Can the facelifted Toyota Land Cruiser build a luxurious bridge between civilisation and adventure?

Land Cruisers are not in the news often, unless it is seen on TV, seen driving in the remotest of areas, mostly fighting a good cause.

Land Cruiser facelift

The news on Land Cruiser is that it has received a facelift.  Most visible from the front, Toyota has added a bold new grille, with a chrome moustache that extends outwards across the headlights.  The bonnet gets aggressive-looking power bulges.

This is a major facelift – Land Cruiser already had some changes to lights and other items since its launch in 2007, but this time Toyota says it redesigned it from the A-pillar (windscreen frame) forwards.

Top-of-the-Cruiser-range

The Land Cruiser has long been the Toyota brand’s ultimate off-road-capable 4x4 SUV.  It even prompted Toyota to create spin-offs, all using the Cruiser name, such as the Land Cruiser series 70 (the old-school Land Cruiser available in South Africa in single cab or double cab bakkie, wagon (trooper) or leisure-market station wagon.  In the Cruiser line-up one also finds a choice of the Land Cruiser Prado, and the FJ Cruiser.  But this is about the biggest of Cruisers – the Land Cruiser 200.  It is also the biggest and most expensive Toyota on the list.

Upgrades to drivetrain and tech

The Land Cruiser 200 range is only offered in a choice of petrol V8 or diesel V8 engines (hence its aka of Land Cruiser V8).

The aggressive-looking bonnet power bulges still house a V8, though the transmission is upgraded to an 8-speed, which helps improve acceleration and lowers fuel consumption.

Driver Assist Technologies added

Being such a huge SUV, the driver can do with some help to navigate this vehicle – Toyota is adding Frontal Collision Avoidance, Frontal Collision Mitigation, Lane Departure Alert, Blind Spot Monitor, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Auto High Beams, and Dynamic Radar Cruise Control.

Local line-up

Local pricing has not yet been released, though expect the model line-up to remain unchanged as the choice being only which fuel you prefer.  The 2 current models are Toyota Land Cruiser 200 4.6 V8 VX and Toyota Land Cruiser 200 4.5D-4D VX, and current pricing is around R1.1 million.

The trim level is likely to stay as the top-spec VX luxury, as it aims to still compete against the Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Nissan Patrol and sister luxury brand’s Lexus LX.

A bridge between civilisation and adventure?

The Toyota Land Cruiser 200 is unashamedly built to be capable as a luxurious SUV and as serious 4x4 SUV.  With the new enhancements, it aims to encourage its owner to bridge the city and outdoors experiences… sometimes the outdoors is more civilised than the city adventure.