Toyota’s venerable LandCruiser 70 Series is getting its most substantial update in years, bringing a new powertrain and tweaked styling – due here in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The turbo-diesel V8 lives on, but it’s being joined by a new powertrain option.
It’s a familiar 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel producing 150kW of power at 3400rpm and 500Nm of torque between 1600rpm and 2800rpm, mated exclusively with a six-speed automatic transmission.
That’s just 1kW less power than the carryover V8, but with 70Nm more torque.
The four-cylinder turbo-diesel will be offered across the entire Single Cab, Double Cab, Troop Carrier and Wagon ranges, while the V8 will continue to be offered in every variant bar the Workmate Wagon.
All models get lane departure warning, speed sign recognition and automatic high-beam. This follows the standardisation of autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection across the range for 2023.
The updated 70 Series is distinguished visually via revised front-end styling, which Toyota says pays homage to the old LandCruiser 40 Series.
Toyota Australia has thus far revealed only the Double Cab, but head office in Japan has published images of the refreshed Wagon.
Inside, the old dog has also been treated to some updates. Toyota says the instrument cluster and centre console have been redesigned for “improved ergonomics, visual ease and practicality”, with a new 4.2-inch instrument cluster screen and an upgraded 6.7-inch touchscreen with wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
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Japanese-spec Wagon -
Further specifications, along with pricing, will be released closer to the updated model’s launch in the fourth quarter of 2023.
This latest update follows one in late 2022 that brought standard AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection plus a GVM upgrade to have it classified as a “medium-duty” vehicle and sidestep strict new Australian Design Rules about side-impact protection.
In 2020, Toyota also gave the vehicle a modern infotainment system. The vehicle still looks much the same, however, as it did when it debuted in 1985.
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