On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the birth of Toyota Land Cruiser, the long-awaited new generation of Land Cruiser LC300 has finally met with fans around the world. The new Land Cruiser has undergone earth-shaking changes in terms of body platform architecture, power, configuration, design, etc., and may even return to the Chinese market for sales in the future. So how capable is the new generation of "Land Cruiser" that can keep fans around the world looking forward to it? To answer this question, let's take a closer look at all aspects of the new Landscan LC300!
Left: High / Medium: Low / Right: GR Sport
The new Land Cruiser released a total of 3 designs, including high and low appearances, as well as a version of the GR Sports Kit, but no matter which style, it looks very recognizable and very domineering. Among them, the high-end model provides the original roof rack, and the low-end and GR versions do not have this configuration.
High-end version appearance
From the perspective of the market, the main hot version should still be a high-quality appearance style, and the new Land Cruiser's central network adopts a large area of horizontal chrome trim strips, which are integrated with the headlights to form a look similar to a double U-shaped mouth. Delicate fog lights are placed on both sides under the front bumper.
The body side of the LC300 looks taller and tougher than the current LC200, and the straight roof and nearly vertical rear line make the whole car look more majestic.
In terms of size, the length of the new Land Cruiser LC300 is 40mm shorter than that of the LC200, while remaining unchanged in width, height and wheelbase. It is worth mentioning that the 2850mm wheelbase of the Land Cruiser has been used since the release of the LC80 in 1990, and it seems that Toyota believes that the 2850mm wheelbase is a number that can be relatively balanced between the interior space and the ability to cross-country passage. Seeing this, there may be students who are curious, there is no change in the size of the three-dimensional dimensions, is the new land patrol a shell change? First of all: no! As for why, there will be an answer later in the article.
The rear design of the new Land Cruiser is not suspenseful, simple and generous without any fancy lines, the taillights use LED light sources, and the spare tire is placed under the car.
Left: Current Land Cruiser / Right: New Land Cruiser
It is worth mentioning that the land patrol released this time is all designed for the traditional upturned tailgate, and the high-end model supports electric opening and closing. However, for the SUV of this size of the Land Cruiser, due to the large area of the tailgate, this upturned tailgate is not convenient to open in a small space, but it is not as practical as the upper and lower folio of the LC200.
In the previous generation of LC200, Toyota also provided a more popular folio "Guanyin Gate" on some versions, which is not currently on the LC300, but after all, the Land Patrol has to face the global market, and perhaps the version of the spare tire behind the Guanyin Gate will be added in the future.
As for the version of the GR appearance kit, the official has not announced much news at present, from the picture, it can be seen that the front surround, the middle net, the window line, the rearview mirror, and the wheel rim of the vehicle have adopted a blackened design, and the central part of the net is no longer toyota "bull head logo", but the English spelling of "TOYOTA", which looks very retro. The GR version will be released for more information at a later date, and it is not known whether it has stronger improvements in power and handling.
In terms of interior, the new Land Cruiser has undergone earth-shaking changes compared to the LC200, the sense of luxury and fashion in the car has been greatly improved, the surround cockpit and the layered center console, at a glance, it will even be mistaken for a Lexus LX570!
In terms of configuration, the LC300 does not use a full LCD instrument, but retains the mechanical speed and tachometer pointer, and in the middle is a color travel computer display, which can take into account both functionality and practicality, and ensure that the instrument system will not fail under extreme working conditions. In addition, the new Land Cruiser high-end model also provides a HUD head-up display function, which will help whether it is on the road or off-road.
On the center console is a 12.3-inch floating central control screen, which integrates apple Carplay and Android Auto mobile phone interconnection functions. Below is a large area of physical buttons, where you can control the vehicle's air conditioning, seat heating ventilation, steering wheel heating, multimedia and other functions, for off-road vehicles, it is very necessary to retain a large number of physical buttons, because in the extreme harsh environment, the reliability of the physical buttons must be better than the touch screen, and can also avoid touch failure because of stains on the hands during off-road.
Since the wheelbase has not changed, the rear seating space of the new Land Cruiser has not changed much, but it is already very spacious. In addition, in terms of rear configuration, the new Land Cruiser also provides rear dual multimedia screens, rear seat heating and ventilation, rear dual temperature zone independent air conditioning, rear USB + cigarette lighter power supply, etc., and the care for rear passengers is still very in place. However, due to the fact that the Land Patrol positioning is a hard-core off-road vehicle, in order to ensure the reliability of the vehicle and the rigidity of the body, the panoramic sunroof is not used.
In terms of seat layout, in addition to the 5-seat version of the model, the new Land Cruiser also provides a 2+3+2 7-seater model, and it is worth mentioning that the third row of seats of the 7-seater model can be completely folded under the floor, forming a flat space with the trunk platform.
LC200 side-mounted third row seats
The current LC200 adopts the design of the side-mounted third row of seats, which will greatly encroach on the space of the trunk and affect the luggage loading capacity of the trunk during long-distance travel. However, if the third row of seats is removed, it is more troublesome when the temporary emergency needs to pull people. Therefore, the new Land Cruiser's fully collapsible third row of seats is definitely worth giving praise!
