What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide

The Toyota Hilux’s image may be that of a tough commercial workhorse, but while the manufacturer would no doubt say that remains a vital part of its appeal, it also acknowledges the growing importance of the lifestyle pick-up market. That’s why 50% of UK Hilux sales are now of the high-spec Invincible X variant, and a further 10% are taken by the new range-topping GR Sport tested here. The GR stands for Gazoo Racing, the name of Toyota’s motorsport arm, and in recent years the GR brand has been applied to the fastest models in Toyota’s car range, such as the Supra sports car and GR Yaris hot hatch. The manufacturer subsequently introduced the GR Sport trim level with cars such as the Yaris and Corolla, which don’t feature the same extreme performance levels, but do get some sporty styling tweaks. The Hilux GR Sport marks the first appearance of this spec in Toyota’s commercial vehicle line-up.

Having suggested the GR Sport trim is largely cosmetic, it should be noted that the Hilux GR Sport does feature a bespoke suspension set-up designed to deliver a more dynamic drive, including new shock absorbers and stiffer front springs. On the road these changes appear to have been successful, with the set-up keeping things fairly level when cornering. The truck feels willing to turn, and when this trait is combined with good torque from the engine (more of which shortly) it can feel almost sprightly at times, around town in particular. Only the more traditional pick-up-style steering lets down the driving experience from a sporting point of view. Ride comfort is generally OK, but can be a bit jarring on rough roads.

There’s no dedicated high-performance engine option with the GR Sport. Instead, you get the more powerful of the two engines available with the rest of the Hilux range – a 2.8-litre, 204hp diesel. This provides good acceleration, and feels particularly strong when picking up speed in-gear, rather than from a standing start. It does get a bit noisy when worked hard, but it feels harder to complain about that given this truck’s sporty image. The engine is paired with a six-speed automatic gearbox, which on the GR Sport can be operated with manual shift paddles. These work well enough, but we’d be surprised if most drivers bothered with them often, rather than just leaving it in automatic mode.

Available only as a double-cab model, the GR Sport retains the regular Hilux’s load-carrying capabilities, including a payload of just over 1.0t, and a 3.5t braked towing capacity.

Marking the GR Sport out as a sportier pick-up are exterior styling features such as a black mesh front grille, larger front fog light surrounds, contrast black and machined finish 17in alloy wheels with all-terrain tyres, and a black finish for the door mirror casings, side steps, over-fenders and tailgate handle, as well as the standard sports bar. All this black contrasts with a bright red finish for the new suspension shocks and springs.

The sporty makeover also extends to the interior. Step aboard and you can’t fail to notice the liberally applied red stitching. Other touches include aluminium pedals, carbon fibre-look trim inserts, and plenty of GR Sport branding.

An 8in infotainment touchscreen is an older set-up than those seen these days with Toyota’s car range, but it does include satnav as well as Apple Carplay and Android Auto connectivity.

Other equipment includes a JBL sound system, and a 360° camera system – a welcome aid to manoeuvrability.

The Hilux GR Sport is priced at just under £2,000 more than the Invincible X, and whether that’s worth it will likely come down to how individual buyers feel about the sporty design flourishes, and how much they need a more dynamic drive from their pick-up truck. It is much cheaper than the pre-eminent sporting pick-up, Ford’s Ranger Raptor, and boasts the crucial advantage of retaining 1.0t payload capability – although the V6 petrol engine the Ford is available with makes it a far more serious performance machine.