You can take a Japanese pickup and add a German V8 to it. Then, put it on South African roads. It’s a remarkable result.
Mercedes-Benz X Class pickup will be gone before the brand can create an AMG variant with a large V8 and lots of performance. South Africa’s newest example shows the possibility of fitting an AMG-tuned V8 into pickups. It’s a Toyota Hilux.
The video does not show much beyond the engine under the Toyota’s hood. The YouTube description states that the truck is powered by a Mercedes-Benz M156V8 6.2-liter V8. It can be tuned in many different ways. In this video, the owner does not specify the number. The number could be anywhere from 475 horsepower (354 Kilowatts) to 518 HP (386 kW) in stock form.
The video title suggests that the mill could produce 500 horsepower (373 kW). It’s possible, however, that the mill could be tuned to increase its output.
This truck makes an incredible sound. As the revs increase, the naturally aspirated V8 makes a roaring sound. It’s obvious that the interior has a manual gearbox which allows for very simple burnouts.
Although the passenger in the video has little to no substance, his excitement tells us all. The truck is certainly thrilling, but the driver is still nonchalant.
There aren’t many details on this truck, unfortunately. We can see the truck’s ride height is lower than stock and the wheels appear larger. The differential and half-shafts are likely to be more difficult to handle the extra power from the V8.