According to the official information, the new Land Cruiser will provide 3.5T V6 twin-turbo engines in most countries and regions, and some markets will have a 3.3T V6 diesel engine, all of which match the 10AT gearbox, and the V8 self-priming engine of the old model is officially sealed by Toyota into the museum of history.
In terms of parameters, this 3.5T V6 engine derived from the Lexus LS500 can output 415 horsepower and 650N·m of power, and the parameters not only completely surpass the old 5.7L V8 engine, but also can break the wrist with the 4.0T V8 of the Mercedes-Benz G 500! With the 10AT gearbox, the new Land Cruiser official 0-100km/h acceleration takes only 6.7 seconds, which is already faster than many small steel guns known for their performance! There is no doubt that the powertrain of the new Land Cruiser is the strongest generation in the entire Land Cruiser series!
According to official data, the new 3.5T V6 engine is 10% lower in fuel consumption than the old V8 engine, and the 10AT transmission also helps the vehicle's fuel consumption. Because of this, the fuel tank volume of the new Land Cruiser has been reduced from a total of 138 liters (93L + 45L) of the main and auxiliary fuel tanks of the old model to a total of 110 liters (80L + 30L), but nevertheless, the fuel tank volume of 110 liters can still ensure that the vehicle can achieve a range of more than 800 km.
In addition, for the Middle East, South America and other areas with relatively low requirements for vehicle emissions, the new Land Cruiser will still provide the old 1GR 4.0L V6 naturally aspirated engine and match the 6AT gearbox. This engine has been used for nearly 20 years, is extremely mature and reliable, and has a low cost. But for the Chinese market, this machine is bound to not meet us again, because it really can't meet the strict National 6b emission standards.
As a land patrol, everyone is naturally very concerned about its off-road capabilities. In terms of off-road configuration, the new Land Cruiser can be said to be armed with technology to the teeth. First of all, the new car adopts a full-time four-wheel drive system, with a central mechanical differential lock, low-speed four-wheel drive function as standard, and some models even provide front and rear axle differential locks, realizing the real sense of "three locks", which is completely absent on the LC200! The "tank turn" function, which locks one-sided wheels, is still present on the new Land Cruiser, a configuration that greatly improves the vehicle's turning flexibility in extremely narrow off-road environments.
In addition to the mechanical three-lock and low-speed four-wheel drive, the new Land Cruiser has also made overall improvements in the electronic system. For example, in addition to the conventional 360-degree panoramic imagery, the new Land Cruiser also added a bottom camera, which can detect the road surface of the bottom of the car when off-road, which is more convenient for drivers to judge the route of off-road travel.
In addition, the KDSS dynamic suspension function equipped with the previous model has been evolved on the LC300 to become E-KDSS. Combined with the MTS multi-terrain selection function, the damping of the anti-roll bar can be adjusted by the electronic control system under different road conditions: the anti-roll bar damping is smaller when off-road, thereby improving the suspension stroke, and the anti-roll lever is more damped when driving on the road to improve the support of the vehicle when cornering.
As for the Crawl Control creeping mode that Toyota off-road vehicles have always had before, this time there is still no absence, after opening the vehicle can automatically adjust the power output, electronic limit slip and other functions according to the road conditions detected by the electronic system, which can achieve extremely "fool" off-road operations, and can also artificially set the speed of vehicle creeping.
In terms of off-road parameters, the new Land Cruiser has an approach angle of 32 degrees, a departure angle of 26.5 degrees, and a minimum ground clearance of 230mm, which is not much different from the LC200. Considering that the Land Cruiser is a model positioned for long-distance crossing, the longer wheelbase and body are not suitable for extreme climbing scenes, so for those who really want to buy a Land Cruiser to play off-road climbing, modifying the front and rear bars and raising the suspension is still a must-have operation.
As mentioned earlier, although the three-dimensional size of the new Land Cruiser is no different from the LC200, it is not only not a shell car, but also has a great upgrade in the platform architecture. First, the new Land Cruiser was built using the Toyota TNGA architecture and was the first model to use the TNGA-F platform. This platform is designed for the production of hardcore off-road vehicles and pickup trucks with girders.
According to official data, the rigidity of the new Land Cruiser body has increased by 20%, and thanks to the optimization of structural design and the use of more lightweight materials, the weight of the vehicle has been reduced by a full 200kg, returning to the weight level of LC100 20 years ago! It is obviously helpful for the fuel consumption, power and driving experience of the vehicle.
The new Land Cruiser still retains the non-load-bearing body design of the independent girder and continues to use the front double wishbone and rear integral axle suspension structure, but the new car has been adjusted for the vehicle's rear shock absorber, and the angle of the shock absorber is more perpendicular to the ground, which can further increase the rear suspension stroke and make the tire more close to the ground when passing through the continuous left and right cross shafts.
