4x4 Mag - Short Term road Test - Toyota Landcruiser

Short Term Road Test

Toyota Landcruiser Colorado VX

When the Editor told me that he wanted me to do the road test on the Colorado, I have to admit that I was pretty thrilled. This is a car that I have never driven before, but I have heard and read plenty about it. Now I would be able to see if all that I had heard would be true, or is the big Landcruiser just another Japanese 4x4 that manages everything reasonably well, but is really nothing special.

The particular model that I was presented with was a 1998 Long Wheel Base top of the range VX with a 4.0 Litre 24 Valve V6 and Auto Box. My first impression was that it was huge, easily the biggest 4x4 I had ever driven, and also by the look of the interior the most luxurious as well (including my own Mercedes G Wagon).

Once inside the Landcruiser I was greeted by more switches and controls than I knew what to do with! This car had everything you could possibly need, and just about all of it was electrically operated! Air conditioning, electrically adjustable and heated leather seats, windows, sunroof, mirrors and cruise control. It had the lot! Sitting proudly on the top of the dash was a neat little binnacle housing what Toyota describe as a "multi function display". This consisted of a large LCD display, which at the press of a button would indicate avarage speed, altitude, roll angle, and even an electronic compass! Although I have to admit that I couldn't really understand most of it, it did keep the kids amused!! I thought that most of the switches and controls were a little bit hap-hazard in layout, but I soon got used to them, and at least I could actually see them all from the drivers seat, unlike other 4x4's I could mention.

This particular model with it's dark metallic blue exterior had a superb grey leather interior. I am not a fan of leather seats myself, (they always remind me of the vinyl seats in my Dad's old Viva!), but they weren't too bad. Later on when I tried the car off-road they proved to be a little bit too slippy, and I also found that after only half an hours driving, I had an aching back, even with the electrically adjustable lumbar support fully out. Somebody else may not have the same problem, but for me these seats were not good. The rest of the family had no complaints, the kids had more room than they knew what to do with in the back, and my youngest often enjoyed riding in the extra fold down seats in the boot, which by the way were very good almost full sized seats, which spent most of the time folded down due to the fact that they stopped me from seeing out of the rear side windows when they were in the folded up position. Rear seat passengers also had their own heating controls on the back of the center console, including a blower speed control and temperature selection, with warm air vents even reaching into the extra boot seats.

When I first started up the big V6, I almost tried to start it again it was so quiet and smooth, only the rev counter gave it away. This was one smooth and quiet engine. Slipping the lever for the auto box into drive didn't even cause a lurch as you often get in automatic cars, and at times I had to check that I had actually put it into gear! Whether this was due to the gearbox being fully electronic, I don't know, but again it impressed me. On the move, the car was absolutely effortless to drive. The power steering was extremely light and effort free, and the huge 4.0 Litre power plant made this big heavy car power forward at an unbelievable pace. The auto box changed gear superbly, and even under full throttle high speed changes, the selection was always smooth, and combined with the silky V6 engine made the car almost float along. I did notice that at times when under very hard acceleration, there seemed to be some vibration coming through the floor, probably from the drive train somewhere, however this was only under extreme acceleration that most drivers would never subject their own cars to.

Performance was outstanding, and I often enjoyed seeing off boy racers in their Novas and lowered Fords when launching the Toyota from the traffic lights. Acceleration for overtaking was also superb. The Auto box had 3 selectable modes, Power, Normal and 2nd start (more of which later) and when in Power mode, the box held onto the gears for much longer before changing up, and also kicked down more readily, meaning that pushing the accelerator to the floor would give an instant response with a surge forward. I didn't notice any delay whilst the gearbox 'decided' which gear was needed as you often get in automatics, the car just responded immediatley and took off like a startled rabbit. I often found myself driving much faster than necessary, and accelerating at full throttle for no reason other than it was so nice to be able to, in such a big heavy car!

