Everyone knew the iconic Toyota Land Cruiser wouldn’t be gone for long when Toyota announced its departure after the 2021 model year. Fast forward to August 2023 and an all-new 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser made its world debut. Now it's hit the road, and after a 3-year hiatus this 66-year-old nameplate emerges with all-new hardware, advanced tech, and a return to its old-school charm.
See, the original 1958 Land Cruiser was a serious off-road bruiser that put capability ahead of comfort or passenger capacity. But the last version was a pricey, premium three-row luxury conveyance that, remarkably, remained one of the most capable off-road vehicles you could buy. Still, at a starting price of $81,000 it wasn’t a particularly accessible model for serious off-roaders, with most of them serving soccer practice and premium mall duty as owners trembled at the thought of dusty paint and dirty tires.
The new Land Cruiser is (thankfully) all about dirt and dust, powered by Toyota’s “i-Force Max” hybrid drivetrain, employing a 2.4-liter turbo engine mated to an electric motor, 8-speed automatic, and standard full-time four-wheel-drive system with a two-speed transfer case. This drivetrain makes 326 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. It’s also EPA-rated at 23 miles-per-gallon (more than any previous Land Cruiser).
A standard 7-inch digital driver-information screen is paired with an 8-inch touchscreen on base “Land Cruiser 1958” trims. The mid-grade “Land Cruiser” and premium “First Edition” trims get 12.3-inch driver displays and central touchscreens, along with heated and ventilated leather seats, larger wheels, upgraded audio, and LED headlights and foglights.
Families that can get by with five-passenger seating will find the Land Cruiser’s on-road manners quite accommodating. Ride quality and seat comfort match more on-road-oriented crossovers like the Honda Passport or Kia Sorento. But the Land Cruiser’s starting price of $57,345 reflects a lot of off-road engineering most families won’t need, and with upper trim costs approaching $70,000 parents might get better value from a traditional crossover. For genuine off-road enthusiasts, they’ll find the new Land Cruiser as capable as ever, and with six decades of heritage few SUVs can match.
Read more on Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottyreiss/2024/09/30/toyota-land-cruisers-heritage-charm-modern-details-are-a-hot-ticket/
For more from Scotty Reiss:
https://agirlsguidetocars.com/
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See, the original 1958 Land Cruiser was a serious off-road bruiser that put capability ahead of comfort or passenger capacity. But the last version was a pricey, premium three-row luxury conveyance that, remarkably, remained one of the most capable off-road vehicles you could buy. Still, at a starting price of $81,000 it wasn’t a particularly accessible model for serious off-roaders, with most of them serving soccer practice and premium mall duty as owners trembled at the thought of dusty paint and dirty tires.
The new Land Cruiser is (thankfully) all about dirt and dust, powered by Toyota’s “i-Force Max” hybrid drivetrain, employing a 2.4-liter turbo engine mated to an electric motor, 8-speed automatic, and standard full-time four-wheel-drive system with a two-speed transfer case. This drivetrain makes 326 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. It’s also EPA-rated at 23 miles-per-gallon (more than any previous Land Cruiser).
A standard 7-inch digital driver-information screen is paired with an 8-inch touchscreen on base “Land Cruiser 1958” trims. The mid-grade “Land Cruiser” and premium “First Edition” trims get 12.3-inch driver displays and central touchscreens, along with heated and ventilated leather seats, larger wheels, upgraded audio, and LED headlights and foglights.
Families that can get by with five-passenger seating will find the Land Cruiser’s on-road manners quite accommodating. Ride quality and seat comfort match more on-road-oriented crossovers like the Honda Passport or Kia Sorento. But the Land Cruiser’s starting price of $57,345 reflects a lot of off-road engineering most families won’t need, and with upper trim costs approaching $70,000 parents might get better value from a traditional crossover. For genuine off-road enthusiasts, they’ll find the new Land Cruiser as capable as ever, and with six decades of heritage few SUVs can match.
Read more on Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottyreiss/2024/09/30/toyota-land-cruisers-heritage-charm-modern-details-are-a-hot-ticket/
For more from Scotty Reiss:
https://agirlsguidetocars.com/
Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_so
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00The Toyota Land Cruiser is back.
