1987 Toyota Hilux ‘Party Truck’ Shreds Tires at Hoonigan Burnyard
A JDM 3S-GE BEAMS swapped Hilux has never looked or sounded as good as it does in this mini.
As many of us know, the Toyota Hilux is a vehicle that can be modified to fit almost any purpose. A lot of us use them for off-road duty and rugged terrain. Some of us just throw some groceries in the bed and call it a day. However, very few of us wake up in the morning and say, “what if I slammed my truck and turned it into a dedicated drift car?”. We’ll we found at least one person that took that idea to heart and really ran with it.
Thanks to the crazy crowd on Hoonigan’s YouTube channel, we get to see this self-proclaimed “party truck” throw down some serious angle at Hoonigan‘s Burnyard at Irwindale Speedway. The owner of this Hilux is Jordan, a Long Beach native, who kindly brought out the truck to Hoonigan so we could check it out. Lets see what this mini is working with.
One of the first things most will notice about this truck is that the low power 22R has been ditched for another Toyota engine with a little more power and a lot more street cred: A 3S-GE BEAMS 4-cylinder from a JDM Toyota Altezza (known as the IS300 in the U.S.). This engine is from a 1998 Altezza, making it a fifth generation 3S-GE, the most powerful of the generations, topping out around 200 HP at a lofty 7,000 RPM. When you consider a 22R struggles to make 100 HP even with aftermarket carbs, that’s a whole lot of power for a Hilux.
The 3S-GE is fitted with custom headers, motor mounts, radiator, and everything else you would need to fit this different of a motor into a Hilux. The JDM J160 6-speed manual transmission has also been custom modified to fit in the trans tunnel. The front suspension has been converted to use shocks from a Chevy S10 truck while retaining the torsion bar setup.
The interior has a custom dash with all the necessary gauges, a quick release steering wheel, bucket racing seats, and a hydraulic handbrake.
The rear end of the truck features a custom bed cover, fitted with a fuel cell in the bed and custom c-notched rear suspension.
If there is anything we can say about this truck, its that it definitely holds true to its nickname. We were scared when we initially heard this truck literally banging off the rev-limiter for what seemed like several minutesw, but it took it like a champ. Toyota definitely knows how to build a strong motor and with some time and dedication, you could have a crazy “party truck” too.
