2022 Toyota Hilux Revo GR Sport Is The Street Tacoma We Can't Have

2 years, 6 months ago - 31 August 2021, motor1
2022 Toyota Hilux Revo GR Sport Is The Street Tacoma We Can't Have
Maybe it's better that way.

You won't find the new Toyota Hilux in the United States. The Tacoma is close, but with different bones, the trucks aren't necessarily plug-and-play when it comes to tweaks. In other words, if you're sitting in your Tacoma outside a coffee shop in Virginia reading this and dreaming of making it a GR Sport model with imported parts, keep dreaming.

Perhaps that's for the best, because these two Hilux Revo GR Sport models made for Thailand are ... curious. Actually, the Hi-Floor version isn't bad at all. Hi-Floor is just a trick way to call it four-wheel drive, which means the Lo-Floor is – you guessed it – two-wheel drive. Toyota says both trucks embody more of a sports car nature, both in appearance and to a certain degree, performance. Flashy graphics and an updated nose with a body-colored grille and special wheels are common to both models on the outside. Similarly, a GR makeover inside sees plenty of smoke-silver trim, red stitching, and GR branding, among other things.

From there, we draw attention first to the GR Sport Lo-Floor for two reasons. In a world where burly off-roading pickups are king, seeing an actual street truck from an automaker is a neck-snapper. The two-wheel-drive Hilux GR Sport wears a modest body kit with side skirts and it has black trim, as a sporty truck should. It also rides on lowered suspension, 23 millimeters to be exact. That's nearly a one-inch drop all the way around, and yet, the truck has enough wheel gap to drive a Yaris through.

That's the other less-flattering reason the Lo-Floor has our attention. We aren't necessarily fans of larger-than-life wheels, but the 17-inchers on low-profile tires are hilariously out-of-place for this truck. Plug in something a bit bigger, drop it a little more, and it could be the Toyota Tacoma X-Runner replacement we've been waiting for.

As for the GR Sport Hi-Floor, it also gains a few extra items. On the outside you'll find fender flares, a black sport bar with LED lighting, step boards on the sides, and an upgraded suspension with new monotube shocks. It also has a wheel upgrade, but these are more appropriate 18-inchers with higher-profile tires. They still look a bit small on the Hilux, but it's clearly the more proportionate of the new GR Sport models.

The GR Sport Hi-Floor and Lo-Floor join a plethora of Hilux models already available in Thailand. Pricing starts at 889,000 THB for the Lo-Floor, with the Hi-Floor starting at 1,299,000 THB. Translated to US currency, that currently equals about $27,000 and $40,000.

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