Finally! Been waiting for ages to drive this. It's the all-new 2022 Toyota LandCruiser and this one right here is the Toyota LandCruiser VX, which is the mid-specification model. Paul Maric checks out Toyota's all-new big 300 Series off-road SUV to see whether it's any good and better than the 200 Series Land Cruiser.
Massive shout out to Werribee Toyota for loaning us this vehicle. Toyota Australia couldn't get us one in time to review. So check them out if you're wanting to buy a new Toyota: https://www.werribeetoyota.com.au/
Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Toyota content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/toyota
More Toyota LandCruiser content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/toyota/landcruiser
Full review: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-reviews/2022-toyota-landcruiser-300-series-review
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 00:55
Interior 04:53
Infotainment 06:43
Safety Tech 08:40
Practicality 10:17
On Road 16:19
0-100 km/h 21:09
Off Road 22:34
Verdict 30:44
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
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#toyota #landcruiser #review #300series #lc300
Massive shout out to Werribee Toyota for loaning us this vehicle. Toyota Australia couldn't get us one in time to review. So check them out if you're wanting to buy a new Toyota: https://www.werribeetoyota.com.au/
Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Toyota content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/toyota
More Toyota LandCruiser content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/toyota/landcruiser
Full review: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-reviews/2022-toyota-landcruiser-300-series-review
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 00:55
Interior 04:53
Infotainment 06:43
Safety Tech 08:40
Practicality 10:17
On Road 16:19
0-100 km/h 21:09
Off Road 22:34
Verdict 30:44
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#toyota #landcruiser #review #300series #lc300
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul.
00:01 Well, look, it is finally here,
00:03 the all new Toyota Land Cruiser.
00:05 I have been seriously excited to drive this,
00:07 not so much because, you know, it's a new car,
00:09 but because this is a seriously important car,
00:11 especially here in Australia.
00:13 Punters buy so many of these,
00:14 and I'm really keen to see whether they've improved
00:17 all of the flaws of the last generation.
00:19 This competes with things like the big Range Rover,
00:21 the Nissan Patrol, and the Land Rover Defender.
00:24 This one right here is the VX,
00:27 so it's about midway up the Land Cruiser range.
00:30 Pricing kicks off at just under $90,000
00:33 for the entire Land Cruiser range.
00:34 The VX is around that $115,000 mark.
00:37 Today, we're going to do a detailed review of this car.
00:40 If you do wanna skip ahead to other parts of the review,
00:42 you can use those time codes up on the screen,
00:44 or if you're on YouTube,
00:45 scroll down and use the chapters below.
00:47 And if you haven't done so already,
00:49 subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon,
00:50 'cause that's gonna tell you every single time
00:52 we review one of these big new beasts.
00:55 Now, before I run you through the exterior,
00:57 I just wanted to give a really big shout out
00:58 to Werribee Toyota.
01:00 The media cars were in another state,
01:02 and because of COVID travel restrictions
01:04 and all the other stuff that's going on in Australia
01:05 at the moment, we couldn't get our hands on a press car,
01:07 so these guys were able to help us out with a loan.
01:10 If you wanna see more about them
01:11 and check out their dealership,
01:12 go to the link in the description.
01:13 So what about the exterior?
01:14 You've got eight external colours to pick from,
01:17 and there's a few different designs down the front here,
01:19 depending on which grade you select.
01:20 If you go for the GR Sport, for example,
01:22 it comes with a sporty front end,
01:24 whereas this VX is middle of the pack.
01:27 It's kind of the luxury version,
01:28 so you can see it's got all of these chrome highlights,
01:31 a big old Toyota logo there that doubles as a radar,
01:34 camera for the 360 camera just there,
01:36 and stacks of air intakes.
01:38 You can see this giant one here.
01:40 Off to the side there, I can see another cooling unit,
01:43 and then one more off to the side here as well.
01:45 It's a fairly beastie setup,
01:47 and you can see that they've established this front end
01:49 to be capable of taking hybridization.
01:51 We've seen the hybrid version of the Tundra
01:53 released in the States,
01:54 and I think that will eventually filter down here
01:56 to the Land Cruiser as well.
01:57 I think the design is nice.
01:59 It's taken a step forward.
02:01 Hasn't really completely changed what this car's about,
02:03 and I think it was important for Toyota not to do that,
02:06 because this car has a lot of heritage,
02:08 and buyers kind of just want the same thing but better,
02:11 and they've kind of delivered that with the design.
02:13 It's the same thing but better.
02:15 Up here, you've got a set of bi-LED headlights
02:17 with an LED daytime running light.
02:20 Also here, headlight washer.
02:21 Now, you may not think that's overly important,
02:23 but for a four-wheel drive, it is important,
02:25 because if you do sort of some decent off-roading,
02:27 a bit of mud slinging,
02:28 you'll find that you can get muddy water
02:30 come through the bottoms here and along the top,
02:32 and it makes those headlights dirty.
02:33 Headlight washer just blasts that stuff away,
02:35 so it's not too much of a drama.
02:37 Fog lights down the bottom,
02:38 and if we whip around to the side,
02:40 18-inch alloy wheels with all-terrain tyres,
02:42 so this is important.
02:43 Again, if you are doing any sort of off-roading,
02:45 you really should be preferencing an all-terrain tyre
02:48 as opposed to a highway and terrain tyre.
02:50 We'll have to see what this is like out on the road.
