Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (J12*W) Test Drive Report

ReportDecember 10, 2021

The Land Cruiser Prado is the latest off-roader from Toyota, a true world brand that has evolved further with its traditional high driving performance.

The Land Cruiser Prado is Toyota's latest off-roader, which the company's development staff says has the toughest driving demands of the rough roads of Europe and Africa.

The latest SUVs, which have been selling well in the U.S. and other markets, are mostly on the road to becoming "passenger cars. However, in the case of the Prado, the possibility of heavy use, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, makes it difficult to ride the wave of such a trend. In fact, the main skeletal structure of the new Prado, with its ladder-frame body and rear rigid axle, is still very much an old-fashioned "truck. However, I believe that the Runkmobile brand is a truly international vehicle that people say "it's this toughness that makes me want to choose it again. The model introduced here is the 3.4TZ G Selection, a top model with a five-door body and a V6 engine.

The ride is still off-roader-like, but the frame-type body is surprisingly quiet.

We climbed into the cabin, which had a somewhat Celsior-like design. The side steps under the doors and the assist grips on the inside of the A-pillars are must-haves for this car. It's moments like these that make me realize the Prado's high level of authenticity as an off-roader. Incidentally, a sister model of this car is scheduled to go on sale soon in the Lexus family of Toyota's luxury car channel in the US. The "Celsior-like" impression I gave earlier is not just my imagination.

What surprised me was how quiet the car was. The engine noise and wind noise are low, but the road noise is incredibly low. This is undoubtedly a benefit of using a frame-type body. I recall hearing that when the Crown discontinued the frame-type body, they had a hard time blocking out the road noise...

The footwork is not quite the same as that of a passenger car. The response to fine steering operation is a little sluggish, and it takes time to dampen vibrations after picking up unevenness in the road surface. Incidentally, we did not notice any significant change in this area when we operated the "TEMS" switch.

Active TRC, which provides advanced hill climbing and descent control, has realized safe and easy driving performance.

As the company boasts about the basic construction of the body frame, the Prado's off-road driving performance is also impressive. "One of the features of the center differential, which has an unequal distribution of 40% in the front and 60% in the rear, is that it is a Torsen-type differential that provides a good response to the transmission of driving force. The grade of the test vehicle also comes standard with "Active TRC," a four-wheel independent automatic braking mechanism that controls idling when the accelerator pedal is turned on to increase traction capability. This is a device that enables safe driving at low speeds of 5 to 7 km/h without touching the brake pedal, even on steep, low-mu slopes. Some overseas off-roaders have already adopted a similar system, but in the case of the Prado, I was able to confirm that it was extremely easy and safe to drive through scenes that would normally require a lot of skill.

The Prado is a member of the Land Cruiser family with attractive specifications that are worthy of being the pinnacle of authentic 4WD.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this report, the Prado is an international vehicle with a strong awareness of regions other than Japan. Frankly speaking, the performance of this vehicle as an off-roader, which is designed to be suitable for such regions, is over-specified for most Japanese users, and there must be no place where it can be used.

However, it is true that such "excessiveness" is also seen as an attraction. Toyota is also aware of the importance of such symbolism and states, "As long as the Prado is a member of the Land Cruiser family, the 4WD mechanism must be a full-time system, and a 2WD version is unthinkable. The new Prado is a vehicle that has been created to add a new page to the "Runkl legend".

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