Toyota's new engine for the Land Cruiser joins a small but select group of diesel V8s. It uses twin low-inertia turbochargers and common-rail injection to deliver a peak power output of 282bhp and a massive 479lb ft of torque, available from just 1600rpm.
The Land Cruiser’s raw performance figures only tell part of the story. We couldn’t quite match Toyota’s claimed 8.2sec 0-62mph time on damp asphalt, but our figure of 8.6sec is still striking in a vehicle that weighs very nearly three tonnes.
In-gear times were similarly striking, not least the 5.4sec taken to go from 50-70mph.
The Land Cruiser’s part-throttle behaviour is even more impressive, with an almost total lack of turbo lag and strong, effortless response from idle. We do have one criticism, though: the off-the-line response of our test car was disappointing, with a good half-second delay between pressing the throttle and the torque converter getting things moving.
Drive is supplied to all four wheels via a standard-fit six-speed automatic gearbox (with the option of manual override), plus a torque-sensing centre differential that can smoothly vary the amount of torque between the front and rear axles to promote stability.