On the Motorway, 70MPH was achieved with effortless ease, the car was silent at this speed, with the gearbox settled into overdrive (which could be switched off when towing) the engine was hardly working at all. I often found myself setting the cruise control at about 75 MPH and just sitting there relaxed for mile after mile. When I did have to slow down or accelerate, a click of the resume control soon had the car back at cruising speed. I have to admit to trying the car with the cruise control set at way above the legal limit one night, and the car proved to be just as relaxed and quiet at these three figure speeds, allthough the wind noise did increase, but not to an uncomfortable level.

A car with performance like this needs brakes and a chassis to match, and I think that this was where the Landcruiser let itself down. The brakes were good, very powerful at normal road speeds, but when the V6 did take you beyond normal driving speeds (which was quite often)the brakes didn't feel quite so confident in their ability to stop this two ton leviathon. I'm not saying that the brakes were bad, just that I don't think they are fully upto the ultimate performance available from this motor. The cornering ability of the Toyota was also very good for a car of this size, and when being driven sensibly caused no reason for alarm, but all to often, thanks to the quiet ride and effortless power, I found myself approaching corners a little bit too fast, and I didn't always feel confident in the Toyota's cornering abilities.

As a towing vehicle, I don't think I could have asked for more. The V6 pulled like a train anyway, so towing was no problem at all, even when loaded up with the legal limit of 3500Kg or more. Stopping power was also superb, as long as you remembered that you were actually towing, and allowed that little bit of extra distance for stopping. I all too often forget that I was towing, probably due to the fact that I tow large trailers every day of the week, and the power of this car made it all to easy to forget, and on a couple of occasions I only remembered that I was actually towing when the car didn't stop as quickly as usual. Again I think that this goes back to my earlier comments about the Toyotas brake system, although good, the brakes are not excellent. The rear suspension was a little on the soft side when approaching Toyotas advisory towing limit of 2800Kg, but the car always seemed to cope, even when I managed to exceed this weight limit. This car towed anything easily. On one trip towing my Suzuki SJ on it's trailer, my friend had trouble keeping up in his own Suzuki, and I was towing!! Even on the motorway I had to watch the speed carefully, as the Toyota would easily creep up way above the 60MPH towing limit, and I found this to be another excellent use for the cruise control. Once set at 60MPH, the Toyota maintained that speed uphill or down, no matter how much the trailer weighed, the gearbox moved smoothly between the gears to maintain the appropriate speed. On the subject of towing, I found that I struggled to couple this car to my trailer because of the spare wheel being in the way of the ball, whilst at the same time, it also managed to block rearward vision when reversing with the trailer.

Venturing off road proved to be a pleasant experience. The Toyota is of the full time four wheel drive type, with low ratio being selected by a small lever to the side of the main gear lever. The same lever also engaged the center diff lock when needed. This car also had a button on the dash to engage the rear diff lock, and allthough I didn't have reason to use this, I am sure that it would make the Toyota an even more capable off road machine. Next to the gear lever was a small button for 2nd gear start. Once pressed the car would pull away in 2nd gear, meaning that for getting the car to pull away in slippery conditions was easier, as 1st gear would induce too much wheel spin. I didn't go mad off roading this big car, it needed to be driven with respect on the slippery surfaces, as when nearly two tons of car started to slide, nothing could be done. Hill climbing was a doddle, with all that power and acceleration, the car could be hustled up hills that some other Japanese 4x4s would struggle on, especially the diesel variety. The road biased tyres fitted to this model didn't help in the mud at all, however, I think that tyres with a more aggresive tread pattern would have detracted from the luxurious ride quality on the road.

All in, I think that the Colorado is an excellent car, snapping hard at the Range Rovers heels in the luxury 4x4 market. I know that the Toyota wins hands down for me, but there again I have never been a big fan of the Range Rover, so perhaps I am a little biased. Looking around the area I live in, there are more Toyotas than Range Rovers to be seen, and most of them appear to belong to business men. One local builder that I have spoken to is now on his third, and having tried other 4x4s, he does prefer the Toyota. For me, beautifull car that it is, the price would scare me away, even second hand this particular car was worth around £20,000. Is it worth it? Maybe, just maybe.....I'll have to talk to my boss.