Since the new generation no longer had the V8 engine, Toyota engineers moved the new Land Cruiser's V6 engine backwards by 70mm and reduced the installation height by 28mm. This change not only allowed the vehicle to gain a lower and more stable center of gravity, but also brought the front and rear counterweight ratios of the vehicle to the level of 53.5:46.5. You know, the previous generation of BMW 3 Series F30, its front and rear counterweight ratio is only 54:46, the Land Patrol compared to the 3 Series is even closer to the front and back 50:50! Combined with the consistently excellent driving experience of the TNGA architecture, I believe that the new Land Cruiser will be further improved in terms of road driving ability!
In addition, due to the use of TNGA architecture, the new Land Patrol in the auxiliary safety system is also keeping up with the times, TSS2.0 system in the medium and high-end models will become the standard, in addition to the conventional L2 level of driver assistance functions, Toyota also specially optimized the Emergency Braking function of the Land Patrol, can identify the "ghost probe" pedestrians during the day and night, as well as identify the bicycle during the day.
Perhaps some students will wonder why the Land Patrol, as an off-road vehicle, has made such efforts in driving assistance systems and highway performance? In fact, for land patrol users, most of their car scenes are still long-distance crossings on national highways, highways, mountain roads, deserts and other sections, and only a few times are used for climbing off-road. After all, since its birth, the Land Cruiser has always been known for its comfortable crossing ability, so it is necessary to improve the performance of the road.
Since the new land patrol is so good, will it be introduced into the country? This has to be analyzed from several aspects. First of all, from a market point of view, Toyota has every reason to introduce the new Land Cruiser into China. You know, since the original Land Patrol stopped selling in most cities in China because of the National 6 problem, the second-hand car market of LC200 has soared all the way, and the V8 model even exceeded 1 million at one point, which is more expensive than the top 5700 new car of the year! Although there is a situation of malicious speculation by second-hand car dealers, it also reflects that Land Cruise still has a certain market demand in China.
Nissan Touring
In terms of opponents, Nissan Tule is still an old 4.0L V6, 5.6L V8 engine, it is almost impossible to meet the emissions of the national 6b, so the Land Cruiser has no opponent in the market, in the face of such a cake that can be swallowed alone, Toyota, which has always been good at making money, cannot be unmoved.
So since the introduction of the Land Cruiser, the difficulties that Toyota has to face mainly include two points. As we all know, the parallel import of LC200 is because it cannot meet the national 6b emissions and withdraws from the market, so if the LC300 wants to return, it must first meet the national 6b emissions. Fortunately, the new 3.5T V6 engine was originally a new machine that was only mass-produced and loaded in 2017, and the new Land Cruiser itself also has a European version, which can meet the Euro 6d emission standards, if slightly adjusted, it should not be too difficult to meet the national 6b.
The three-cylinder Corolla is a positive integral
After solving the emission problem, Toyota also has to consider the double integral problem due to fuel consumption. Because Toyota's new energy (pure electricity, plug-in) models in China in the past two years have not sold much, coupled with the fact that there is no small displacement turbocharged engine to lower the overall fuel consumption standard, Toyota has actually been facing the problem of fuel consumption points, otherwise it will not come up with a 1.5L three-cylinder Corolla, which can obtain positive points.
If Toyota introduces the LC300 in the official form, it is bound to launch more low-cost, high-energy models in the Chinese market to offset the points of the Land Cruiser due to large displacement and high fuel consumption. Therefore, the best way is for Toyota to officially get the emission standards and 3C certification of the LC300, and then Toyota will take the lead and introduce the LC300 into China in parallel imports.
Because according to China's policy provisions, for parallel importers with an annual import volume of less than 2,000 vehicles, they can not be restricted by the double point policy, and fuel consumption will not be counted on the Toyota brand. In other words, Toyota officials only need to do a good job of LC300 domestic procedures certification, and then find more car dealers to do parallel imports, assuming that each car dealer only imports 1999 units per year, there is no need to consider the double point policy! (According to gossip, Toyota seems to think the same way, and will start this operation in August this year.)
Of course, all this is still speculation, as to whether Toyota will introduce land patrol for the cost of this small high-end hardcore off-road vehicle market in China, it depends on the operational difficulty of doing so and the overall planning of Toyota's company. Only from the fan's point of view, everyone must still hope that the LC300 can be introduced into the country, after all, this car is definitely the strongest generation in the history of the Land Patrol.
70 years ago, Toyota opened a product line of off-road vehicles called landCruiser, and created a legend of their own. Today, 70 years later, the 10th generation of the Land Patrol's history is officially born. In the face of the current era of electrification, Toyota, which has always taken the route of energy conservation and environmental protection, has said "NO!" to electrification in a categorical manner on the Land Patrol. Such courage is admirable! The 70-year-old Land Cruiser has come up with the strongest power and technology in history this time, but the LC300 is also likely to become the masterpiece of the Land Cruiser series... So whether you are a fan or a prospective owner, and cherish it, after all, if you continue to launch the LC400 after 10 years, whether there is an internal combustion engine is unknown!