I would insist on changing the horrendous wheels…but an EV Hummer…possible cybertruck beater
I don’t understand why they insist on the traditional pick-up truck shape - I guess it is to appeal to traditional buyers. I’m pretty sure that a tapered cab roof a la cybertruck would have a massive impact on the drag coefficient - which has a big impact on EV range.
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Pickup body is insanely useful though. Its one of those things that will depend on the owner I’ve already seen one with a removable tapered shell for the back so it will be an option to think about.
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The taper exposes more of the load to the airstream, which would increase drag I would think - if the load is appreciably taller than the bed - and even if is still lower than the cab.
Mythbusters showed that a pickup with the liftgate up has a vortex in the bed deflecting the airstream over the box which causes less drag than a lowered liftgate.
So carrying a load behind the cab, I would gather should still be OK. Where as with cyber truck, the load is exposed and induces drag.
So better for those that rarely use the truck as a truck, worse for those that do? Hopefully someone does some virtual wind tunnel tests.
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I put the hard top on my Hilux and immediately gained 1.5mpg average. However I lost the ability to put large loads in the back obviously. But I think the savings on fuel and the security aspect more than outweigh the 5 or 6 times I’ve actually missed having an open back. Plus its still cavernous in there
I had one of those on my Mitsubishi and it was fantastic. Only downside was you had to put the dogs in the cab with you 
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Same year (2004), same color. I have racks for my kayaks however. And this one is in MUCH better condition on the outside. Hauling lumber, boats, motorcycles (in the past), kayaks, fishing/hunting/camping gear; thrashing through the brush…but it runs great still.
I’m going to [try to] run it into the ground - new ones are WAY too expensive!
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Don’t know why, but no Hilux’s over here - the nearest they sell is the Tacoma I think (not sure of differences, maybe Tacoma is a bit bigger?). Car brands are weird, as I’d have thought it would have done really well in North America.
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Side by side the Tacoma is a much bigger truck. I’d say they are fairly evenly matched reliability wise but the Tacoma has a much better engine selection.
My Hilux pound for pound is a fantastic truck though. It just does everything without a fuss.
I’m fitting airbags to the back in a few weeks to make the ride a bit less harsh when it’s loaded though. My only real complaint about it. Id love a Tacoma though…
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I saw some vehicles in Australia that I’d love to buy…
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The Aussies love the Toyota Land Cruiser (saw lots in WA camping and stuff), and again, I never seem to see that many over here. Plus they have so many nice V8’s as well (plus Tina Turner in a cage).
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We don’t need another hero. Thank you very much.
The land cruiser took off in Australia due to the utter failure of Land rover to step up and compete with toyota to create a luxury off road vehicle till much too late. An epic win for toyota there
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Actually taking the Leaf out on the highway for work several times, it’s really not bad at all. The instant torque means you can take the gap when you find it, and have plenty of power to get out of trouble provided you are aware and know where your outs are. Honestly prefer the driving experience to a similarly sized ICE vehicle (like oh maybe a Geo Metro back in high school).
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The Land Cruiser does exist here, but it’s not that popular for a few reasons.
One, they update it less often than the other models. That’s probably due to slow sales, but it’s a feedback loop. No one buys it because it’s not updated, they don’t update because no one buys it.
Two, it’s the most expensive Toyota SUV but it’s not the nicest. When it comes to features like the interior, it’s behind…again due to the update lag.
Three, it’s really big. That means there are lots of places it can’t go, so it needs to be bought by someone who won’t need that.
In other words, the type of consumer who is likely to buy one that big will likely get something else because it’s not ideally suited to their use case. People buying that big either tend to get pickups or they get even flashier SUVs. Ever see a rapper or other celeb in a Land Cruiser?
Basically, Toyota has a good vehicle that they don’t know how to market in the US. I remember the 4Runner had this problem almost 20 years ago. The model was unchanged for over 5 years in the late 90s and was getting ignored and passed by others until I think the 2003 year when it was redesigned and updated. It was suddenly EVERYWHERE. This is around the time the Highlander was introduced, too, and over the next 10 years the Highlander overtook and then supplanted the 4Runner for most.
You can get a totally top-end Highlander for the price of a mid-range 4Runner and the 4Runner isn’t clearly better even at the top end (where it costs a lot more) unless you offroad, and few do that with the 4Runner any more.
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TIL she is venomous and must be caged.
A Swiss icon! 
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We love our Hilux. It’s one of the last ones with minimal electronics. The theory being it’s easier/cheaper to mend and less to go wrong when you don’t need it to.
We have the hardtop on the back as well. Its a bit light on the rear when unladen, but it copes with all we need it for. As you say, without a fuss. The only downside is it’s postbox red and tends to stand out a bit.
A lot of the traditional farmers our way swear by Land Rover defenders, but I’ve yet to know a farmer who has one that doesn’t seem to have a dozen bits of Land Rover dotted around his yard, or one waiting for bits. And stuff just breaks that really shouldn’t.
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I had a chance to properly flog the wagon in Sport/ full manual mode on the mountain roads here in western NC, and WOO!! That was a lot of fun. The transmission actually paid attention to my inputs, and didn’t try to tell me it was smarter than me. Well balanced through the curvy parts, and the brakes didn’t fade at all when I encountered drivers from Florida and Ohio (no offense @Piper). 9/10, will flog hard again, but I REALLY miss my S2000.
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