2022 Toyota LandCruiser 300
First Drive 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser 300 70th Anniversary. An important element of the Land Cruiser's redesign is the radical change of powerplant – no more V8s here. Before diesel models show up, the Land Cruiser arrived with a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 packing direct injection. But the advanced engine is still a thirsty thing, gobbling up premium fuel with gluttonous abandon. Where the Land Cruiser 200 sucked down 15 to 20 liters of gas every 100 kilometers, the Land Cruiser 300 is no better. Even the addition of a ten-speed automatic can’t save the new model. Of course, the V6’s two turbochargers aren’t about efficiency, really. And each dollar, yen, or ruble Toyota invested in this engine pays off when it comes to motivating a 2.5-ton SUV. With 479 pound-feet of torque at just 2,000 rpm, the Land Cruiser can jump forward briskly, humiliating smaller “sportier” crossovers with a 6.8-second sprint to 62 miles per hour. Regardless of the speed limit, the Land Cruiser will happily charge toward it at breakneck pace. There’s some serious performance for a full-size SUV, and the bottom line is you won’t expect such sudden and brutal acceleration from an SUV that looks so much like a suitcase.
Experienced Land Cruiser drivers will no doubt wonder what the point of all this grunt is in an SUV, especially when previous examples had less-than-stellar brakes and poor handling dynamics caused by the high center of gravity. After all, the new Land Cruiser’s chassis is really the same as before: longitudinal frame, independent suspension with transverse arms at the front, and a continuous axle with longitudinal bars behind. Even the brake discs are the same size. But despite this similarity, Toyota still rethought every chassis component’s structure and managed to shave a substantial amount of weight off in the process. The result is far easier to drive at speed. The track was widened, the engine sits further behind the axle and lower in the bay, and the seat are further rearward. This better weight distribution and lower center of gravity are key to the new Land Cruiser’s poise at higher speeds. Even the brakes work better. You still need to apply a fair amount of pressure at times, but the effort required is progressive. The 70th Anniversary is best suited for asphalt, with 20-inch wheels and tires with thinner 55-series sidewalls, a self-locking rear differential, and a Custom drive mode.
Off the trial, the slopes, fords, and rocks don’t look particularly scary. However the flashy body kit reduces the approach angle from 32 degrees to just 24. No matter how experienced the driver, how carefully they attack an obstacle, the Anniversary cars were damaged without exception. The truck’s delicate 20-inch tires with Regular Dunlop Grandtrek AT30 Touring rubber are all-terrain in name only, and it was little surprise when I caught a side cut in a completely ordinary situation while driving evenly over a rocky rut. Constant fording and rock climbing caused the force-induced V6 engine to throw a message on the dashboard about a loss of traction control, warning us to visit a dealer. There was no check-engine light, but the performance diminished noticeably as if both turbos were on strike. And even if this was but one issue, it happened on multiple test units. Fortunately, all it took was a restart to bring things back to normal.
In a long traffic jam near Murmansk, a guy jumped out of his Toyota RAV4 and introduced himself as the owner of a Land Cruiser 200. He was eager to study the LC 300 and knew where to look, complaining about cheap faux wood, poor glove compartment lid, and flimsy door panels. He then finally noted that he had no faith in the twin-turbocharged V6, although as a whole, he argued the new Land Cruiser “is not spoiled.”
In general, Toyota closely watches the mood of Land Cruiser fans and owners. People are very loyal, and the brand has no right to go against them. But a revolution in the interior was not expected. People choose this car for pragmatic reasons and Toyota reworked the interior with that in mind, maximizing practicality with massive switches and knobs grouped together in functional zones.
I personally like this healthy conservatism as well, though Toyota did overdo it in some places. You can’t just take the display and stretch it out to 12.3-inches diagonally and leave an almost unchanged, archaic interface. Compare it with the screen of a child’s tablet and it becomes embarrassing for Toyota. Or take the monumental block of a center console – inside, under an armrest that opens both to the left and to the right is a cooler box. The Land Cruiser is not a vehicle that needs to make some annoying interior design statement, and yet here we are.
By the way, even with a slightly reduced body height, the LC 300 is as wide as the last-gen car and retains the same wheelbase. Even the rear seating is similar – I jumped from old car to new several times and couldn’t find any notable differences. There’s plenty of free space, but the second row remains a little bit cramped for long-legged passengers – one expects a more relaxing seating position in such a huge vehicle. While under way, relaxation comes from the soft suspension (worse with the 20-inch wheels, of course), ample sound insulation, and pleasant bonuses like separate second-row climate controls and available seat ventilation.
That rear bench folds in one quick movement, flipping forward to stand against the rear seats and forming a huge cargo compartment with a flat floor. It’s easier to get stuff out now, too, because the Land Cruiser lost the split tailgate. Lovers of trips out of town probably won’t be happy that there’s no longer a “bench” in the lower section of the rear hatch, though.
In a lot of ways, the new Land Cruiser is glamping on wheels – equally at home on a picnic as it is navigating the wilderness north of the Arctic Circle or then getting you from business meetings to muddy surroundings. And it’s downright pleasant on long stretches of highway. The LC 300 is an all-roader in the best understanding of the word.
But high-status versatility costs a lot of money. A weekend of glamping on the Sredny Peninsula costs at least 80,000 rubles per person. And the price for a new gas-powered Land Cruiser 300 starts at 5.6 million. But there is demand and a rush on inventory, along with greedy dealers marking up products. This doesn’t frighten LC worshipers, though, and new examples are rolling off dealer lots for 10 million rubles. This vehicle’s reputation works wonders.
