Land Cruiser’s facelift will make its official debut at the upcoming Frankfurt auto show, but this update doesn’t come as breathtaking news. After all, a few days ago it was revealed that Lexus will do the same with GX, which is nothing but the upscale brother of Toyota’s biggest SUV. Since they are both offered in several countries, the company now uses this facelift as an opportunity to highlight the conceptual differences between them. While GX follows Lexus’ aggressive sportiness with strong lines and more powerful powertrain, Toyota respects Land Cruiser’s tradition of a tough SUV, which received countless enhancements at habitability but without losing the focus on being a true off-road car.
The front fascia features bigger headlights whose unusual shapes added LED daytime lights and have the very imponent chrome grille between them. There are also new wheels and renewed tail lights, but it’s interesting to observe there weren’t too many significant visual upgrades: while almost every half-life facelift like this brings completely new bumpers in order to give the entire section a different look, the Japanese SUV concentrated its updates on those other elements. It also keeps offering the two-door variation just like its old generations, which has become extremely rare at this range of price and external size.
Entering the cabin will reveal some other slight changes, such as parts of the central console. There’s a new 4.2” touchscreen, new selection button for the traction system and new coating options, not to mention the rear seats were rearranged in order to have easier access. Besides, this car once again offers an impressive set of systems dedicated to improve the driver’s off-road experience even more. The active suspension adjusts itself according to on which ground the car is riding and offers three driving modes and auto-levelling. The traction system uses both brake and engine control to deliver the appropriate torque distribution to all four wheels, and the available terrain-selector offers five options according to which it adjusts several driving parameters.
All of that is paired to a complete set of electronic safety systems, a very interesting list of comfort and entertainment equipments and two powertrain options, divided into Entry, Legend, Prestige and Executive trims. The turbocharged diesel 3.0L generates 170 hp and is the two-door’s exclusive option, while the bigger brother can also use a V6 4.0L, 271 hp gasoline engine. The first one can use six-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission, while the other only comes with the latter option.