Toyota Lancruiser - Goes Anywhere

When I was in primary school, there was one kid in my class who was bigger than everyone else, he wasn’t especially sporty, nor was he especially intelligent, he was just a nice person who would do anything for you.

And today driving the 2005 Landcruiser GXL V8 I am reminded of my old friend. The car has just ticked over the 200,000km mark on the odometer, and I’m told the only problem this car has had in its seven years on the road is the mirror light on the front visor failed once. But it feels as tight as it did the day it left the factory in Japan.

The car is powered by a 4.7l V8 developing 170kw and 410nm of torque, power is sent through a 5 speed automatic gearbox to all four wheels, a pretty good combination. The gearbox is always willing to kick down a gear into the engines sweet spot when you want it to, the engine has enough power to get the job done, and the fuel economy isn’t too bad either if you drive it conservatively. Toyota claims a 0-100km/h time of 11.3 seconds.

The Interior of the Landcruiser is typical Toyota, bland but everything is in the right place and easy to reach from the drivers seat. Although the button which activates the 4x4 system can be easily knocked by your knee, and as a result I often found myself driving with the 4x4 system on. The seats are comfortable and have enough support for this type of car. There is a massive amount of space in the Landcruiser; there are ample amounts of leg room in both the front and rear, the later easily capable of carrying three adults in comfort rather than the usual 2.5. The third row of seats are convenience, however if your planning on using this car to regularly carry 7 people I would suggest you look elsewhere. Overall its a very practical car, with massive amounts of space.

So what’s it like on the road? Well it’s a very big car, weighing over 2.3tonnes, on a smooth motorway or country road the suspension does a good job of controlling the cars mass and is well mannered, although the car can tend to feel a little too floaty. And while it feels floaty on smooth roads, on lesser quality roads every single bump can be felt in the cabin (this could be due to tyres). The steering is very light, which takes some of the strain away from tricky parking manoeuvres, since this car is 1.9m wide and almost 5m long. However that’s the only real positive I give to the steering because on the road it feels like its been taken from a boat, there’s no feedback, and its pretty slow to react, but most buyers wont be expecting Porsche 911 steering feel. There is quite a lot of body roll if you really push this car, as you would expect from a car riding close to a meter off the ground. In tighter corners the cars initial tendency is to understeer, however on a slippery surface it can be forced into a slight oversteer. The brakes are plenty big enough and provide enough stopping force for everyday driving, although the brake pedal requires quite a firm push to really stop the car. The car also features a system which locks the brakes on if you touch the brake pedal while going down a hill, I’m told this is for offroading, however I found it annoying while driving on the road.

What about off the road then? The Landcruiser has always been famous for it’s incredible abilities when taken off the tarmac, and this one is no different. Whether it’s sand, mud or loose rocks the Landcruiser just keeps on going. You take a glance at an obstacle and think ‘there’s no way it will get up there’ then you watch in awe as it proves you wrong. It’s unbelievable, and that’s the best praise I can give it. All of its faults while driving on the road can be forgiven if you do plan on using this car off road because it’s incredible; it makes it look so easy too. Other off roaders would have there engines screaming, and wheels spinning trying to do what the Landcruiser does with so much more class. It really is the ultimate off roader.

The Landcruiser is a very accomplished vehicle; it’s well mannered on the road, extremely practical, relatively comfortable and can do some pretty amazing things off road. It might like my old friend from primary school, be a bit big, a bit slow, and not exactly brimming with intelligence, but it gets the job done with no fuss, and it will never let you down – no matter where you are.