► Latest social media stunt from Toyota
► R/C Hilux pick-ups take on the real thing
► Watch four YouTube films here
Toyota loves a bit of social media, and while this latest example won’t change your life it will occupy a few minutes while you drink that next brew: the car maker has teamed up with fellow Japanese model maker Tamiya for a series of short films involving ‘little and large’ versions of the Hilux.
Yep. If you’ve ever wanted to see a radio-controlled Hilux tow a real one then your wish is granted – though as it turns out, you’ll need 14 mates similarly equipped if you want to recreate this particular stunt – called Pull – at home.
It is endearingly amusing to see the little fellers straining at their towing cables to get all two tonnes of full-size Hilux moving. The magic number of 15 r/c cars was reached on the basis that each of the Tamiya Hilux Bruiser 4×4 models – 1/10th scale versions of an earlier Hilux – is officially rated to tow 2kg, and Toyota’s calculations suggested 30kg of pulling power would overcome the initial rolling resistance of a stationary pick-up.
Some preparation was required to achieve this. Not so much for the real Hilux, which was simply modified with a low-mounted 15-eyelet towing arm, and steered with the engine off and the gearbox in neutral; but the Bruisers all had 60psi in their tyres, transmission locked in low-range and two 500g diving weights mounted behind the cab to aid traction.
Things you didn’t know you’d be learning today, eh?
Surely we can’t be the only ones imagining the above clip ending like that scene in Ocean’s 11 with the twins drag-racing a real truck against an r/c version. But perhaps we’re just sadists…
Anyway, there are three more films where that came from: Wade, Mud and Tow, all lovingly embedded for your viewing pleasure below.
And if you’re old enough to be getting a mild sense of déjà vu, that’s probably down to the 1980s promo footage we’ve also included at the bottom of the page. Nothing is new anymore.
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