Toyota’s largest, most luxurious SUV will launch next year with new turbo-diesel and turbo-petrol engines, with a hybrid V6 to follow.
Well, this is going to make Land Cruiser traditionalists a little frothy as Japanese automotive magazine BestCarWeb announced recently that the new for 2022 Land Cruiser 300 series will run a four-cylinder diesel (but not the current 2.8L engine previously rumoured and currently seen in Hilux/Fortuner/Prado).
Now, this could be pure speculation on their part, another bit of click-bait to drag in a bunch of new subscribers or they might just have something?
One of the greatest challenges faced by an auto manufacturer is wielding change in your model line-up when a change has to happen and going against the norms of public opinion, AKA, your buyers.
Plenty of automotive earthquakes have occurred because of changes in Government-mandated standards. Since the very-first edicts about both emissions and fuel-efficiency in the late-Seventies, there’s been new technologies pursued and plenty of down-sizing since the advent of turbocharging and the remaking of supercharging. It seems now you can make a big-banger out of a small banger thanks to the advances in technology.
BestCarWeb reckons 300 Land Cruiser will use a new 3.3L four-cylinder turbo-diesel alongside a twin-turbo 3.5L V6 petrol and both hooked up to a six-speed auto. I might believe the first part but I reckon there’ll be more than six steps in the tranny.
Now, no outputs are mentioned, but it would want to punch above the weight of the current V8 diesel’s 200kW and 650Nm to have any credibility in the eyes of the rusted-on Toyotaphiles to get them to switch to half as many cylinders and that begs the question, is that even possible?
The answer is of course yes.
Having a look around the world at diesel engine technology there are plenty of illustrations that suggest the four-cylinder option will work.
Instead of a more powerful engine, the sporty model will follow the example of other GR Sport-badged models and offer a revised suspension tune and styling tweaks.
A larger, 12.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system will reportedly be available in the 300 Series. The 200 Series offers a choice of 6.1-inch and 9.0-inch screens, depending on variant.
The current Land Cruiser 200 Series has been on sale since 2007, and is powered by a 4.5-litre twin-turbocharged diesel V8 engine producing 200kW of power and 650Nm of torque.
The most potent turbo-diesel four-cylinder currently in Toyota’s arsenal is the upgraded 2.8-litre fitted to the HiLux, Fortuner and Prado this year. It produces 150kW of power and 500Nm of torque.
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