2022 Toyota LandCruiser 300
First Drive 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser 300 70th Anniversary. An important element of the Land Cruiser's redesign is the radical change of powerplant – no more V8s here. Before diesel models show up, the Land Cruiser arrived with a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 packing direct injection. But the advanced engine is still a thirsty thing, gobbling up premium fuel with gluttonous abandon. Where the Land Cruiser 200 sucked down 15 to 20 liters of gas every 100 kilometers, the Land Cruiser 300 is no better. Even the addition of a ten-speed automatic can’t save the new model. Of course, the V6’s two turbochargers aren’t about efficiency, really. And each dollar, yen, or ruble Toyota invested in this engine pays off when it comes to motivating a 2.5-ton SUV. With 479 pound-feet of torque at just 2,000 rpm, the Land Cruiser can jump forward briskly, humiliating smaller “sportier” crossovers with a 6.8-second sprint to 62 miles per hour. Regardless of the speed limit, the Land Cruiser will happily charge toward it at breakneck pace. There’s some serious performance for a full-size SUV, and the bottom line is you won’t expect such sudden and brutal acceleration from an SUV that looks so much like a suitcase.
Experienced Land Cruiser drivers will no doubt wonder what the point of all this grunt is in an SUV, especially when previous examples had less-than-stellar brakes and poor handling dynamics caused by the high center of gravity. After all, the new Land Cruiser’s chassis is really the same as before: longitudinal frame, independent suspension with transverse arms at the front, and a continuous axle with longitudinal bars behind. Even the brake discs are the same size. But despite this similarity, Toyota still rethought every chassis component’s structure and managed to shave a substantial amount of weight off in the process. The result is far easier to drive at speed. The track was widened, the engine sits further behind the axle and lower in the bay, and the seat are further rearward. This better weight distribution and lower center of gravity are key to the new Land Cruiser’s poise at higher speeds. Even the brakes work better. You still need to apply a fair amount of pressure at times, but the effort required is progressive. The 70th Anniversary is best suited for asphalt, with 20-inch wheels and tires with thinner 55-series sidewalls, a self-locking rear differential, and a Custom drive mode.
Off the trial, the slopes, fords, and rocks don’t look particularly scary. However the flashy body kit reduces the approach angle from 32 degrees to just 24. No matter how experienced the driver, how carefully they attack an obstacle, the Anniversary cars were damaged without exception. The truck’s delicate 20-inch tires with Regular Dunlop Grandtrek AT30 Touring rubber are all-terrain in name only, and it was little surprise when I caught a side cut in a completely ordinary situation while driving evenly over a rocky rut. Constant fording and rock climbing caused the force-induced V6 engine to throw a message on the dashboard about a loss of traction control, warning us to visit a dealer. There was no check-engine light, but the performance diminished noticeably as if both turbos were on strike. And even if this was but one issue, it happened on multiple test units. Fortunately, all it took was a restart to bring things back to normal.
In a long traffic jam near Murmansk, a guy jumped out of his Toyota RAV4 and introduced himself as the owner of a Land Cruiser 200. He was eager to study the LC 300 and knew where to look, complaining about cheap faux wood, poor glove compartment lid, and flimsy door panels. He then finally noted that he had no faith in the twin-turbocharged V6, although as a whole, he argued the new Land Cruiser “is not spoiled.”
In general, Toyota closely watches the mood of Land Cruiser fans and owners. People are very loyal, and the brand has no right to go against them. But a revolution in the interior was not expected. People choose this car for pragmatic reasons and Toyota reworked the interior with that in mind, maximizing practicality with massive switches and knobs grouped together in functional zones.
I personally like this healthy conservatism as well, though Toyota did overdo it in some places. You can’t just take the display and stretch it out to 12.3-inches diagonally and leave an almost unchanged, archaic interface. Compare it with the screen of a child’s tablet and it becomes embarrassing for Toyota. Or take the monumental block of a center console – inside, under an armrest that opens both to the left and to the right is a cooler box. The Land Cruiser is not a vehicle that needs to make some annoying interior design statement, and yet here we are.
By the way, even with a slightly reduced body height, the LC 300 is as wide as the last-gen car and retains the same wheelbase. Even the rear seating is similar – I jumped from old car to new several times and couldn’t find any notable differences. There’s plenty of free space, but the second row remains a little bit cramped for long-legged passengers – one expects a more relaxing seating position in such a huge vehicle. While under way, relaxation comes from the soft suspension (worse with the 20-inch wheels, of course), ample sound insulation, and pleasant bonuses like separate second-row climate controls and available seat ventilation.
That rear bench folds in one quick movement, flipping forward to stand against the rear seats and forming a huge cargo compartment with a flat floor. It’s easier to get stuff out now, too, because the Land Cruiser lost the split tailgate. Lovers of trips out of town probably won’t be happy that there’s no longer a “bench” in the lower section of the rear hatch, though.
In a lot of ways, the new Land Cruiser is glamping on wheels – equally at home on a picnic as it is navigating the wilderness north of the Arctic Circle or then getting you from business meetings to muddy surroundings. And it’s downright pleasant on long stretches of highway. The LC 300 is an all-roader in the best understanding of the word.
But high-status versatility costs a lot of money. A weekend of glamping on the Sredny Peninsula costs at least 80,000 rubles per person. And the price for a new gas-powered Land Cruiser 300 starts at 5.6 million. But there is demand and a rush on inventory, along with greedy dealers marking up products. This doesn’t frighten LC worshipers, though, and new examples are rolling off dealer lots for 10 million rubles. This vehicle’s reputation works wonders.