First Drive: Toyota's new land cruiser

You don’t look to a Land Cruiser for its looks or levels of refinement; quite frankly, both are barely relevant when it comes to a vehicle designed and built as a workhorse.

The main requirements for someone buying one - and the customer base is quite specific - are durability, reliability and off-road capabilities that are very hard to equal.

Almost all sales of the latest version of the Land Cruiser will be commercial versions, with farmers, vets, self-employed people in the construction industry and people whose hobby or business involves horse boxes among those most likely to be customers. Towing capacity is a major consideration and an ability to haul some 3,500 kg’s is among the vehicle’s attributes.

Another key draw for these buyers is residual value, with the Land Cruiser holding its second-hand value way above other brands because of its reliability.

This is the fifth generation of the vehicle - it’s been around for 70 years, believe it or not - and Toyota has been careful not to tinker too much with the fundamentals. It has, however, been given a retro-modern styling to reflect its heritage and is a deal slimmer than its predecessor.

With virtually every commercial Toyota still powered by diesel, the Land Cruiser is no exception. The engine is the 2.8 litre four cylinder unit already shared with the Hilux. Some might argue that a six cylinder might have been a smoother option and that this one may have some gruffness but it’s more than adequate for the job with a 205 horse power output.

Electric power steering is another very welcome innovation and it gives the vehicle a precision it did’t have before.

The real marvel of the vehicle is its off-road capability. It has full-time four wheel drive, which adds to consumption - you’re probably looking at an average of about 10 litres per 100 kilometres - but that full-time system makes it remarkably sure-footed.

Even without engaging its extra capabilities, the Land Cruiser can deal with conditions that could be considered as extreme without much effort. When you engage what is called 'Crawl Control' - used when making a steep ascent or descent, the vehicle begins to work independently.

All you have to do is steer in these conditions - keeping your feet off the brakes and accelerator - while the system tackles obstacles or very rough and muddy terrain. You can hear it judge the conditions wheel by wheel as it makes its way forward - rather like an expert rock wall climber, gaining traction all the time.

On the non-commercial version, you can disconnect the front anti-roll bar to gain even better traction, but such are the Land Cruiser’s abilities that very little is beyond its range. Rivers, rock strewn tracks, mountain trails and mud have all been part of the vehicle’s testing regime and the result really is a marvel of engineering.

On normal roads, the Land Cruiser can be a little wallowy, but it was only when I got back into the older version that I realised how much had improved with this version.

The interior has also been given quite an upgrade. There are now digital screens, with a touchscreen for main functions. There are, however, a number of very welcome physical buttons. Trying to navigate tricky conditions while scrolling through a menu would be a major pain, so it can be avoided.

Some parts of the driving menu can be a little hard to read at times - especially with the sun behind you - but they’re not functions you’ll be changing all the time. A bigger touchscreen than the 9" one that is standard on the commercial would also be welcome.

The seating position is even more commanding and up front is now a very comfortable place to be. Interestingly, a new eight-speed automatic gearbox - with two gears more than before - has now replaced the manual one

All this comes at a hefty €69,990 but most people buying it will benefit from a generous VAT rebate that would leave the final price nearer to €50,000.

There is a passenger version that comes in at a rather ridiculous €140,830 because of a corresponding VRT rate of 41% but it’s almost irrelevant in terms of the overall commercial customer base.

This is a vehicle that is for work rather than play.