Hilux extreme off-roaders sets off to conquer Antarctica on jet fuel

Toyota has achieved yet another endurance feat - this time round a marathon journey in Antarctica of more than 5,900 miles (9,495km), with its legendary Hilux off-road pickup trucks. Three Hilux models, including two 6x6 variants, completed the expedition, running on jet fuel to cope with the freezing conditions.

This has put Hilux in the forefront of such an achievement of this nature, as no other vehicles of its kind has managed to travel thus far.

In order to achieve such a feat, the Hiluxs were modified in the necessary areas to handle the extreme conditions, including the fitting of a crane for lifting of heavy equipments, strengthening of the drivetrain and suspension, as well as extra large tyres for better weight distribution on the tracks. Remarkably, the powerplants used for the expedition were standard 3.0 litre D-4D type, with minimal conversions done by Arctic Trucks, to run in -50°C and above the altitude of 3,400m.