Toyota’s 2,000hp super ‘Cruiser

Broad shouldered and confident, the vaunted Toyota Land Cruiser authored the rulebook for Sport Utility Vehicles. This year, the Land Speed Cruiser will write a new chapter in the SUV’s history book.

Debuting at Toyota’s 2016 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show display in November, the Land Speed Cruiser is a lowslung, purpose-built sled of a vehicle capable of generating more than 2,000hp (1,500kW) and a top speed of 350km/h that leaves most sports cars in the dust.

“From the outside, the Land Speed Cruiser appears quite normal, quite subtle,” said motorsports technical centre manager Chuck Wade, who built this vehicle with his team of engineers. “This is what makes it so special. Every single system and component has been touched. The trick is getting the body back onto the heavily modified frame.”

The build team surgically extracted the outer shell of a 2016 Land Cruiser. Beneath the surface of the Land Speed Cruiser lies the rugged durability of Toyota’s 3UR-FE 5.7-litre petrol V8. A volleyball-sized Garrett turbocharger flanks each bank of cylinders and breathes directly through front inlets in the specially designed aerodynamic hood. The engine is linked to an ATI transmission.

“I love the challenge of taking a vehicle and making it stronger, faster,” Wade added. “Making something beyond outrageous keeps me coming back for more.”

“With the Land Speed Cruiser, we are breaking all of the normal conventions of what an SUV should be,” said Steve Appelbaum, Toyota Motor Sales national engagement marketing manager. “This is a vehicle is truly a feat of engineering.”