Toyota Confirms New Land Cruiser for US
Toyota’s facelifted Land Cruiser will reach American shores, the automaker confirmed Tuesday. Toyota lifted the cover off the SUV yesterday in Japan and we reported that Toyota would tell us the same today.
(Oi. We should have stretched before patting ourselves on the back like that.)
The updated Land Cruiser will still sport a 5.7-liter V-8 that produces 381 horsepower and 401 pound-feet of torque. The engine will now be married to Toyota’s eight-speed automatic (the first Toyota-branded vehicle on our shores to use the gearbox) but oddly, mileage doesn’t improve beyond 13 mpg city/18 mpg highway/15 mpg combined, which were the numbers for this year’s six-speed box.
Toyota’s announcement also includes one of the best lines in press release history:
“Once again, the Toyota Land Cruiser comes in one version: fully equipped and with seating for eight. There are no factory options, and really, none are needed.”
In addition to the facelift and new transmission, the Land Cruiser will sport Toyota’s suite of safety systems including blind-spot monitoring, pedestrian safety systems, front collision mitigation and cross-path alert.
Toyota didn’t specify when the 2016 Land Cruiser would go on sale.
More by Aaron Cole
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This doesn't look bad, but when it comes to the land, I still think I'd rather rove than cruise.
I've been eyeing the first of the 200 series LCs. That brutal V8, KDSS. They are around $30k w/ just under 100k miles. It is definitely on my bucket list.
They are great beast to have. I just traded my 2013 Landcruiser for a 2015 Thundra Platinum. It was like driving it for free for the most part. Only oil changes and 17.5 mpg no matter how hard I drove it. I would probably go back once the next major redesign hits.
I'll never frigging understand why people love the Landcruiser for use in the city. It feels MASSIVE to drive around, like you're lumbering around in a small apartment complex. They're mostly driven by vapid housewives, and I have no idea how. I've driven some big cars, but driving a 100 Series Landcruiser in heavy traffic was like threading an elephant through the head of a needle. I'm not denying it's supremacy off road, I just don't understand why you'd want to drive something this big, this thirsty or this numb around town.