Toyota Surf - a covered pickup for real off-road adventures

Which car can boast that itsdid the insurgents of equatorial Africa and the conquerors of the North Pole of the Earth choose for their needs? James May and Jeremy Clarkson reached the North Magnetic Pole on Toyota HiLux production cars.

This unit was started in 1968, but inAmerica, where pickup trucks are so popular since the 30s of last century, Toyota HiLux hit only in the 70's. In 1984, the trunk was closed with an add-on, and such an extended SUV was launched under the name Toyota 4Runner in the US and Australia, and Toyota Surf in the rest of the world.

Overall dimensions of Toyota Surf in standardoff-road body are 4770 mm in length, 1875 mm in width, 1790 mm in height with 205 mm of standard clearance. This is an impressive means of transportation, which Chad insurgents in the amount of 400 pieces were used as "Makhnovist tachanoks" in 1987 during the Chadian-Lebanese war.

At the present shots of television news about the militaryactions in Mali, such cars again flicker with mounted on them large-caliber machine guns. The first models in the 80s used gasoline engines of 2 and 2.4 liters, a manual transmission, a Part Time transmission, a completely dependent front and rear suspension.

In the following car Toyota Surf more than onceHe experienced five modification generations. In Russia and CIS republics such machines are purchased by amateurs to plow forest, steppe and taiga open spaces. The most popular among them is the 3-liter diesel Toyota HiLux Surf, whose fuel consumption is 15 liters in the city and off-road in the summer, 18 in winter, and on the road - 11.5 liters. This is an acceptable compromise between the sufficient power for off-road driving and the tolerable costs of getting to this impassable road.

However, fans of traveling with comfort in suchcar, especially in the rear seats, to put it mildly, will be disappointed. The latest modifications struggle with this, but the more comfort the design solutions provide, the less passability or much more expensive the car, which then the hand does not rise to use in the mud.

With respect to reliability and maintainabilityToyota HiLux Surf, reviews of owners from Russia and CIS countries converge with the opinion of the rebels from Chad and Mali: the car fails seldom. Subtared in battles with off-road and lack of normal service, owners of Toyota Surf do not like diesel engines 2L-T and 2L-TE for their weak aluminum heads, damaged by overheating at high loads. To avoid this, it is advised to monitor the engine temperature and the state of the viscous coupling of the radiator cooling fan.

The heart of the gasoline engine is the most reliableis also a three-liter six-cylinder 3VZ-E, but its operation will result in a 20-liter gasoline consumption in the city and off-road. Automatic gearboxes on such cars are found, and these Aisin boxes among other machines are distinguished by phenomenal reliability and maintainability, but do not forget that off-road driving and automatic gearbox is like a saddle suitable for riding on a cow. The only weakness in the suspension bracket of Toyota Surf is the upper ball bearings and silent blocks. The rest of the elements serve for a long time and reliably.

Toyota Surf - from Japan with love!