock this place? 1.8l petrol engine + ciplak turbo? result known even before the trip started.
haha u guys said it all, I am too lazy to elaborate bout the biggest joke in the 90’s…
if it was original spec then ya maybe it has sting to boast about…otherwise any stupid car u modify it , it can go anywhere u want it to go…..pointless in practice bt i guess its jus for the publicity…
Of coz, they want prove their 4 speed autobox invincible. Lolz..
Trust me !!! TopGear will be extremely unhappy about this ………………. XD
i agree with you bro
beat that Korean Fanboy….
since when korean are making trucks? at least no for kia and hyundai.
D-4D diesel engines using Jet A-1 fuel…… hmmm…….. that’s interesting.
Jet A-1 is simply unleaded kerosene (paraffin) oil-based fuel, also known as AVTUR. There’s also Jet B, less common, and that’s a naptha-kerosene region composition.
Reminds me of this old Saab video; a 9000 that went round and round around a circuit non-stop until it clocked in 1,000,000 miles.