‘Workhorse’ entry to the Land Cruiser line-up

A NEW look Land Cruiser 4x4 is being released by Toyota with the line up expanding to include a ‘workhorse’ entry level Utility model.

Priced from £32,795 for a three-door version or £34,095 for a five-door, the Land Cruiser Utility becomes the only model in the range with a manual transmission, although it can be had with an auto box priced from £35,995.

The seven model Land Cruiser line up now tops out from £52,295 for a seven seat Invincible version which is some £4,000 cheaper than the previous range topper.

All are powered by Toyota’s 2.8-litre D-4D diesel engine developing 175bhp which gives the auto versions a 0 to 60 acceleration of 12.7 seconds with a top speed of 109mph.

Official fuel figures rate it at 38.2mpg with emissions of 194g/ km.

The manual box fitted to the Utility models gives greater acceleration at 12 seconds 0 to 60 and better fuel economy for the three-door at 39.2mpg and a CO2 figure of 190g/km.

The new model is more than two inches longer than the previous version with changes to the front and rear design including revisions to the bumpers, bonnet and a vertical slatted grille.

The bonnet has been restyled to help downward vision and the headlamp clusters are designed with the high beam lights positioned inboard to minimise the risk of damage.

Interior changes include a new instrument cluster and centre stack which has been lowered so not to obstruct vision.

There’s also a new eight-inch touchscreen fitted to all but the Utility versions which incorporates Toyota’s Touch 2 with Go multimedia and navigation system.

In one form or another, the Land Cruiser has been a Toyota stalwart for more than 65 years and the new versions retains the model’s off-road ability with a ground clearance of more than eight inches and a maximum approach angle of 26 degrees for the three-door.