Pick-up trucks these days are more than just trusty workhorses – many are now buying these vehicles to be used as their daily commutes, which means that they need to be both tough enough for the rough terrains, but also comfortable enough to cruise on highways. So when Toyota gave the venerable Hilux a refresh last year, they’ve stuffed the pick-up truck with everything but the kitchen sink, in order to appease all forms of Hilux drivers out there.

But what are these new features meant for, and how do they help the Hilux stand out from the sea of pick-up truck offerings out there these days? Armed with the new Toyota Hilux 2.8L Rogue, we dropped by the M4TREC off-road playground to test the new truck’s capabilities, and find out what’s what.

Among all the new improvements fitted onto the new Toyota Hilux, the most noticeable one – at least for us city dwellers – is the reworked suspension set-up.

Due to the high payload requirement on pick-up trucks, they are mostly equipped with leaf springs at the rear, which gives pick-up trucks their infamous jittery ride quality. By extending the length of the leaf springs, alongside retuned dampers and new mounts, the new Hilux is noticeably less “busy” on the move, making the drive a lot more comfortable.

Next up is the new Auto LSD feature, useful for when you unintentionally get stuck in treacherous terrain in rear-wheel-drive mode. Using the brakes to individually control wheelspin, the Auto LSD feature sends traction to the wheel with most traction to help push you out of the bind.

Interested to see how they work? Be sure to check out the video above where we try them off of the beaten path – or rather, places we never thought we’d drive at. Obviously, there are still a tonne of features that we don’t have the time to demonstrate, so do have a look at our media drive vlog, as well as the launch coverage, where we talk go through the list in more detail!