02:52 I don't know whether this is going to affect us
02:54 in terms of road noise and the type of experience
02:56 you're gonna get out there,
02:57 because the tread pattern isn't conducive to being quiet,
03:00 so we'll see what happens there.
03:01 Wheel design is just sort of fairly standard.
03:04 It's like a brushed chrome look to it.
03:06 Brakes are bigger now, so the rotor is 354 millimetres.
03:09 It comes with four piston calipers.
03:11 Important, because this weighs around two and a half tonnes.
03:13 You wanna be able to pull this up.
03:15 Around the back, they're around that 330 mil mark,
03:17 with a single piston floating caliper.
03:19 This gets a standard suspension setup,
03:21 but as you work your way through
03:23 the rest of the LandCruiser range,
03:24 you'll find things like adaptive suspension
03:26 and also an EKDSS,
03:28 which is the kinetic dynamic suspension system
03:30 that has been featured previously
03:32 on Prado and LandCruiser as well.
03:34 No big plastic wheel arch protectors, which is good news.
03:37 Over on the side here,
03:38 you have an indicator built into that wing mirror.
03:40 You have a camera nestled in down the bottom there,
03:42 plus an LED light that'll project out onto the floor.
03:45 The sidesteps make it easier to get in and out of,
03:47 because it is a fair old leap up from Terra Firma.
03:50 You've got these chrome strips around the windows,
03:52 roof rails, privacy glass,
03:55 and then come around to the back.
03:56 Again, around here, you'll notice the styling
03:58 hasn't changed hugely.
03:59 It is only a minor change,
04:01 but it is quite a nice minor change.
04:03 They've integrated LED tail lamps into here,
04:05 some cool sort of aero flicks on the side there.
04:08 This feels to me like it's flatter at the back.
04:10 I don't know, I had memories of the 200 series
04:12 sort of sitting inwards a little bit,
04:13 and that could be due to this tailgate change.
04:15 It's no longer a split tailgate,
04:16 so it's just a single piece unit.
04:18 Now, the other news as well
04:20 that's changed with this is the entire range
04:21 is delivered with a wiring harness
04:23 ready for towing package.
04:24 So, means you don't need to faff about with all that stuff.
04:26 If you do decide to eventually fit a tow bar to your car,
04:30 big LandCruiser lettering along the back here,
04:32 along with another Toyota logo as well.
04:34 So, overall, what do you reckon about the design?
04:36 I think it looks really good.
04:37 This spec is probably a little bit subdued.
04:39 I'm really keen to drive the GR Sport,
04:41 so I can't wait to get behind the wheel of that
04:42 and see what that's like.
04:43 There are big hardware changes
04:45 as you move through the range as well,
04:46 so I'll be keen to see how all of that evolves,
04:48 but let me know what you think here
04:49 about the design of the VX and the 300 Series in general.
04:53 So, we are inside the LandCruiser now.
04:55 Let's kick off with the key.
04:57 Here it is.
04:58 So, you've got lock, unlock.
04:59 There's a panic button.
05:01 Toyota logo, this garnish around the bottom,
05:03 and then on the back, you have LandCruiser.
05:06 Proximity sensing key, so leave that in your pocket,
05:08 and then once you're inside,
05:09 the push button start is all the way up here.
05:12 So, this is a big departure from the last one
05:14 in terms of presentation.
05:16 I think they've really stepped it up a notch
05:18 to make this look and feel a whole lot more premium,
05:20 especially when you consider the price.
05:22 So, it has gone up in price,
05:23 and that means it's now competing
05:24 with different subset of vehicles,
05:26 and they really had to focus on making this
05:28 feel like it's valued a whole lot more
05:30 than something like a Patrol,
05:31 which is the same size,
05:33 but looks completely different inside, but is much cheaper.
05:36 And that means everything from the switch gear here
05:38 with these metallic finishes,
05:39 even the buttons on the steering wheel
05:40 with the metallic finishes down the bottom,
05:42 this is very BMW-like,
05:43 and it just means that you feel a bit better
05:45 about paying this kind of money.
05:47 And have a look at this.
05:48 It is open-pore wood,
05:50 so a big departure from like the old-school wood grain
05:52 you see in stuff like the Prados.
05:54 So, quite like what they've done there,
05:56 and barely any piano black, which is great news.
05:58 And that follows onto these material selections.
06:00 So, really soft along there
06:01 where you're gonna rest your knee,
06:03 including the dashboard and stuff.
06:04 And what about your touch points?
06:05 Well, that is soft.
06:07 That is where you're gonna be resting your arm
06:08 while you're driving.
06:09 Same with this one over here.
06:10 How soft is it?
06:11 Well, we've got our geometer.
06:12 We've tested the main surfaces in this cabin.
06:14 If you wanna see how this car compares to others
06:16 that we've tested before,
06:17 have a look at the link in the description.
06:19 Build quality, what's that like?
06:21 This feels fantastic.
06:24 This is as solid as an Audi.
06:26 I think Audi is like my benchmark for build quality.
06:28 It is just, it feels like it's built like a tank,
06:31 and it can sort of go anywhere without falling apart.
06:34 And final build quality check,
06:35 or thing that we kind of bundle in with build quality,
06:38 door noise.
06:39 Yeah, that sounds good.
06:41 Very meaty and European.
06:43 Moving on to infotainment,
06:45 there is a big new infotainment system here.
06:47 12.3 inches in size,
06:49 and it sits atop the dashboard there.
06:51 I think this looks really good.
