There are few more intimidating places to take a vehicle (no matter how many wheels it has) than the wind-sculpted dunes of the Skeleton Coast south of Walvis Bay in Namibia.
But, like New York, if you can make it there you can make it anywhere, so yesterday Glyn Hall and the works Toyota team for the 2012 Dakar Rally tested the two Racing Hilux V8 bakkies against the tallest, steepest dunes in sub-Saharan Africa - and both drivers came away grinning.
It wasn't all fun; they spent most of the day calibrating the sophisticated telemetric systems to conditions similar to those expected in the Atacama desert of Chile, the toughest section of the Dakar route.
The new, self adjusting, engine mapping was a big hit with drivers Giniel de Villiers and Duncan Vos, as each made a number of runs specifically to gather data which would enable the experts to analyse the performance of the various systems.
Vos had his first run in proper dunes where he indulged in the Hilux's abundant power to the delight of the attending photographers and cameramen. If the size and duration of the grin on Duncan's face were anything to go by, this first dune test went a lot better than expected.
Today (Friday) the team will move camp nearer to a rough section of gravel road where they will test the Hiluxes' suspension, which will be the main focus of the team's efforts. Data collected today will be analysed and implemented tomorrow to recalibrate the suspension of the Hiluxes.