00:05It went from being a family-friendly three-row SUV
00:08to being true to its heritage details.
00:11The Toyota Land Cruiser is one of the original
00:14four-wheel drive vehicles.
00:15It has been seen throughout the world
00:18helping to pioneer building in new places
00:21and also adventure.
00:22And that is really what its customers
00:24have loved about it over the years.
00:27For the 2024 model,
00:29Toyota really leaned into the off-road adventure capability.
00:33One of the more surprising things
00:34about the 2024 Land Cruiser
00:36is it is powered by a four-cylinder engine.
00:39It's actually the same engine
00:40that you find in the Toyota Tacoma.
00:42It delivers 326 horsepower,
00:44but it does have true full-time four-wheel drive.
00:48The Land Cruiser is available in three different trims.
00:51There's a 1958, a Land Cruiser,
00:53and then the first edition, which is what we are driving.
00:57The first edition is fully outfitted
01:00with everything Toyota can give you and a lot of luxuries.
01:03It has premium material finishes.
01:05It has a sunroof.
01:07It has a lot of the features that you're not going to find
01:10on the 1958 or the Land Cruiser model.
01:13Every model in the Land Cruiser lineup
01:14is equipped with four-wheel drive.
01:16It has multi-terrain select.
01:18It also comes with Toyota's new multimedia system,
01:21which has voice-activated assistance
01:23and the capability of subscribing to enhanced navigation
01:28so if you're truly off-road, you're never without your maps.
01:30Toyota really leaned into the heritage of the Land Cruiser.
01:34It's filled with beautiful heritage details,
01:36including this color, which is called Heritage Blue.
01:39The front of the Toyota Land Cruiser
01:41is really iconic for the round lights
01:44and a vintage-style grill that is something
01:47like you might have seen on Toyotas from the 1950s.
01:50Around the side, you'll see very large all-terrain tires.
01:54There are mud flaps.
01:56The cargo space is notable as well.
01:5937 and 1 1 cubic feet of cargo space.
02:02This one is outfitted with the rubber flooring.
02:07The seats fold flat for additional cargo space,
02:09but there is a lip here, but you still
02:11have quite a lot of cargo space.
02:13The interior of the Toyota Land Cruiser
02:15will also feel really heritage.
02:18It has the Heritage Toyota name here on the steering wheel.
02:22You'll see that there are steering wheel controls here.
02:25These also feel very Toyota-like.
02:27We see something similar in many of their other trucks and SUVs.
02:32There's a 12-inch driver display here, a 14-inch multimedia
02:36screen here.
02:37And this is where all of the functions,
02:39including voice activation, are housed.
02:42It's nice that climate is actually on its own panel
02:45and not buried in the multimedia screen, something
02:48that off-roaders will really appreciate.
02:50And over here is our drive mode selector.
02:53So you can select drive mode, multi-terrain select,
02:57or downhill assist and crawl control.
03:00And then we have our four-wheel drive controls here.
03:03Also a heritage detail is this really nice gear selector
03:07lever.
03:07It's still an electronic function,
03:10so you're not actually putting the car into gear.
03:13You're just telling the computer what to do.
03:14For people who are off-road, for people
03:16who really like more control over their vehicles,
03:19the lever gear shifter really is the thing.
03:22The cool box is one of the features on the first edition.
03:26And you can use this as a regular console,
03:28or you can put your drinks in there, press this button,
03:32and it will vent cold air into this space.
03:36Also on the first edition is the digital rear view mirror.
03:39So you can toggle between a video view
03:43and a reflective view.
03:45In the Land Cruiser, you can have the choice of soft text
03:49in the lower trims, which is a leatherette leather
03:52alternative.
03:53Or in the first edition, you get actual leather.
03:56In listening to what customers wanted in the Land Cruiser,
03:59Toyota decided to forego the three-row SUV configuration.
04:05The decision here was to really make
04:07this an off-road capable heritage
04:09vehicle that would allow people to really live
04:12that off-road life.