06:53 It really suits this interior,
06:55 and the entry-level models
06:56 come with a smaller infotainment system,
06:57 but I think this looks fantastic in the higher-end models.
07:00 Got shortcut buttons down the bottom here,
07:02 but it is primarily driven as a touchscreen
07:04 or with shortcut buttons on the steering wheel.
07:07 You can see on the left or the right,
07:09 if you press this button here,
07:11 it switches between either side.
07:12 You can select shortcuts for the climate,
07:15 and then you can also control the third and fourth zones
07:17 of the climate through here.
07:18 You can also do your heated seats, music,
07:21 and then all your stats and information.
07:23 What you can also do is go to a menu,
07:26 which is where you'll see all of your other controls.
07:28 In terms of audio, you have AM, FM, DAB plus digital radio.
07:33 That's all sent through a 10-speaker sound system.
07:35 Really good sound system, so big plus on that.
07:37 And then in terms of smartphone mirroring,
07:39 you have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
07:42 Both of those are wired,
07:43 so I'll show you what CarPlay looks like.
07:45 It's a bit strange that it sits over onto the side
07:47 and it doesn't take up the whole screen.
07:49 So even if you click these buttons
07:51 to try and minimize things,
07:53 it actually just moves it to other sides.
07:55 It doesn't really sort of make this bigger,
07:57 which is disappointing, but it is a fairly quick integration.
08:01 It's kind of a tiny bit laggy there,
08:03 but for the most part, it does an okay job.
08:05 Unfortunately, something is going on with our Android phone
08:07 and Android Auto is not working.
08:10 So I can't show you what that looks like.
08:11 One thing I did notice here that I don't love
08:13 is there's no knob for the volume.
08:15 You have to use these buttons or the steering wheel.
08:16 So yeah, let's just go back to the knobs, guys.
08:19 There is one screen ahead of the driver as well.
08:22 So this presents all of your trip computer information,
08:24 a lot of the off-road information,
08:25 and I'll run you through the off-road information
08:27 when we go for a drive, but really good setup.
08:29 So you really just have access to everything that you need
08:32 without having to take your eyes off the road.
08:34 And it's easy to use as well.
08:35 So you don't need a rocket science degree
08:37 to figure out how to switch off
08:38 lane departure warning, for example.
08:40 What about safety technology?
08:41 Well, you've got autonomous emergency braking
08:43 that uses both radar and camera.
08:45 It has pedestrian and cyclist detection.
08:48 You've got blind spot monitoring
08:49 built into that wing mirror there.
08:51 Auto-dimming rear vision mirror.
08:52 You have rear cross traffic alert.
08:54 You have a lane departure warning,
08:56 but not a lane keeping assistant
08:57 because this still uses a hydraulically-assisted
08:59 steering rack.
09:00 Radar cruise control, and you have both front
09:02 and rear parking sensors and a 360 camera.
09:05 I'll show you what it looks like.
09:06 So one push of this button, it comes up.
09:08 So you actually have this around view camera.
09:10 It gives you a look at what's around the sides,
09:13 the front, the back of the car.
09:14 And then it pulls out and gives you
09:16 a top-down view as well.
09:18 There it is there.
09:19 Kind of pointless, but kind of cool at the same time.
09:22 Then you also have the ability to just go down
09:24 from sort of helicopter view.
09:26 Now I'm gonna turn on the car because it beeps at me
09:28 if I just slot it into reverse.
09:29 I'm gonna put this into reverse
09:30 so you can see what that looks like.
09:32 Quality of that camera is excellent.
09:34 So a big step forward there.
09:35 You get guidelines as well.
09:37 Plus there's an off-road view as well
09:38 that we can look at when we do go off-road.
09:40 And then you can press this button
09:41 for a slightly wider angle view as well.
09:44 I forgot to mention as well,
09:45 Toyota has rolled out a new feature here in Land Cruiser.
09:48 So you have a SIM inside this car
09:51 that gives you remote connectivity.
09:52 If you're involved in an accident where you roll over
09:55 or the airbags deploy,
09:56 it'll actually call Toyota's safety service
09:58 and figure out whether you need an ambulance or assistance.
10:02 And they will also relay your GPS location
10:04 so your car's easier to find.
10:06 What you can also do is pull this little flap down
10:09 and you can manually call SOS there as well if you need to.
10:12 So pretty cool feature.
10:14 Handy if you're stuck in the middle of nowhere,
10:15 as long as you have reception, of course.
10:17 Now let's talk about practicality
10:19 and we'll start with connectivity.
10:20 Down the front here,
10:21 you have a flap that conceals
10:23 some of your connectivity options.
10:24 So you have a USB-C port and a USB-A port,
10:28 along with 12 volt.
10:29 You can then also put your phone down here
10:31 onto the wireless charging pad.
10:33 I do like this because it is a much better system
10:35 than the 200 series,
10:36 but I don't love the fact that it's not gripped.
10:39 So your phone is just gonna kind of move around
10:41 and it's really just not a very good setup there.
10:43 So maybe there is a pad you can get from the dealer
10:45 or something to stop your phone moving around,
10:47 but I think that needs a little bit of work.
10:49 You then can also put your phone here
10:51 if you want for storage,
10:52 where you're gonna put your bottles and that kind of thing.
10:54 So bottle slots into there sort of easily.
10:56 You have teeth on the side.
10:57 There is a deeper bottle slot down here.
