Keeping it real: 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest 4x4

The Toyota hilux has pretty much achieved legendary status in the automotive industry, thanks in part to its proven track record for reliability, and overall ruggedness. It’s the safe choice for many truck buyers and in recent years, despite the on-going truck wars with every other company releasing their own models, The Hilux remains supreme.

Durability and reliability can only get one so far in this segment and helping the Toyota Hilux in keeping its shaky crown away from the competition are the many variants available for all buyers, like this 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest 4x4. Can it keep the hoard of new trucks offering all new features and sporting modern looks at bay? Let's find out.

Exterior

On the Outside, the 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest 4x4 features pretty much everything we want in a truck. There is very little a car company can offer to reinvent the wheel but the Conquest certainly adds a ton of exterior features that can keep the fans happy.

Starting with the front end, I can’t help but appreciate the effort the designers at Toyota have given the Conquest. I like the large, imposing trapezoidal front grille, decked in black matte plastic. Underneath, a Gun-metal grey faux skid plate peeks out giving the overall design some contrast. 

Keeping things nice and bright are large, Bi-beam LED headlamps with DRLs. The headlamps have automatic levelling to ensure that drivers won’t blind on-coming traffic. Remember the details I was talking about earlier? The LED fog lamps are housed in matte black plastic that carries over from the front overfenders. It’s this attention to detail that I certainly appreciate and the 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest has all these nice bits and more.

The side profile’s main feature are the aforementioned overfenders which are made with matte-black plastic, giving the overall appearance a nice macho vibe to it. These parts serve a functional capacity as well. For those who aren’t fans of black plastic cladding, all I can say is try having body matched fender flares there and watch the paint get scuffed, saying goodbye to any resale value it might have. There’s a functional and quite rugged step board and the Side mirrors and door handles are black as well so please don’t chrome these bits out with cheap Banaue-special parts.

What are quite fetching are those 18-inch blacked out alloy wheels shod with chunky 265/60/r18 Highway tires. Not only do they look great but the shiny black paint job on the wheels add more flair to the 2022 Hilux Conquest. The tires ensure proper road feel as well as reduce overall road noise without having to sacrifice performance. At the back, there’s a large tailgate that might not be electronically powered but at least it’s hydraulically assisted to help potential buyers lift it up with ease. The bed is spacious at 1525mm long, 1645mm wide and the sidewall is pretty deep at 480mm. Take into consideration the bed liner but that customer would probably prefer having a rugged bed liner over just a few mm worth of extra space.

Not everything is fine and dandy and I do have some gripes with the exterior. The Roof rail and sports-bar certainly adds to the appeal of the 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest but they’re simply there for ornamental purposes. I tried using the roof rails but it certainly won’t hold anything but at least Toyota is honest with what they’re for, they even have stickers on them to remind potential customers that they weren’t meant to hold any load. I doubt that any buyers would mind because they certainly look good on the truck.

Interior

Trucks weren’t exactly marketed towards urban dwellers or to replace more traditional family sedans or crossovers but over the years, car companies have realized that this wasn’t the case. More often than not, families would buy trucks to serve as the family workhorse as well as an actual workhorse. Let’s face it, not everyone can buy 2 different vehicles for different purposes, therefore, trucks now have fancy interior amenities and convenience tech never before seen in the segment.

Space is adequate for five although I am not a fan of any truck’s rear seating amenities with their upright seating positions. Many might complain about the all black motif, including the head liner as this visually reduces the perceived space inside but personally, for a guy who owns a 15 year old car, having a dark interior works wonders in the long run.

Leather doesn’t make an appearance in the 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest 4x4 but instead the seats are covered in this nice, black fabric material that’s both comfortable and supportive. Soft touch plastics are at a premium but at least the dash looks nicely sculpted and at first glance I never imagined being impressed with the design and ergonomics from a Toyota Hilux, no less! 

The Piano-black treatment is thankfully kept at a minimum on the center console and shifter column and the overall interior treatment feels quite upscale for a truck. There’s an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system as well that pumps tunes to 6 speakers. Thankfully it has smartphone integration with support for both Apple Carplay and Android Auto, so customers can take their Spotify tunes anywhere. 

