Those who have already checked out the new Toyota Land Cruiser Prado at their local Toyota dealership may have gotten a surprise when they opened the boot. Pop the button of the motorised tailgate, and it lifts up to reveal a somewhat odd configuration of the seats in the boot. All Prado models for NZ feature seven seats, and the design of the third row is, well, compromised. The sixth and seventh seats fold flat, but not down into the floor.
As you can see, they create a high floor when folded away, robbing boot space. So much so that Toyota has added a separate storage box in behind them to create a flat floor, which seems like an afterthought. The culprit is the position of the 48V battery for the mild hybrid system, which is packaged up under the floor in the boot, out of harm’s way. But it means the seats can’t disappear down into the floor like they should.
But for those that want more boot space and less seats, a five-pew solution is coming in Q1 next year in both GXL and Adventure grade. Pricing is still TBC but expect it to be slightly cheaper than the seven-seat variant.
Land Cruiser Prado specs, pricing and model line up
Prado is arriving here around six months behind schedule. A few production hold ups has meant its arrival is a little later than Toyota New Zealand would have liked. That has seen its usually dominant position in its market segment slip. Toyota has been without Prado since July (only 297 sold) and Ford has reaped the benefit, Everest sales surging to nearly 2000 units so far this year.
But with the new Prado now on the ground, Toyota can start filling the 400 orders it has for the new 4×4. It has secured production of 500 units, but TNZ is confident it will register at least 600 Prado models by the end of the year.
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We are part way through a journey from Christchurch to Nelson in the new Prado. Our first experience of the new full-size 4×4 has largely been restricted to the flat and straight roads of the Mainland, with a slow traverse of Arthur’s Pass as we were held up by numerous trucks crawling along. The slow pace allowed us to appreciate the Prado’s uplift in refinement. The cabin quality is top notch, lots of soft touch surfacing with a solid feel to it all.
The 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel engine has been retained and improved with a new turbo (smaller, more efficient and responsive) and the addition of the 48V belt generator mild-hybrid system (facilitating near seamless idle stop operation and a little torque boost down low). Apparently we will appreciate its benefits during our off-roading experience in the second part of our trip, as it helps improve response when crawling along.
While it still sounds like you’re driving a Hilux, the Prado’s new eight-speed auto makes the most of the output (150kW/500Nm). This ‘box is quick changing and much snappier on the kickdown, yet super smooth. To be fair, the engine noise is better suppressed here than in Hilux, progress pretty hushed in terms of road roar too. Fuel consumption was tracking in the high 9L/100km range for open road travel but this new Prado is big, much closer to LC 300 dimensions now.
On the highway, the ride still has a few of those typical ladder chassis 4×4 traits; it doesn’t isolate the bumps as well as a unibody crossover does but it doesn’t feel jiggly and certainly not floaty. We drove the VX, with its more road-oriented rubber and adaptive dampers, both of which aid overall body control. Even more so in Sport S mode when they firm but only slightly. With an increase in chassis rigidity and improved suspension (rear geometry tweaked to reduce pitching for instance) it feels better in the bends (in the few we encountered at least) with added stability. It still feels like a big, high-riding 4×4 though. The new electrically-assisted power steering is decent too, well weighted and isolates all the road nasties you’d rather not know about.
We’ll report back again tomorrow on its off-road chops after conquering Napoleon Hill. Well, hopefully. And capture some more exciting photos too.