11:00 Cool thing is if you want sort of a deeper one there
11:03 and not a deep one there,
11:04 or you just wanna have them both the same height,
11:06 there is actually this little doodad here.
11:08 You slot that into this side
11:10 and that allows them to sit at the same height.
11:12 So pretty good little setup there.
11:14 This also fits inside the door easily.
11:17 See how big bottle fits inside the door.
11:20 Let's give that a shot.
11:22 No, no luck.
11:22 So just enough storage for a small bottle.
11:25 So it's in a console.
11:26 This is interesting 'cause it looks like it opens
11:28 in the center here,
11:29 but what it does is you can open it from this side
11:31 or you can open it from this side as well.
11:33 When it is open, you'll see this sort of
11:35 coin tray type setup there.
11:37 And then it's fairly deep with another storage rack
11:40 down there as well.
11:41 So nice little setup.
11:42 And I think in higher end models,
11:44 you actually get a fridge in there as well.
11:46 You've got a glove box over here.
11:48 So you open that up.
11:49 It's fairly decent.
11:50 I mean, it's not the biggest glove box in the world,
11:52 but it's gonna be big enough to store your odds and ends.
11:54 And finally, you have a sunglasses holder up the top.
11:57 Moving on to comfort.
11:58 So you have four zones of climate control.
12:00 Two are up the front here.
12:01 They're automatic.
12:02 You have heated and cooled seats.
12:04 The seats, pretty basic design.
12:06 It's perforated for that cooling.
12:08 And then the bolsters are sort of big enough
12:10 to fit most people.
12:11 I have plenty of room on the sides here.
12:12 So if you are bigger, don't worry.
12:14 You have electric seat adjustment for the driver.
12:16 So you can go forwards, backwards, move that backrest.
12:18 You can also move the bolster as required.
12:21 Electric adjustment for the passenger seat.
12:23 In addition to that,
12:24 you also have electric steering adjustment.
12:27 And then what about our reach test?
12:29 Well, all of this stuff is easy to reach.
12:31 It's just these edges of the touchscreen
12:33 are a little trickier to reach from the driver's seat.
12:36 Second row of the Land Cruiser.
12:37 Let's start off with room.
12:39 So knee room is great.
12:41 Toe room, surprisingly, is really poor.
12:43 So I've got this narrow envelope there
12:45 where I can put my toes
12:46 and then they're kind of just wedged into position.
12:48 I was expecting to have a whole lot more
12:50 sort of toe room there,
12:51 which is a little bit disappointing.
12:53 Headroom is not too bad.
12:55 What other creature comforts have you got?
12:56 Well, you've got mat pockets in the back of these seats.
12:58 You've got two USB-C charging ports,
13:01 one 12-volt outlet.
13:03 This is where your third and fourth zones
13:05 of climate control are.
13:07 Got air vents here,
13:07 plus air vents in the roof to keep you nice and cool.
13:10 Grab handles for getting in and out.
13:12 I like also that you can open the glove box from here
13:15 using the rear button.
13:16 So that's a good setup.
13:18 Bottle holder.
13:19 You've got a center armrest here with two cup holders.
13:22 So it'll fit into there easily.
13:23 You can also fit this bottle inside the door
13:26 without any dramas at all.
13:27 And you also have ISOFIX points
13:29 for your two outboard seats.
13:30 So third row, what's it like?
13:32 It's a big old Land Cruiser.
13:33 The wheelbase is still the same,
13:35 but they reckon they've increased track
13:37 and made more room inside.
13:38 So let's put that theory to the test.
13:40 To get into the third row,
13:41 you pull this lever,
13:42 drops that out of the way.
13:44 You then manually lift the seat up like that.
13:48 You pull this base section out,
13:50 and then you lift that into position.
13:52 I will climb on in.
13:56 All right, I'll bring that down as well.
13:58 Igor, can you just give me a hand pulling that section up?
14:04 Yeah, just pull that.
14:06 Yep, perfect.
14:08 Okay, so we're in position now,
14:10 and I can tell you there is not much room back here.
14:13 And this is pretty surprising.
14:15 The other downside is the second row
14:16 doesn't slide forwards and backwards,
14:18 which means you can't really give yourself any more room
14:21 unless your second row tilts the back of their seats forward.
14:24 My head is well and truly inside
14:27 the sort of ceiling of this,
14:28 and I have no toe room, no knee room.
14:31 It is really disappointing, actually.
14:33 I'm surprised by that.
14:34 But if you put the room to one side,
14:36 you have two USB-C ports either side,
14:39 and also bottle holders.
14:40 Keep in mind as well,
14:41 I'm obviously not built like Arnold Schwarzenegger,
14:44 circa "Terminator 2,"
14:46 but I think that this really is just a kid's zone,
14:48 and I find that quite surprising
14:49 given that this is the biggest vehicle that Toyota makes.
14:53 You can't actually fit an adult in here at all.
14:56 So yeah, it's surprising.
14:57 Let's have a look at how much room
14:58 there is behind the third row.
15:00 Now, before I show you the space behind the third row,
15:02 you've got a full-size spare beneath here.
15:04 Can't open the glass.
15:05 It is just one single tailgate piece,
15:07 and it is manual here on the VX.
15:09 You can get power tailgate on other models.
15:12 So here behind the third row,
15:14 you have just under 200 litres of cargo space.
15:18 Before I show you what it looks like with the bags in there,
15:19 you have a power socket just off to the side here,
15:22 LED lights.
