Toyota Land Cruiser takes the smooth with the rough

Toyota Land Cruiser even better off road

There is a saying in some parts of the world that if you want to get to the back of beyond, take a Land Rover. If you want to return, take a Toyota Land Cruiser.

Unkind? Possibly, but there is no denying that the Toyota Land Cruiser is the dominant off-roader in the global 4x4 markets, and its heritage matches that of the British marque.
It is also true that despite a falling off the cliff for residual values among many off-roaders, those which are really needed and appreciated have withstood the storm of the recession and sniping by environmentalists and governments.
In the UK where the anti 4x4 lobby, high fuel prices and high levels of automotive tax have taken their toll, 2008 sales of all dual purpose (SUVs/4x4s) totalled 136,525, a drop of 22.5pc. In the first six months of this year sales fell by another 22pc.
In the UK the Land Cruiser doesn’t dominate and with the all new versions going on sale from 1 December Toyota GB estimate they will sell between 1,100 and 1,200 in a full year. In the UK’s heavyweight 4x4 sector the Land Rover discovery dominates sales with a 35pc market share according to Toyota.
However a high proportion of Land Cruiser owners, around 25pc, do regularly use their vehicles for off road work and more use them for the vehicle’s highly rated 3,000kg towing performance.
Significantly, most new Land Cruiser sales are to existing owners of the models, who value their refined ruggedness and seeming indestructabillity and prefer performance over posing.
Now extensively revised, the longer and wider new five door Land Cruiser range consists of LC3 five seat and LC4 and LC5 seven seat models all using a 3.0-litre, four-cylinder 171bhp turbodiesel engine with a five-speed automatic transmission.
There is a push button and menu scroll operated sophisticated new all wheel drive train that includes Vehicle Stability Control, Active Torque Control and Downhill and Hill-start Assist Controls. Extra grip at the touch of a button.
The LC4/5 versions also have an automated suspension for a more controlled and comfortable ride on-road and more suspension articulation off-road. As before the Land Cruiser has a body on a ladder-frame chassis construction for strength and durability with rigidity improved by 11pc.
Prices range from £29,795 to £44,795 which for the main selling LC4 version represents a 20pc price increase over the outgoing version and a 15pc price hike for the top of the range LC5 model. In today’s economic climate that is a lot and we will have to see if it sticks.
However, Toyota says this significant price increase is justified because of the advanced technology and much higher specification offered by the new models. Toyota GB estimates that 65pc of Land Cruiser customers will opt for the LC4 version, 25pc for the LC3 and 10pc for the top spec LC5.
The even larger Land Cruiser V8, 282bhp diesel models, priced from £54,990, remains unchanged and around 500 of these are sold in the UK annually.

FIRST DRIVE

The latest Land Cruiser is really a story in two parts. It’s on road persona is vastly different from that off-road.
This time, the Toyota engineers really concentrated on improving its ride on metalled roads while enhancing its legendary off-road abilities. It has worked.
Despite the chassis refinements to tauten the handling on-road, there is still considerable bodyroll during cornering and it floats along never fully engaging with the driver and the steering feels vague but the ride is comfortable. It does well with high levels of standard equipment and build quality.
The new models use a 3.0-litre turbodiesel power unit but unusually for this capacity it is only a four-cylinder unit with 171bhp power and 410Nm of torque output via a five-speed automatic transmission. That is not much power to haul the Land Cruiser around, even before you add a trailer.
The result is a vehicle which never feels eager and which when extended can sound harsh and throbby.
All three versions of the Land Cruiser have a full-time AWD system with torsion limited slip differential which automatically adjusts front to rear power distribution from 50:50 to 30:70 depending on grip.
For LC3/4 versions there is a driver selectable centre differential lock, LC5 models also gain a rear differential lock. There are four driver selected modes to tailor vehicle settings for different off-road surfaces – mud and sand, loose rock, mogul (deep mud) and rock.
There are also hill-start and downhill assist settings, crawl control, active traction control, mud-terrain ABS braking and vehicle stability control. All these functions are operated by pushbuttons, a turn control switch and a menu type scroll down bar. Not as simple as some rivals’ systems for changing running modes.
As for the suspension system; double wishbone at the front, four-link live axle at the rear, the LC4 and LC5 versions have what Toyota call a Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS) which through antiroll bars reduces bodyroll and is supposed to give positive steering response on-road. It does in part.
Off road the new system by virtually disconnecting the antiroll bars increases wheel articulation (suspension travel) for maximum grip.
The top LC5 version has as standard adaptive variable suspension and active height control, cleverly this adjust the firmness of the suspension according to the speed being travelled on road and the height of the vehicle for optimum ground clearance off road.
The LC5 also has a Multi-Terrain Monitor, a system of external cameras give combined or separate real time views of areas in front and to each side of the vehicle that cannot be seen from the driver’s seat. These only operate in multi-terrain mode at speeds below 6mph. It is very clever and useful knowing what direction your vehicle’s front wheels are pointing driving in thick mud and to make sure you are not going to scrape a tree or rock with the side of the vehicle. It also allows you to see around blind corners when joining a main road in town, which is possibly where it will be used the most.
It’s wading depth is good but not as deep as the Land Rover products.
There is no denying the latest Land Cruiser is a big step forward for the series, but in some ways it is still playing catch up with competitors.

Fact file:
Toyota Land Cruiser LC4 3.0 D-4D Auto £40,395.
Engine/transmission: 3.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbodiesel, 171bhp, 410Nm from 1,600rpm, 5-speed auto, all wheel drive, multi-mode settings for a wide variety of off-road terrain.
Performance: 109mph, 0-62mph 11.7 seconds, 34.9mpg (26.5mpg actual on-road), CO2 214g/km, VED Band K £215. (Proposed first year VED rate from next April £550 then £245 annually), BIK tax 35pc.
Insurance group: 32E (new scale).
Dimensions/capacities: L 4,760mm, W 1,885mm, H 1,890mm, 7-seats, load capacity 621-1,151-litres, maximum braked towing weight 3,000kg.
For: World’s best selling 4x4, tough, reliable, workhorse towing ability, impressive and safe off-road ability, comprehensively equipped, well made.
Against: Refined but underpowered four-cylinder diesel engine has to compete with six-cylinder units in this sector, road manners better but not the best, expensive to run.