Road test! The esteemed Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 3.0 VX-L

By Ané Theron

The latest Prado facelift is as cool and capable as ever, but with new contenders like the modern and sophisticated Touareg joining the fray, does it risk being dethroned?

Styling

Toyota’s styling approach for the latest Prado remains on the conservative side, yet a few words that do come to mind once it appears in your rear-view mirror, are ‘imposing’, ‘towering’, ‘looming’ and ‘intimidating’! The blunt nose with its vertical chrome slats and daytime running lamps give the Prado’s face a quietly purposeful look. The shape of the bonnet also increases visibility for the driver as he descends down a tricky mountain pass. VX-L models also come with LED Auto-High Beam headlamps (AHB) that automatically switch between high and low beam, so oncoming traffic isn’t dazzled.

Around the back, things remain pretty undistinctive. My kids mistook other people’s Prado for ours on more than one occasion in the local shopping mall’s parking lot. It’s not ungainly, but just like the Land Cruiser 200’s back-end, it’s just not anything to write home about.

On the inside, practicality is king, but you can clearly see and feel that this is a luxury SUV. The button-heavy dashboard layout and front fascia have an upmarket brushed chrome background, with switchgear that feels like it would be expensive to replace. The centrally located infotainment system (with a touch-enabled 8-inch screen) does the job well, but it’s not as satisfying to use as the (much less expensive) Toyota C-HR’s user-friendly system. (If you’re a music aficionado, you’ll be glad to hear that the sound system has 14 speakers.)

Alternatively, you can control every drive, off-road or comfort setting from the Optitron meter with its 4.2-inch TFT display in the instrument panel, via the satellite controls on the steering wheel. Satnav is also a standard feature which I found to be quite intuitive and simple to operate, while adaptive cruise control (in the VX-L model) maintains your chosen speed and adjusts to the speed of the vehicle in front of you; speeding up or slowing down, and stopping autonomously when necessary.                                                                                 

The Drive

The Prado remains a massive vehicle, tipping the scales at a rather rotund 2990 kilograms, and it drives as such, with double-wishbone suspension in front and multilink in the rear, both with Toyota’s Kinetic Dynamic Suspension system. Steering is so light that it feel somewhat disconnected from the road and the front wheels. But this is exactly what you want when you’re conquering hardcore 4x4 trails, isn’t it? So after doing a fair bit of driving on tar, we decided to visit Elgin via a dirt road that’s seen its fair share of thunderstorms this season, and the Prado was delighted to be in a more suitable habitat. Not that its on-road credentials are really anything to complain about - it’s especially on 15-hour Jo’burg to Cape Town drives that you will appreciate how comfortable it rides over every imaginable surface, as well as the space for stretching out in.

With only 120kW acceleration isn’t very brisk, but you can tow that mega-caravan or boat with ease, thanks to 400 Nm of torque. Toyota’s done absolutely nothing in terms of upgrading the engine, and this proves how much faith they have in it. Maybe it sounds gruff and a little noisy, but it is built to last, and it does, if the mechanical experts’ opinions are anything to go by.

I also don’t need to convince anyone of how hardcore the Prado is off-road either, with a multi-terrain select system and Panoramic View monitors all around, as well as centre and rear diff locks to get you out of any sticky situation imaginable, as well as crawl control with downhill assist control.  

Space & Comfort

This is where the Prado shines - it offers oodles of space, all the way to the back row, which is usually reserved for the vertically challenged. Driver and front passenger seats  are electronically adjustable on all models, with driver-seat memory in VX and VX-L models. All Prados also gets heated and ventilated seats, while the second row seats are equipped with seat heaters. The coolable centre console between the two front seats can be used to store cold drinks or even a beer or two to celebrate the successful pitching of your tent, but only if you’ve completed all of your driving for the day, of course. The list of comfort features is very comprehensive, and we suggest that you visit the Prado microsite here.

Fuel Consumption

You’d think, that given the Prado’s sheer size and weight, that it will guzzle diesel like a student at a tequila bar on ladies night. Our 87 litre tank (with a 63-litre reserve) hardly budged the entire week, and our highest consumption figure was a budget-friendly 10 litres per 100 km. We were expecting closer to 14, so this was a nice surprise, as we didn’t have to make any visits to the fuel pumps before returning the car. What’s more, this particular engine is very hardy and resilient, with the ability to tolerate our dirty diesel rather well.

Safety

Toyota didn’t skimp on safety, and this particular Prado is equipped with a pre-crash system, seven airbags, traction and stability control, a blind spot monitor with rear-cross traffic alert and park distance control (with multiple cameras). Lane Departure Alert is also standard in the VX-L models.

Price

No ultra-capable Toyota SUV with this number of bells and whistles is going to be cheap, but you can be assured of many years of good service and powertrain reliability. R989 400 is the price of this specific Prado, which is the flagship model. In this price range, we can also recommend the new VW Touareg highly. You can read Lawrence Minnie’s review of it here.

Verdict

Who cares if it feels like you're steering a massive yacht? If you want comfort, space and capability teamed with Toyota’s infallible (and frugal) 3-litre diesel drivetrain, the Prado is going to serve you well for many years to come.