15:23 Over here, you have the fuses and relays for the car,
15:27 and then on the other side,
15:28 it's all about the jack hidden in behind there.
15:31 Now I'll show you what it looks like without bags.
15:33 I left the suitcase at home accidentally, so there it is.
15:37 This bag is around the size of a carry-on luggage bag
15:40 for the airplane.
15:41 Remember those things?
15:42 So that kind of fits in neatly behind the third row,
15:45 so you do actually have some usable space there.
15:48 So to drop the third row,
15:49 again, it's not exactly the smartest system in the world.
15:52 You have to pull that to drop the headrest,
15:54 then you pull this, and then it folds out of the way.
15:58 That expands the space to 1,000 litres.
16:00 Got some hooks there as well if you do need them.
16:03 Then if you wanna go even bigger,
16:05 you can drop the second row as well.
16:07 That is all manual from the sides.
16:10 So we pop that down, do the same to the other side,
16:13 and that gives you about 2,000 litres of cargo space.
16:17 It is a massive boot.
16:21 So we have hit the road in the big 300 Series Land Cruiser.
16:24 Let's start off with the changes to the engine.
16:26 So this is a brand new platform.
16:28 It's on Toyota's new TNGA platform,
16:30 and it's the first body-on-frame version of that platform.
16:33 And they've swapped out the V8 diesel
16:35 with a controversial V6 diesel,
16:38 but it does produce a decent amount of power and torque.
16:41 So it produces 227 kilowatts of power
16:44 and 700 newton-metres of torque.
16:46 That's 27 kilowatts and 50 newton-metres
16:49 more than the outgoing one,
16:50 even though it is a smaller capacity engine.
16:52 So they've taken advantage of all the technology
16:54 to really sort of give this the feel
16:56 it needs behind the wheel.
16:57 10-speed automatic transmission.
16:58 How does all that feel?
16:59 I was a little worried because the 10-speed auto
17:01 in the Ford Ranger can be a little hit and miss.
17:04 This on the other hand, my God,
17:06 they have done a sensational job with this package,
17:08 even down to the noise.
17:10 I love the sound.
17:11 It really, it doesn't sound like the V8,
17:14 but it's got a grunty note to it.
17:16 And I think that's really important
17:17 'cause if you are gonna switch from a V8 to a V6,
17:19 it still needs to sound good.
17:20 And this certainly fits that brief.
17:22 Gearbox is quick enough as well.
17:23 So even as you're rolling along,
17:24 you can roll into the throttle and it won't go hunting.
17:27 It will give you the torque that it needs
17:29 by leaning on that torque band.
17:31 It feels very sort of reassuring behind the wheel.
17:34 This is a full-time four-wheel drive.
17:36 And this one in particular doesn't have any additional
17:39 differentials outside of the centre diff.
17:42 But as you move up the Land Cruiser range,
17:43 you have a number of different options.
17:45 So you can get front and rear diff locks
17:46 and also a Torsen limited slip differential
17:49 at the rear.
17:50 So that's designed to give you a bit more
17:51 of a sporty feel behind the wheel
17:53 without it sort of spinning an inside wheel.
17:55 Let's talk fuel economy.
17:56 So the official figure is 8.9 litres per 100 Ks.
17:59 I'm gonna show you the figure here,
18:00 but let me give you a few caveats.
18:02 So currently it's 18.7,
18:04 which is almost three times the actual average figure.
18:07 This car is literally brand new.
18:10 It's brand spanking new.
18:11 So it hasn't been run in.
18:13 There's still a lot of driving that needs to be done before
18:15 this hits its optimum fuel economy.
18:17 And on the way here,
18:18 I was averaging a little over 10 litres per 100 Ks.
18:21 So I think that figure is highly exaggerated.
18:23 And if you do drive it sensibly,
18:25 you're gonna be closer to that 10 litres per 100 mark.
18:27 Keep in mind as well with the fuel economy,
18:29 the tank is now 110 litres.
18:31 So that's an 80 litre main tank and a 30 litre sub tank.
18:35 Let's talk about drive modes.
18:35 So this here is the mode select button.
18:37 This allows you to choose between your off-road modes,
18:39 but also your on-road modes.
18:41 So off-road, you hit MTS, on-road, it's just drive mode.
18:44 Then you flick it around.
18:45 So you've got eco, normal and sport.
18:47 It's all pretty straightforward.
18:48 The VX here doesn't get adaptive damping.
18:50 So it doesn't change any of the characteristics
18:52 of the suspension.
18:53 Let's talk ride.
18:54 So the previous gen Land Cruiser was not terrible,
18:56 but it wasn't amazing either.
18:58 What they've done here though,
18:59 is they've really been able to round out the ride
19:02 for country roads.
19:03 Previously with the Land Cruiser,
19:04 it felt a little bit jittery and brutal at times.
19:06 And yes, you can get adaptive damping on some specs
19:09 of the new Land Cruiser,
19:10 but this one obviously doesn't have it.
19:11 And it means that these little road edges here,
19:13 when you throw a tire off,
19:15 really feels nice and predictable.
19:17 It's very sort of safe feeling behind the wheel.
19:20 It doesn't feel like it's gonna roll over
19:21 or anything like that.
19:22 So I think that Toyota's worked really hard
19:24 to give you a good balance between a comfortable ride
19:26 and also one that's going to give you confidence
19:28 behind the wheel.
19:29 Now that translates through to the safety systems,
19:31 which I don't know, I kind of find a bit annoying.
