Turning a bakkie into a beast

RGMotorsport has signed off what is possibly the fastest double cab bakkie in Africa – a 327kW/545Nm super-truck capable of demolishing the 0-100km/h sprint in 7.1 seconds at the reef, en route to maxing out at 227km/h.

It could also be the first eighth-generation Hilux 4.0-litre V6 to be supercharged on the continent but it certainly isn’t the first Big Six Toyota to benefit from RGMotorsport’s tuning and modifying acumen.

The Strydom Park-based business has installed a similar forced induction package on well over 100 of these engines; and V6 FJ Cruisers, Prados, Fortuners, Land Cruisers and Hiluxes have all been through the workshop.

While the acceleration figures are impressive, the stand-out number is the flexibility. Making full use of the kick-down characteristics of the six-speed auto, it thunders from 80km/h to 160km/h in just 12.2 seconds – a full 10 seconds faster than the standard double cab 4×2 Lux.

Overtaking is effortless and at lower speeds the story is the same: 60 to 120 takes just six seconds, compared to 9.6 seconds for the showroom version.

While they’ve Supercharged many V6s (including one which has covered more than half-a-million trouble-free kilometres) this particular recipe has a slightly different mix of ingredients compared to the outgoing, “Vigo” generation Hilux.

For example, the cold air intake system is substantially different from before and other components such as the power steering and air conditioning plumbing were repackaged.

But the same attention to detail is apparent when you open the bonnet and it looks like it could’ve come from Toyota’s Durban plant just like this. The Hilux is fitted with the single VVTi version of the V6 but in Supercharged form makes 152kW more than standard, with torque boosted to 545Nm, from 376.

Each conversion is optimised on RGMotorsport’s four-wheeldrive dynamometer to get the Unichip piggyback ECU perfectly mapped for the engine it is partnered with, before being unleashed from the Hammer Road speed centre.

A Supercharged conversion starts at R105 000 to a Hilux – or to a Fortuner – and like all RGM conversions come with a minimum six month/20 000 km warranty.