The Land Cruiser has always been Toyota’s flagship off-roader, with a big, burly V8 under the hood among its prized assets. As the next iteration of its longest-running series is expected to break cover by June this year at the latest, the carmaker is rumored to scale down the SUV’s standard power plant.
Toyota could be saying goodbye to the V8 for the Land Cruiser range
According to a report from motor1.com, the wheels on the upcoming Land Cruiser could be spun this time by a 3.5-liter gasoline V6 rated at 409 hp and 650 Nm of torque. It’s a marked departure from the 5.7-liter V8 currently offered in the U.S. market, with the new engine making 28 additional hp and 107 more Nm despite the smaller displacement.
The next-generation Land Cruiser could resemble this render [Image: kolesa.ru]
For fans of the oil burner, the present 4.5-liter diesel twin-turbo V8 is also expected to give way to a downsized 3.3-liter V6 version. The change brings a performance boost of 302 hp and 700 Nm of torque, up from 268 hp and 650 Nm of twist on the outgoing engine. As of this writing, Philippine-spec Land Cruisers run on a detuned version of the current diesel engine, packing 232 hp and 615 Nm of torque.
The gasoline V6 option has traditionally been the runt of the Land Cruiser litter, reserved for the base variants of the full-size SUV as well as the Land Cruiser Prado midsize off-roader and the FJ Cruiser. Now that the V8 engines are about to pack their bags, the smaller power plants are seen to provide more grunt along with improved fuel efficiency.
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Philippine-spec Land Cruisers use a detuned version of the diesel V8 found in the overseas release
However, there’s hope for a second life as far as the V8 is concerned. A patent filing dated September 2020 indicates at least two types (single- and twin-turbo) of the motor for use in Toyota’s luxury unit Lexus, with the LC-F rumored to get it in 2022.
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