It’s not just about flash and entertainment when it comes to the interior though. There are large bottle holders on each of the doors as well as secret cooled cup holders right on the front air vents on each side. This helps keep cold drinks cool, and hot drinks, well, cool as well. The utilitarian factor of a center arm-rest is understated. It’s nice and padded and serves as another compartment to hide stuff from prying eyes. The split glove compartment is pretty smart as well and I believe should be available on other cars as well! 

Safety features are standard with 7 airbags, Anti-lock brakes, stability control, Hill-start assist, Downhill Assist Control, three point seatbelts for all passengers, ISOFIX anchors, Immobilizer with alarm and most importantly, a high resolution back-up camera with proximity Sensors for the front and rear.

Performance and Fuel Economy

You can thank the truck wars for the staggering amount of improvements companies have bestowed on their models. In the past, performance oriented trucks would be extremely rare as most would simply serve their purpose as agricultural or farm tools. The 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest 4x4 has enough grunt and muscle to actually outrun even some sedans currently available.

Powered by a 2.8 liter, 4-Cylinder, 16-Valve DOHC Turbo-Diesel Engine with Variable Nozzle Turbo, the 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest 4x4 makes 201 hp @ 3,000-3,400 RPM and 500 Nm of torque at a very low 1,600 to 2,800 RPM. This means that acceleration kicks in quite instantaneously and more importantly towing capacity is a hefty 3,500 kg. Thanks to the 6-speed automatic transmission with manual option I was able to handle the truck quite well along mountain roads as well as stop and go traffic quite effortlessly. 

Getting up to speed in the 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest 4x4 was fairly an uneventful affair and I actually had to pace myself as unlike smaller cars, the sensation of speed is a bit muted. The NVH levels are excellent and apart from the characteristically harsh ignition start-up, everything was pretty smooth while inside. It’s once you step out of the vehicle while on idle that you’re reminded that yes, you’re definitely driving an oil-burner.

The suspension rides on Macpherson struts up-front and leaf springs in the rear but the ride is relatively smooth. Steering is nice and linear, although a tad too wide for my taste, but this is afterall a truck so that’s to be expected. Overall, I was never lacking for power in any situation, I guess that’s what 200 hp and 500 torques would do no matter what car you’re in. 

Fuel Economy was great, I was able to rack up around 7.5 km/l on a very busy traffic day in the city and taking it out on the open road, I was able to register 14 km/l with one passenger and a boat load of stuff in the second row. WIth all that power on tap, hitting the throttle to the pedal was never necessary. Ditto for the 4x4 control switches, I tested them out and you can certainly shift to various 4x4 modes on the fly, there’s even an electronic locking differential system, but I advise against using 4H or 4L unnecessarily, as many froaders will tell you, with great power comes great responsibility, as well as the longevity of your truck depends on it.

Price and Conclusion

Pricing for the 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest 4x4 starts at Php 1.8M for the manual transmission version which, oddly enough has less torque at 420 Nm but you still get the same features as the automatic transmission model which comes at Php 1.875M. If you want to get the same features in a midsize SUV, buyers might have to breach the 2M peso mark but that option does have third-row seating and a boot to put all your stuff in. 

The 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest sees competition in the market from the likes of the Handsome Nissan Navara Pro-4X, The feature-packed Ford Ranger Wildtrak, rugged and now more stylish Isuzu D-MAX 3.0 LS-E, Sporty Mitsubishi Strada Athlete. 

If there’s one thing that sets the 2022 Toyota Hilux Conquest apart from the rest of the competition is that it bears the burden of reputation. Toyotas, particularly the Hilux, need to work overtime to protect its reputation of being inherently rugged, tough and durable. I mean what other truck out there can say that it’s been dropped from a crane, washed out to see, torture tested and can still start up with no problems? I can say with certainty that the Hilux lives up to our sky high expectations. 

Photos: Roy Robles