Toyota Hilux Invincible 50 2019 UK first drive

The new limited-edition Toyota Hilux pick-up is capable of taking on a zombie apocalypse – or so the narrative surrounding this Hilux Invincible 50 goes from Toyota. 

In reality, it’s one of 50 beefed-up double-cabs designed to lure in the image conscious pick-up owner, but it also promises to take you further off-road than any other current Toyota Hilux. Built in partnership with extreme all-terrain experts Arctic Trucks and with specialist suspension from Bilstein the Invincible 50 rides higher than a standard vehicle and is more capable off-road as a result. 

The most obvious and effective change is the addition of 16in satin black alloy wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich KO2 all-terrain tyres. These are paired with Bilstein performance dampers that raise the ride height by 40mm at the front and 20mm at the rear. The new package helps increase wheel articulation and improves approach and departure angles – all of which bodes well for taking the Hilux into the sort of territory which Arctic Truck conversions are famed for venturing.

The Invincible 50 also gets flared wheel arches and a polished black sports bar in the load bed where four high-powered Vision X LED lights are mounted. There’s also Arctic Trucks mud flaps and Invincible 50 badging on the wings, wheels, doors, tailgate, sports bar, lighting and a numbered plaque on the transmission tunnel in the cabin.

The unsurprising headline is that an Arctic Trucks-made Hilux is astonishingly capable off-road. The slight increase in ground clearance means you can scale bigger obstacles, cross bigger gullies and wade through deeper water.

The suspension does well at soaking up the bumps and feels considerably more refined at speed than the standard coil fronts and leaf sprung rear you get on a conventional Hilux. Off-road at speed is probably where you notice the changes most with an eerily magic carpet-like ride when zipping along gravel surfaces. 

On wet or boggy ground, the BF Goodrich tyres are exceptionally good at maintaining traction, and although their deep grooves can get you in as much trouble as get you out of it – by ripping apart the soft surface if you’re too fierce with the 148bhp 2.4-litre turbodiesel engine – they’re the ideal set of rubber for the wilderness.

On roads, that's not quite the case. Wet grip is particularly interesting, with the chunky tyres reluctant to hold the road preferring instead to slide and squirm their way across the surface.