By Khulekani Dumisa

The new Land Cruiser has been revealed. Having sold a cumulative total of approximately 10.4 million units and more than 300,000 units a year have been enjoyed by customers in 170 countries and regions all over the world, Toyota is hoping to continue the magic with the latest iteration.

Exterior and interior

On the exterior, the new Land Cruiser has pursued functional design in line with the Land Cruiser’s heritage. These include a bumper shape that is unlikely to be damaged during off-road driving. Standing out prominently are the new grille and LED light design. The daytime running lights will also be hard to miss from the imposing stance of the new Land Cruiser.

On the interior, a horizontal instrument panel is adopted. Additionally, Toyota is said to have pursued operational comfort by positioning switches such that they can be intuitively operated according to function, and using shape and colour designs that improve operability. Lexus inspired interior adopts a large floating infotainment screen and that appears to free up a bit of space as buttons are pushed up the center console.

Safety

The new Land Cruiser has adopted the latest Toyota Safety Sense active safety package with additional advanced functions. Two functions have been added to the pre-collision system that helps avoid a collision or reduce damage by detecting pedestrians (daytime and night-time) and cyclists (daytime). The first is a function that detects oncoming vehicles at intersections and oncoming pedestrians crossing the street when the vehicle is turning in either direction. The second is an emergency steering and crash avoidance function, which assists with steering and lane keeping and is triggered when the driver performs a steering manoeuvre to avoid collision. Furthermore, the new Land Cruiser has adopted the new Parking Support Brake.

Power

A newly developed V6 twin-turbo engine (3.5-liter gasoline and 3.3-liter diesel) is used in place of a large V8 engine. The engine is paired with a newly developed Direct Shift-10AT (10-speed automatic transmission) with lighter body weight. These are some details of the engine:

Naturally aspirated V6 gasoline engine and 6AT versions are available in some areas.

Off-road improvements

Having been built off a new platform, the new Land Cruiser sees some improvements to its already impressive off road manners. These are aided by:

• Improvement in the basic suspension performance (wheel articulation: a number indicating the ability of a tire to stay on the ground);
• Improved road-holding performance through the adoption of the E-KDSS (Electronic Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System) (first in the world);
• Adoption of the Multi-Terrain Monitor, which instantly displays obstacles as viewed from the driver’s viewpoint; and
• Adoption of the Multi Terrain Select, which automatically judges the road surface and selects the best driving mode.

Local introduction of the new Land Cruiser is projected for late 2021.