TOYOTA Motor Company Australia (TMCA) has been far from quiet in advertising how much of an improvement the new HiLux is compared to its predecessor, adding more power, more standard kit, updating the suspension, revamping the steering and tweaking the styling.

The on-paper results largely speak for themselves; peak power and torque are up to 150kW/500Nm resulting in a 300kg jump in towing capacity (3500kg braked), fuel economy has been improved by a claimed 11 per cent and it looks a whole lot better.

To find out if all these updates and improvements corresponded into making the HiLux more liveable day-to-day, we spent some time out west in the SR5+, the variant private buyers are most likely to be attracted to.