South Africa is bakkie country. Our outdoor, active lifestyles are a perfect fit for the leisure-oriented double cab, but following the introduction of the facelifted Ford Ranger and new Toyota Hilux, which rules the roost?

The previous-generation Toyota Hilux had a very long and successful model life, but towards the end of that career was feeling the heat from Ford’s Ranger. Ford then turned up the heat even more with a comprehensive update towards the end of 2015. So, Toyota can ill afford not coming out guns blazing with the new Hilux.

But the Ranger is not its only rival. Isuzu’s KB continues to find favour with South Africans that appreciate its particular blend of sturdiness, dependability and dual-purpose appeal. And then there’s also Volkswagen’s Amarok, a vehicle that is regarded as heavily road-biased but which surprised us during our tests.

In this video we take you to Klipbokkop near Worcester and put the four bakkies through a number of test routines to discover their pros and cons, including an on-road assessment, gravel road driving, sand dunes, steep descents and gullies.

Performance stats and specifications for all the cars are presented at the end of the video.

0:00 Intro
0:35 New Hilux, Ranger, Isuzu KB & Amarok Ride quality and Fuel Consumption
1:32 Off-road performance analysis
2:52 Amarok Intro
3:00 Ranger Torque
3:08 Isuzu Torque & Gears
3:19 New Hilux Torque
3:44 SUVs Downhill assist control
5:20 Wheel Articulation
6:55 Isuzu Stats:Pricing, Engine, Power & Torque, Fuel Consumption, Warranty & Service plan
7:36 Pros of the Isuzu KB
7:50 Cons of the Isuzu KB
8:05 Amarok Stats: Pricing, Engine, Power & Torque, Warranty & Service plan.
8:44 Pros & Cons of the Amarok
9:15 New Hilux: Engine, Power & Torque, Warranty & Service plan
9:41 Pros & Cons of the New Hilux
10:29 Ford Ranger: Pricing, Engine, Power & Torque, Warranty & service plan.
11:05 Pros of the Ranger
11:27 Cons of the Ranger
11:35 Outro

Read our massive comparative test between the Hilux, Ranger, Isuzu KB and VW Amarok here:
http://www.cars.co.za/motoring_news/t...

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