19:33 Thankfully, you can switch all of them off
19:35 just using this menu here and while you're driving as well,
19:38 which is great news.
19:39 But one of them here is this vibration that it does
19:42 when the car's leaving the road.
19:44 It can pulse the brakes as well,
19:45 but because it is a hydraulic system
19:47 and not an electrically assisted steering system,
19:49 it can't actually steer the car for you.
19:51 So that is gonna be one of the downsides of them
19:53 sticking with that older style of steering setup.
19:56 Weight comes in at a little over 2,500 kilos here
19:59 for the VX.
20:00 It's around 160 kilos less than the outgoing Land Cruiser.
20:03 So it is a big reduction there, about 5%.
20:06 And I think that that really helps with the fuel economy
20:08 and also giving this a more sort of nimble
20:10 and agile feel behind the wheel.
20:12 All right, let's chuck it into sport.
20:14 We'll see what it's like through our corner here.
20:16 It's got a really punchy engine.
20:19 It's quite impressive.
20:20 All right, we'll give this a punt through here.
20:22 Look, it's not gonna sit dead flat.
20:24 It's no sports car in that sense,
20:26 but it hoofs along nicely.
20:28 You're gonna be reaching the speed limits
20:29 here in Australia very quickly.
20:31 Steering doesn't have a great deal of feel to it.
20:33 Mid corner, you can get a bit of kick back through the wheel.
20:36 So that's not really all that impressive
20:37 in terms of a handling car.
20:39 And that's one of the downsides with the hydraulic rack as well.
20:41 You really can't customise the feel
20:43 as you go through those drive modes.
20:45 One of the things I mentioned on handling as well
20:46 is the centre of gravity has been reduced by six millimetres.
20:49 May not sound like much,
20:51 but that's by moving the engine
20:52 almost 100 mil back and down.
20:54 That really sort of makes the car,
20:56 or the big SUV in this case, hunker down a little bit.
20:59 And it gives you that impression
21:00 that it's a little more attached to the road
21:02 than it used to be.
21:03 Toyota doesn't have an official zero to 100 time
21:05 for the Land Cruiser,
21:06 but we've put it up against our stopwatch
21:08 and this is how it went.
21:10 (car engine roaring)
21:13 Here's one thing that I reckon
21:21 is gonna concern Range Rover a little bit.
21:23 As the price of this has creeped up,
21:25 Toyota's been sensible with the servicing.
21:27 It currently has six monthly 10,000 kilometre servicing tools
21:31 which I think is garbage.
21:32 They really should be 12 monthly,
21:34 but they are only $375 a service
21:37 and that is significantly cheaper
21:39 than a lot of the competitors in this segment.
21:41 In addition to that,
21:41 if you do service it at Toyota beyond your five year mark,
21:44 they'll actually extend your new car warranty
21:46 up to seven years if you keep
21:48 the scheduled services running.
21:50 So it is a cheap car to run in that sense.
21:53 If you are gonna be doing a whole lot of driving
21:54 and it driving around Australia or something like that,
21:56 it's not gonna cost you an arm and a leg
21:57 every time you go get it serviced.
21:59 Now, what about visibility?
22:00 This thing is a mammoth of a vehicle,
22:02 but I can clearly see down the front there,
22:04 the driving position actually feels lower.
22:06 I feel like I'm sort of more car like here.
22:08 I don't feel like I'm towering over everyone.
22:10 The wing mirrors are really big.
22:11 It's got blind spot monitors built into those wing mirrors.
22:14 Visibility out the rear is also excellent too.
22:17 That envelope is very easy to see out of.
22:19 Finally, you've got an 11.8 metre turning circle
22:22 and that means you're probably gonna be doing
22:25 the occasional three point turn
22:26 'cause it is a big turning circle.
22:28 Keep in mind that when you are off road,
22:29 it actually has a turn assist function
22:31 that I'll run you through
22:32 that sort of tucks in that turning circle a bit.
22:34 Okay, time to do a little bit of off-roading
22:37 and there's actually quite a bit to get through here.
22:39 So I'm going to do it in two steps.
22:41 We'll do the whole course in high range first
22:43 and then I'll show you some of the extra stuff
22:45 you can do in low range.
22:47 The VX here doesn't get any of the KDSS systems.
22:49 So it's just a standard suspension setup.
22:51 There's also no front or rear diff locks,
22:53 but they are available on other models.
22:55 So let's start off with the specs.
22:56 So you have an approach angle of 32 degrees.
22:58 That's the angle of the face you can approach at the front
23:01 without hitting anything.
23:02 And then you have a departure angle of 25 degrees,
23:05 which is the angle at the rear,
23:07 kind of the same as the front.
23:08 But in reverse, you have a ground clearance of 235mm.
23:12 That's an extra 10mm above the 200 Series Land Cruiser.
23:16 And you also have a wading depth of 700mm.
23:19 In terms of the four-wheel drive equipment,
23:20 you have a centre diff lock as standard.
23:22 That can be activated in both high range and low range.
23:25 You have a low range transfer case.
23:27 And then you have a bunch of these controls here
23:29 for a bit more finite tuning on the off-road system.
23:33 So you have multi-terrain select and crawl control as well.
23:36 Okay, so what we're gonna do first,
23:37 I've left it in high range.
23:38 We've selected dirt as the setting.
23:41 What I'll also do is select the downhill assist.
23:44 So this is basically going to regulate
23:46 our speed going down this hill.
23:48 So let's give this a shot.
