Toyota Announces Substantial Changes for 2016 Land Cruiser Facelift [VIDEO]
2016 Toyota Land Cruiser Facelift is now here offering substantial updates. It gains more in terms of interior and exterior styling, updates regarding the engines and performance as well as safety improvements. For example, the appearance of the popular vehicle is now more modern and athletic, while the interior benefits from soft-touch surfaces, revised instrument cluster and controls. But let's see exactly what has happened to this icon.
Exterior
Beginning with the exterior, the designers have obviously kept the emblematic visual appearance. Some of the substantial changes include the grille, headlamps, bumper, fenders and bonnet. Precisely, the grille now features hexagonal frame and triple horizontal bars, resulting in more aggressive stance.
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This is further emphasized by the subtle scooping in the centre of the bonnet and the convex shapes that extend to the front. Headlamps and front corners set back from the grille, round out the front end design.
At the sides we see protection moldings and door handles with slightly different appearance. At the rear the revisions include new bumper, upper tailgate panel as well as combination lamps, reflectors and mudguards.
Moreover, adding to the palette of exterior colors are two new shades: Copper Brown and Onyx Blue. They will be offered as an option on all grades except GX.
Interior
The cabin of the Land Cruiser adopts soft padding for areas that directly contact occupants' limbs and support their bodies. There are also changes to the switches and displays for the audio, air-conditioning and driver-related functions, which aim to achieve more convenient utilization.
For example, the centre cluster has received a storage area and a 12V outlet. Only the Sahara trim gets a wireless charger. Another change is found in both VX and Sahara grades, which adopt Optitron instrument cluster with 4.2-inch thin-film transistor colour Multi Information Display. These trim levels also gain Electro Multi Vision and Navigation unit with nine-inch display screen.
The interior colors are different for each grade. The GX is trimmed with grey fabric, while the GXL gets grey or beige fabric. The customers, who will choose the VX and Sahara trims, will have the option of selecting black or beige for their leather-accented interiors. And note that the GX is a 5-seater, while the diesel VX and Sahara are 7-seaters. All other grades have 8 seats.
Drivetrains
Two powerful V8 engines define the range of available drivetrains of the Land Cruiser. They are now better due to a substantial revision, resulting in more power and optimized efficiency. Both the twin-turbo diesel and its petrol alternative show better fuel consumption and tighter Euro 5 emissions.
To go into details, the 4.5-litre twin-turbo diesel unit benefits from new injectors, revised mapping and a diesel particulate filter (DPF). The latter has been fitted with a guard to protect it over rough roads.
In addition, the changes to this drivetrain include also increased power output up to 272 hp (200 kW) and the same torque of 650 Nm (480 lb-ft). Improvement of 8 percent is seen in the fuel economy and emissions, showing 9.5 litres per 100km.
The 4.6-litre petrol V8 engine gets updates to its air-injection system in order to achieve reduced emissions. The variable valve timing on the inlet and exhaust ports helps this engine maintain 309 hp (227 kW) and 439 Nm (324 lb-ft) of torque. Fuel economy and emissions have been also improved but Toyota didn't release any specific numbers.
Safety Features
Regarding the safety, the top of the LandCruiser 200 range, the Sahara trim, receives a package of advanced features. An instance is the ability to prevent or reduce the severity of a collision. Called Pre-Collision Safety, this system warns the driver of a possible collision and automatically applies the brakes.
On the other hand, Lane Departure Alert helps in avoiding collisions by warning the driver in case the vehicle is about to move unintentionally across lanes without using the turn signals.
Sahara also gets radar, sensors and front camera which are utilized to detect other road users and lane markings. Dynamic Radar Cruise Control and Automatic High Beam are the other two features new to the Land Cruiser 200 range.
LandCruiser Line-up
Featured in Land Cruiser's line-up there are a total of four grades. GX remains the diesel-only model, while the GXL, VX and Sahara can be specified with petrol or diesel engines. Both units are fitted with six-speed automatic transmission.
2016 Toyota Land Cruiser Facelift can be currently ordered in Japan. It is scheduled to go on sale in Australia in the second half of October. Other markets will be announced soon. Stay tuned!
Video Source: Toyota Japan via YouTube
Source: Toyota
