New BYD Shark lines up against Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger in off-road test to see if it can beat them

This is what happened when the new BYD Shark was lined up against a Toyota Hilux and a Ford Ranger in an off-road test.

Here we had a car from three of the world’s biggest automaker nations – China, Japan, and the US.

Each car has their perks, but which one would fare best off-roading?

The team over at carwow wanted to find out for themselves.

Off-roading is not for the faint of heart

Nothing quite pushes a vehicle to its limit like a bit of good old fashioned off-roading.

We’ve seen plenty of people test cars out this way.

Remember the time we put a ‘Land Rover Defender’ from China up against a real one in a near vertical uphill climb?

And then there was the Tesla Model Y which faced off against Jeeps by racing over hilly terrain.

These kind of tests can often yield surprising results.

What would happen when a BYD Shark was pitted against a Toyota Hilux and a Ford Ranger?

The BYD Shark went up against a Ford Ranger and a Toyota Hilux in off-roading challenges

The team at carwow were curious to see which of these trucks would fare the best while off-roading.

On paper, the trucks all looked impressive.

The Toyota Hilux, powered by a 2.8-liter four-cylinder diesel, was capable of 204hp.

By way of comparison, the Ford Ranger was powered by a 2.3-liter four-cylinder turbo paired with an electric motor, and ran off 281hp.

And then there’s the new BYD Shark – 1.5-liter turbo gas, as well as two electric motors, which combine for 436hp.

If you were to go solely off horsepower, you would assume the Shark had this one in the bag.

But out on the course, is that how things would pan out?

Would the BYD Shark emerge victorious?

The first challenge was an uphill drag race, in which the trucks all looked fairly close out on the track.

However, there were no draws here.

As the winning car, the Hilux received three points, while the Ranger got two as runner up, and the Shark was saddled with one point as the losing truck.

Not a great start for the Shark, but there was still time for a recovery.

The second round

“For the second challenge, we’re going to test the car’s maneuverability, ground clearance, and agility, and all that kind of stuff,” the host explained.

“So, we’re going to be driving through this woody area, going around a tight turning past a tree, down a hill, around the back of that hump, over that dip, and then back through the gate again.

“[The invigilator] is going to be timing us, but he’ll also be watching us. If a car is damaged in any way, shape, or form […] He will disqualify us.”

The Hilux set a time of 23.24, avoiding bottoming out, and landing itself with three points.

Things weren’t as fortuitous for the Ranger, which ended up being disqualified.

The Shark avoided disqualification, and drove away from the second round with two points.

The third round of the off-roading challenge

This time around, each truck drove up a set of steps and down another set.

The aim here wasn’t to complete it in the fastest time, it was to do so with the most finesse.

This proved to be a good round for the Shark, as it netted two points.

The Hilux came away with one, while the Ranger ended up having a point deducted from its winning score and only had two.

How would the BYD Shark do in the fourth challenge?

This round was just a straight-up drag race, and the Shark came out on top, with the Ranger in second and the Hilux third.

At first, this race was pretty neck-and-neck, so it was a lucky win all in all.

With just two challenges left, the scores were as follows: Hilux and Shark both at eight points, and the Ranger at six points.

These last two rounds would be crucial.

What would go down in the penultimate round?

This round would be more about control than speed, as each truck attempted a hill descent as slowly as possible.

Still, the goal was to cross the finishing line first.

This time around, the Hilux was the quickest down, with the Shark close behind it.

However, the Ranger would win, as it did so backwards to score a bonus point.

It was finally time for the deciding round

In the final round, each truck was tasked with driving up a slippery rocky slope, aiming to be steady and smooth on the way up.

Wheelspins would count against a truck.

The Ranger would come out on top in this challenge, with the Hilux in second, and the Shark last on account of wheel slippage.

But when it came to counting up all the scores, what would the results look like?

With 13 points overall, the Ford Ranger was the winner.

The Toyota Hilux and the BYD Shark were in joint second with 11 points each.

That’s still a pretty tight result – one round really could have changed everything.