23:50 It's all pretty dry today,
23:51 so I don't see it having too many dramas
23:53 getting up our log mountain, but we'll see what happens.
23:58 This is walking up here without any dramas.
24:00 I'm just leaning into the throttle
24:01 and this 10-speed auto is doing such a good job,
24:04 just giving me the torque that I need.
24:06 That is literally a piece of cake.
24:08 That is so impressive.
24:10 Okay, so coming down this now,
24:11 I'm able to use this mode selector here
24:13 to adjust our speed going down the hill.
24:16 So I'm gonna set it to 4Ks an hour
24:18 and it will work in the background
24:19 to make sure we don't travel too fast down the hill.
24:23 Here it goes now.
24:25 So it's falling into the divots there
24:28 on our downhill stretch without any dramas.
24:29 You can hear the traction control system working
24:32 and it is doing everything that it needs to do
24:34 to bring us down this hill.
24:36 That is really impressive.
24:38 Okay, now it's able to control your speed
24:41 going up the hill again, but that's in low range.
24:43 So we'll try going up the hill first in high range
24:45 to see what it's like,
24:46 and then we'll switch over to low range
24:47 and have a play with those settings.
24:49 Okay, let's try this hill again.
24:50 So it is a steep hill,
24:51 but what will make the car unstuck
24:53 is the big ruts that are in it.
24:55 And I think that will ultimately stop it from moving,
24:58 but let's see how it goes just in four high,
25:00 just in the dirt setting.
25:02 So already it's doing a good job getting up here.
25:05 About to fall into our first divot.
25:07 No dramas at all.
25:10 There you go, a little bit of a slip there,
25:12 but it has entirely sorted itself out.
25:14 I remember when we did that in the Defender,
25:17 it couldn't quite manage to sort itself out
25:19 without us going back through some of the settings
25:21 and locking a differential.
25:23 So that is really a piece of cake.
25:26 So, all right, let's try low range now.
25:28 I'll run you through some of the other features
25:30 you can actually use while the car is just in low range.
25:32 Righto, so to activate low range,
25:34 we have to put it into neutral,
25:35 flick this switch here down to L4.
25:37 It switches itself into low range.
25:40 What I'm also gonna do is show you
25:42 turn assist and crawl control.
25:44 So to activate that,
25:45 I'm going to engage the center diff lock.
25:48 Okay, there it is there.
25:49 We'll use crawl control to go up this hill.
25:53 And same story, what we're doing
25:54 is just using the mode select to adjust the speed
25:57 and the car's then going to take care of everything.
25:59 So it'll do all the accelerating,
26:01 it will do all the braking that it needs to do.
26:03 And I love this, the camera that shows you
26:05 what's going on around the car as we're driving.
26:08 It's really nice and high res,
26:09 so there's no confusion about what we're about to attack.
26:12 Look at that, that is so cool.
26:15 This is idiot proof stuff as well.
26:17 It really just allows a novice like me to get it sorted.
26:20 Now there is another cool feature here.
26:22 So what I'll do now is engage turn assist.
26:25 So one push of this makes the car
26:27 do some really interesting stuff.
26:28 So when you have a center diff locked,
26:30 it's splitting torque between the front
26:32 and rear axles at 50/50.
26:33 Now, if that doesn't make any sense,
26:34 click up here to watch a video
26:36 where we explain four wheel drive controls
26:38 and why four wheel drives work the way that they do.
26:42 Well, what it's able to do,
26:43 normally when you do have a center diff locked,
26:45 it really increases your turning radius.
26:47 What this will do on the other hand though,
26:48 is decrease that turning radius
26:51 because it's breaking the inner wheel
26:53 and that causes the car to tuck itself in
26:55 and allows you to do a tighter turn.
26:56 So as we come around here,
26:58 instead of me having to turn wide,
27:00 you can hear it doing its thing in the background there.
27:03 And I don't know if we can say that from the outside,
27:06 but it's breaking the wheel
27:07 to allow the car to do a tighter turn as it goes.
27:09 It feels weird behind the wheel,
27:11 but it's meant to be doing all of this stuff
27:13 to give you that extra maneuverability
27:15 when you are on tight off-road tracks.
27:17 And then also the control you have over speed
27:19 here in low range is excellent.
27:21 I know, I can't repeat this enough.
27:23 This seriously is completely idiot proof.
27:25 I do love the system that Land Rover uses,
27:28 Terrain Response, when it comes to off-roading,
27:30 but I think this is just even simpler
27:32 and it really just gives you everything you need
27:34 at sort of the push of a couple of buttons.
27:37 Okay, we're gonna go back up our hill,
27:39 this time in low range with Crawl Control active.
27:42 So I'm gonna let the car do basically
27:43 everything going up here.
27:45 So let's see how well that works.
27:47 We'll just approach the base of it.
27:49 Again, it's the ruts here that are going
27:50 to ultimately slow the car down.
27:53 So that is active, Crawl Control is on,
27:56 and it's gonna send us up this hill.
27:58 Okay, here we go.
28:00 We're approaching our first rut just here on the left.
28:03 So the car's just slowly accelerating
28:05 as we fall into that rut.
28:08 I can feel that wheel slipping there.
28:12 And as we approach this rock here,
28:14 we'll get the other side slipping.
28:18 Okay, we're slowing down a bit there.
28:20 No, that's no drama at all.
28:21 So look, this is not some serious hardcore off-roading
28:25 that we're doing here.
