Tustin Toyota

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Driving Impressions

To drive a Land Cruiser is to feel secure and in command. Especially on long trips, the Land Cruiser is relaxing to drive.

Press the start button and the gauges light up, needles bounce once, the steering wheel and mirrors return to previously set positions, and the V8 quietly hums to life. A gentle but insistent chime prompts seat-belt use.

Find Reverse, and the back-up camera displays what's behind you on the navigation screen. It's a welcome option, helping to make this SUV easier to park and safer for kids to play around.

In everyday driving, the Land Cruiser feels and behaves just like any other well appointed, full-size SUV. Civilized ride quality is achieved by use of coil-over spring-and-shock combinations in the front, and a four-link/coil spring setup in the rear. There is more travel at the rear than in the previous generation, which translates into better ride quality for passengers closer to the rear axle.

Steering, a rack-and-pinion setup, feels light at low speeds, which aids in maneuvering and parking. Because it is a variable-ratio system, at higher speeds it feels solid and progressive, not twitchy in any sense, with a distinct return-to-center tendency. We found it tracked well at cruising speeds along the scenic two-lane highways heading into Yellowstone National Park.

Driver's seating is generous and relaxing. If you get tired of one position, as we did after a few hours, the seat/wheel adjustability allowed us to rotate through a variety of driving postures. Because of a 24.6 gallon fuel capacity, theoretical range is somewhere between 320 and 440 miles per tank.

On the highway, the Land Cruiser offers sharp handling (for an SUV) and a secure environment. More precise than bigger trucks, and immune to smaller traffic on sheer bulk alone, the Land Cruiser will rarely feel threatened no matter how competitive the morning commute may become.

Throttle response is improved due to the use of the 5.7-liter V8, a 381-hp engine shared with the Tundra full-size pickup. This more powerful engine delivers 90 pound-feet more torque off the line than the previous model, and improved fuel economy, especially on the highway where it is rated to deliver up to 18 mpg. Toyota has incorporated the latest variable valve timing technology, cam lobe design, and intake manifold tuning to optimize the engine for power output, fuel economy and reduced emissions. Like any good truck engine, the 5.7-liter makes more torque (401 pound-feet) than horsepower, allowing the Land Cruiser to loaf around at low rpm and still offer ready throttle response.

A good part of the drivability improvements are due to use of a slick six-speed automatic transmission. The transmission offers a very low first gear for heavy loads, and two overdrive gears at the top, including a super overdrive top gear that accounts for the smooth, efficient highway cruise mode. As we drove on a variety of highways and mountain roads, the transmission always seemed to be in the right gear, and without hunting back and forth. The automatic is computer controlled, constantly cross-checking with the engine's computer, to determine a shift pattern based on driving conditions. We noticed that, when decelerating down a long highway incline in sixth gear, the transmission would automatically downshift to fifth or even fourth gear to supply engine braking. It felt good and made it easier to drive.

While the Land Cruiser is a full-time 4WD truck, it drives and feels more like a rear-wheel-drive vehicle in normal conditions, with stable tracking and light, easy steering with no apparent torque steer. Should front wheels begin to slip, up to 70 percent of engine torque can be instantly biased to the rear. On the other hand, should the rear wheels begin to slip, the torque ratio changes to a maximum of 50/50, for ideal stability and balance. We did not encounter these kinds of conditions on our summer-day test drive, but our experience i

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