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Hilux News RoughTrax is currently working to bring latest news regarding the ever popular "Toyota Hilux Surf" and the ultra reliable "Toyota Hilux Pickup".
Frontal Protection System Legislation
Latest News on Frontal Protection Systems that we have received from the DTTS
Frontal Protection Systems (FPS)
The compliance of after market FPS will be controlled under the General Products Safety Regulations 2005, which prohibits the placing on the market of any dangerous goods. It will therefore be illegal to place on the market, or offer for sale, any non-compliant FPS after 25th May 2007. HOWEVER, whilst the legislation has been transposed into UK law for Whole Vehicle Type Approval, the Department has yet to carry out the public consultation with all interested parties and transpose this legislation for after market use. We therefore feel it would not be prudent to enforce non-compliance at this time and would not expect this to happen until the transposition is completed later this year, probably around October or November. Department for Transport Technology and Standards
Zone 2/05
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR Tel: 020 7944 2115
Fax: 020 7944 2196 “In other words” – It is perfectly legal to sale ‘Front Bars’ until at least October/November although we believe it will be longer, All Bars bought and fitted before this date will still be legal to have fitted to your vehicle after this date.
Latest News On Road Tax… on so say curb ‘gas guzzlers’!
Gordon Brown is planning to double road tax for the country’s most polluting gas-guzzling cars in Wednesday’s Budget, The Times understands.
As the Chancellor tries to enhance his green credentials before he takes over as Prime Minister, he is expected to say that the current tax of £210 for the 225,000 least fuel efficient cars purchased brand new since last April — including most 4x4s and sports cars — will rise steadily.
Over the next two years it will increase to at least £400, it is understood. Owners of many other cars are expected to face an inflation or modest above-inflation rise but owners of the least polluting cars will enjoy tax reductions, it is believed by insiders.
Mr Brown’s measures will fall well short of the demands of the green lobby. Environmental groups have called for road tax to be raised to between £1,000 to £2,000 for the worst-offending vehicles in terms of carbon dioxide emissions in an effort to price them off the road. But this has been rejected by the Chancellor who is clearly aware of the outcry that greeted David Cameron’s proposals last week to increase taxation on air travel.
An ally of Mr Brown said last night that the Chancellor wanted polluting activities to better reflect their costs to the environment, but not to impose taxes at a prohibitive level and to balance any increases in tax for more polluting choices with incentives for greener alternatives. People in the middle bands of road tax could face above-inflation increases of up to £15.
In his Budget last year the Chancellor created a new top band G of vehicle excise duty for new cars with emissions over 225 grams per kilometer. At £210 a year this was £20 higher than the next band. Those in the band — labeled the Chelsea Tractors — include BMW X5s and Range Rovers. At present there are 225,000 of them.
Mr Brown made plain that the new band was not retrospective and did not apply to 4x4s and other heavily emitting cars bought before last April. They were put into Band F and will remain there.
(at least some good news for us Hilux owners)
The Treasury has maintained that the road tax system is structured to allow all drivers the option of choosing a more environmentally friendly vehicle in a lower tax band.
Friends of the Chancellor expect him to spare ordinary motorists large increases in road tax as a way of differentiating himself from Mr Cameron, whom he will try to portray as out of touch with public opinion. labor MPs say that Mr Cameron made a mistake by allowing the suggestion to take root that he wanted to force people off planes and on to trains, or penalize them for taking more than one overseas holiday a year. An ally of Mr Brown said: “Green taxes have a role to play in influencing people’s choices, but it is not their job to make particular choices unfordable, or the exclusive preserve of the very wealthy.
He added that the approach of targeting tax increases, and providing incentives to choose more fuel efficient cars, was vital if politicians were going to take the public with them on climate change.
Eco-friendly cars with tiny emissions in Band A will continue to pay no tax. Sales of 4x4s have slumped by 28 per cent in the United States and are already falling in Britain.
Road tax on the lowest-emission vehicles is now zero. But since electric cars are already exempt, no new cars will actually qualify for the zero rating, as the carbon emissions required (less than 100g per kilometre) has been set so low.
Dave Timms, economics campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said that the Chancellor had to put climate change at the heart of the Budget, rather than merely “tinker in the margins”.
“Mr Brown must come forward with a comprehensive package of measures that tax polluting activities, make it easier and cheaper for people to cut their carbon dioxide emissions and demonstrate that he is prepared to take this issue seriously,” he said.
Toyota Hilux Surf News!
Toyota introduced its Hilux way back in the 1970s. It was released as a 2WD and 4WD commercial, with a family sports-truck version created not long after. However, when Toyota ceased selling its full range of 4-Runners, they created a huge opening for second-hand Grey imports. Today, these Japanese-import Hiluxes (known as Surfs) have become one of the most popular imports on the roads.
The latest Surf line-up comes with two petrol engine configurations - a 3RZ 16-valve 2.7 litre four (110kW at 4500 rpm) and a 5VZ quad-cam 3.4 litre V6 (136kW at 4800 rpm). There are also two four cylinder turbo diesels - the 1KZ-TE (as tested) is rated at 96kW at 3600 rpm and 289Nm at 2000 rpm, while an air-to-air inter-cooled version of the same engine takes this up another 7kW and 44Nm (both still at the same revs). A subtle bonnet scoop identifies the inter-cooled version. The 1KZ-TE diesel motor uses a 96.0mm bore and 103.0mm stroke to displace a total of 3 litres. Being a diesel, it runs a compression ratio of 21.2:1and breathing is through a SOHC 16-valve head.
The Surf was equipped with the standard 5-speed manual gearbox, which has well-spaced ratios to make the most of the turbo diesel torque. A short 4WD selector lever enables you to slide into High 2, High 4, H4L or L4C; that means you can select between RWD, constant 4WD, diff-lock 4WD or low-range diff-lock 4WD. The engaged drive status is displayed on a dashboard indicator.
The all new long awaited Vigo now here in UK show rooms!
The Toyota Hilux was famously the vehicle the Top Gear television team couldn't destroy. Now an all-new model has broken cover, combining the legendary toughness of its predecessor with more room in the cabin, extra load-carrying capacity and better quality all-round. The sixth generation of what is Toyota's second best-selling global model (after Corolla) made its European debut this week at the Barcelona motor show. Sales in Europe and the UK will start in October. The first generation Hilux was launched in Japan in 1967 and since then it has enjoyed continuous development and built a worldwide reputation for never-say-die toughness, reliability and power. In creating the new Hilux, Toyota set an extremely ambitious goal: to develop a vehicle for business, leisure and adventure with all the strengths of its predecessors; that could deal with conditions from the worlds harshest environments. In Europe new Hilux will contribute to Toyota's strategy of increasing customer choice and building its market share, marketed at an affordable price alongside the SUV range of RAV4, Land Cruiser and Land Cruiser Amazon. The new model has more interior space, improved driving characteristics, greater comfort and improved quality. It will be available in Single Cab and Double Cab body styles to cover a broad range of customer needs for both business and pleasure. Press release: 6th May 2005
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