It’s not every day that you come across a Built 2KD Toyota Hilux (2KD-FTV)—we are not talking about rowdy road hogs ferrying Miraa from Meru to Nairobi. But a built 2KD Toyota Hilux running a big turbo kit upgrade. Yes! The owner of this workhorse tuned his farm rig for performance, and from the video posted on YouTube by Mays Pix, this thing pulls, launches, and rips some insane burnouts!
We have to hand it to the owner of the 2KD Toyota Hilux for all his efforts. It’s uncommon to see a single-cab pickup truck with such mods (they are more popular in South Africa). If they exist, the owners will keep these upgrades hush-hush. Still, I’ve been driving on Kenyan roads for many years–but never got outpaced by a Hilux, even with an NA.
But this rig, right here, has enough torque to keep up with most performance tunes. For those who don’t know, this particular single-cab Hilux is popularly known as the 2KD Hilux truck. It’s famous around commercial circles due to its spacious bed and powerful setup under the hood.
The truck is just a Toyota Hilux, but it gets the designation due to the engine (the Toyota 2KD-FTV or 2.5 D-4D). This engine is featured on several applications, including the Toyota Fortuner, 4Runner, and Hiace Matatu.
The 2KD-FTV is also part of the popular KD-series engine that produced the 1KD-FTV engine.
The 2KD-FTV or 2.5 D-4D is a turbo-diesel 2.5-liter inline-4 engine that can produce up to 188 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque, depending on the application. Toyota tuners have had a field day with this engine, specifically with the 3-liter 1KD version.
Like most Toyota performance engines, this engine’s upgrades are quite simple. Most tuners will upgrade to a larger turbo and bigger intercooler, including an engine oil cooler, block off the EGR, swap an aftermarket air intake, upgrade the clutch, and lastly, perform a tune.
We are not sure what upgrades this particular 2KD Hilux has, but from the video, we can see that the owner installed a bigger turbo, intercooler, and aftermarket intake. That alone is enough to increase the performance by a large margin.
Curious how this single-cab Hilux blows dust? Check out the video below!
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