Toyota Land Cruiser V8 70-series double cab 2016 review
There's no better 4x4 tough-truck for New Zealand conditions than the 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser 70 (LC 70) series.
It has the aerodynamics of a house brick, wind-up windows, a manual transmission, and the turning circle rivals that of Noah's Arc, but there is no better 4x4 tough-truck for New Zealand conditions than the revamped 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser 70 (LC 70) series.
The LC 70 continues the tradition of being a heavy-duty 4x4 vehicle. It has a ladder chassis and leaf-sprung rear suspension with a five-speed manual transmission and a transfer case which allows high ratio two-wheel-drive (H2), high ratio four-wheel drive (H4) and low ratio four-wheel drive (L4).
It is a globally successful formula that Toyota created in 1951 with the BJ series. The LC 70 series has been around since 1984 but was subject to significant makeovers in 1999 (TC series), 2007 (SC series) and 2014 (DC series).
If you want a great go anywhere vehicle that can seat five people in comfort, and tow 3.5 tonne even when the rear tray is laden to full capacity, then the LC 70 is most certainly going to be your cup of tea.
While mining and energy companies are the greatest consumers of the LC 70, buyers are also farmers, rural contractors, forestry operators, builders and infrastructure companies.
Daily driver
Despite the fact that we endured a week of three-point turns to manoeuvre the big French Vanilla beast in and out of our Auckland city office car park, we came away with tremendous admiration for this truck.
Land Rover owners may well rabbit on about their faithful Defenders climbing this mountain and that hill, but frankly the power and performance of the 151kW/430Nm V8 turbo diesel Toyota LC70 leave the four-cylinder Brit gasping in its wake.
The venerable LC 70 still has the goods on the equally old Mercedes-Benz G-Professional pick up. It's 3-litre V6 turbodiesel produces 135kW and 400 Newton metres of torque fed through a five-speed automatic transmission.
LC 70 owners are old school and prefer a manual transmission for greater control when towing and going off-road, and having experienced this vehicle twice in one month; I can understand why.
It's not often that we feel confident enough to take a bog-standard 4x4 vehicle for a run through Woodhill Forest's Rimmer Road and then down Muriwai Beach without a companion vehicle or any off-road equipment, but that is precisely what we did in the LC 70.
The engaging of the low ratio four-wheel drive is very quickly and easily done, and the torque of the engine combined with the drivetrain allowed us to easily climb over the sandy hills of the forest and onto the beach.
Muriwai has a speed limit of 60km/h and the LC 70 in the low range was happier cruising at 50km/h across the black sand, and we took great care to follow in the same tracks left by other vehicles.
We didn’t have any issues getting off the beach, and cleaning the LC70 at the local jet wash was a breeze thanks to the easy accessibility of getting underneath the high riding chassis.
What's new?
For the 2017 year, Toyota has enhanced the double cab Land Cruiser 70 series with safety upgrades including vehicle stability control, active traction control, hill start assist control (very handy when heavily laden on an incline start) and a reversing camera, which is worth its weight in gold. The diesel engine is also more efficient and has a Euro V emission rating.
The LT variants get a new one-piece steel wheel rather than the previous two-piece split rim. The width increase to six inches allows the fitting of a tubeless tyre.
The other significant change for the Land Cruiser V8 70-Series is the adoption of dual automatic locking hubs.
Previously the hubs were manual, meaning if you had them in the ‘free’ position and wanted to use four-wheel-drive, you had to stop, climb out, engage the hubs, and then get back to business. You may have kept them in the ‘locked’ position. However, that could impact on fuel economy and can generate extra noise from the drivetrain.
These new automatic hubs allow you to engage and disengage them from the comfort of the driver’s seat. This improvement allows you the best of both worlds, and the hubs can engage or disengage automatically when shifting between H2 and H4 or L4.
When the hubs are in the auto position, the vehicle needs to stop before H4 is selected. The hubs will engage automatically once the vehicle is put into motion and L4 can then be selected, if required, at speeds of less than 8km/h. When switching from L4 or H4 to H2, the vehicle needs to be turned in each direction to free the hubs.
Tough but not rough
The LT grade double cab LC70 ($79,380) as reviewed is unashamedly utilitarian, with its vinyl covered floors, rubber mats, steel wheels, and black resin front bumper. You even need to use a key in the door to lock it and unlock it, but it does have central locking.
If you want 16-inch alloy wheels, power windows, power antenna, chrome bumper, grille and rearview mirrors as well as carpet flooring, variable intermittent windscreen wipers, over fender flares, and keyless door locking, then you can move up to the LX grade LC70 at $85,580.
For everyday work use, the LT grade LC70 is perfectly fine - it has a single cup holder and mobile telephone holder, as well as manual air-conditioning, and voice-activated Bluetooth telephony with a USB outlet to keep devices fully charged.
Our review vehicle came equipped with a Toyota approved accessory heavy-duty galvanised steel tray with a steel checker plate deck, as well as an approved tow bar with a removable tongue rated to maximum braked load of 3500kg and unbraked of 750kg.
Conclusion
While the smaller Toyota Hilux is becoming more and more car-like, the LC 70 stubbornly refuses to become any less truck-like, both on and off the road. It's lack of aerodynamics, and its off-road biased suspension are revealed at motorway speeds, it's not happy in blustery conditions at more than 100km/h when not laden, and can wander a little, but a sympathetic driver will realise this and drive it appropriately.
Care and attention are also needed when piloting such a beast through congested urban areas, and parking it in tight spaces can present a challenge, but overall once you've got used to the dynamics of the LC 70, it's still quite fun to drive.
And let's be honest, in a sea of dressed up wannabes, no other tough truck in the market projects a legendary aura quite like the LC 70.
Price: $79,380
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