28:26 It's just some basic stuff,
28:28 but I think for a lot of punters,
28:29 this is what they're going to be doing.
28:30 They're not gonna be going climbing Mount Everest
28:32 in their stock LandCruiser.
28:33 And I think it's important to note
28:34 that if you did modify this,
28:37 you could seriously go anywhere with it.
28:38 It has all the hardware that it needs to get you
28:41 to where you need to go.
28:42 And all you need to do then is just specify it
28:44 with off-road tires and perhaps a lift kit,
28:46 and you can really just go anywhere with it.
28:48 Okay, next up, it is our flex test.
28:50 I reckon they've made the body more rigid,
28:52 but let's see exactly whether that's worked or not.
28:55 So I'm gonna leave this all in high range.
28:57 I'll just pop this in mud so you can see there.
29:00 A couple of the traction control lights have come on
29:02 and we will just chuck it into here.
29:04 We'll see how it goes.
29:06 This bit always freaks me out.
29:09 You can actually see the inclination there
29:10 as we drive through this.
29:12 All right, perfect.
29:14 Here we go to the center section.
29:16 I'm gonna get one of those wheels off the ground.
29:18 This has a heap of wheel articulation,
29:19 so we may not actually get to the point
29:22 where we have wheels off the ground,
29:23 but that's pretty close.
29:24 So let's see how that goes.
29:26 No dramas, that is opening and closing
29:29 without any problems at all.
29:30 So big tick there on body rigidity.
29:33 And we'll pilot on through here to the other side
29:36 where we can test how much traction you actually have
29:41 when this is just in high range
29:42 without the center diff locked.
29:44 So again, I don't know if we'll get the wheel
29:45 entirely off the ground, but we'll get as close as we can.
29:48 There it is there, so it's about off the ground.
29:50 I'll just ease off the throttle.
29:52 We'll just see if it can sort itself out here
29:54 and then easing onto it a little bit more.
29:56 Piece of cake, the traction control system in this
30:00 just sees that walk through with real ease.
30:02 The wheel articulation is so big
30:04 that it still has that little bit of traction
30:05 in the mud there, but for the most part,
30:07 the traction control system is just biting at it,
30:09 allowing the rest of the wheels that actually have traction
30:12 to pull it through without any dramas.
30:13 So look, this really does feel like the king off-road
30:16 and I'm sure that you can sort of go
30:18 to some extreme off-roading stuff
30:19 where you'll unearth some of its flaws,
30:21 but for the average person like me or you,
30:23 this is probably gonna take you anywhere you need to go.
30:25 Look, if there are any negatives,
30:26 the only stuff I will point out
30:28 is that I would have loved to see a rear diff lock available.
30:32 You have to go to crazy high in the Land Cruiser range
30:35 to actually get the rear diff lock,
30:37 but it also does come with a front diff lock as well,
30:39 so you do get that full package.
30:40 It'd just be nice to see something like that available
30:43 here in the mid-spec as well.
30:44 So the Toyota Land Cruiser, what do I think?
30:46 I am bloody impressed.
30:48 They've taken the 200 Series, which was a capable SUV,
30:51 but starting to feel incredibly dated,
30:54 and they've updated it without going over the top
30:56 with styling and just giving it all the stuff
30:58 that it doesn't need, and I think this VX
31:00 really hits the sweet spot in terms of pricing.
31:02 It has gone up in price, but it feels like it's justified.
31:05 All of the extra gear that you're getting
31:07 makes you feel better about forking out the cash.
31:09 I will also say with the diesel, the V6, it's really not bad.
31:13 I thought it was going to be a big step back
31:14 from the V8 diesel, but it complements the gearbox nicely.
31:17 It's really punchy, and I'm confident that when you do
31:20 put a three and a half ton load behind this,
31:22 and we haven't tested this, but it will feel capable enough
31:25 to do that trek around Australia if you need it to.
31:28 So today was just a brief drive of the 300 Series.
31:31 I'm keen for your feedback, though.
31:32 Which other models do you want us to review?
31:34 You want us to do the entry level,
31:35 or do you want us to go all the way to the top,
31:36 or in between?
31:38 I'm driven by your feedback, so let me know
31:39 in the comments section which other vehicles
31:41 we should review from the 300 Series range,
31:43 and we'll get those in and do more of a longer drive
31:46 so I can give you a better opinion.
31:47 Terms of the negatives, I did mention
31:49 when we were doing the off-roading,
31:50 I would like to see the option of a rear diff lock,
31:52 or even the ability to tick a box
31:54 to give us the front and rear diff locks as well.
31:56 Not that it's not capable off-road,
31:57 I just think that if you found yourself in a bit of a bind
32:00 and you really needed a rear diff lock,
32:02 this absolutely doesn't have it,
32:03 and you've got to spend even more money
32:05 to get that technology, even though it should be
32:07 kind of standard on the 300 Series as well.
32:09 The infotainment system is good,
32:11 but again with Toyota stuff,
32:12 it feels like they've got like 70% of the way there with it
32:15 and just kind of given up a little bit.
32:17 But outside of that, I think it is, I don't know,
32:19 it's just a really big leap forward,
32:21 and if you are waiting for one of these,
32:22 I know there is a huge waiting list,
32:24 you are going to be mighty impressed
32:25 when it finally does arrive.
32:27 So if you did enjoy this video,
32:28 please make sure you share it and like it.
32:31 I'm sure your mates all want to see it.
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32:38 but until next time, stay safe, take it easy.