Toyota Land Cruiser Prado: All a buyer needs to know

The story of the current-day Toyota Land Cruiser Prado started way back in the mid-1980s, a time when it wasn’t even called a Prado. Toyota launched a short wheelbase Cruiser (70 Series), which went on to become the Prado’s forefather.

The first-generation Land Cruiser Prado came out in 1990, with the nameplate celebrating its thirty-fifth anniversary in June of this year. In the Philippines, the fourth-gen, facelifted Land Cruiser Prado starts from just under PhP 3.3 million - the full-blown Land Cruiser 200 Series costs over a million more than that!

Toyota unveiled the outgoing fourth iteration of the baby Cruiser a decade ago, but because of several facelifts and updates, the Japanese marque has managed to keep this old platform relevant and still quite desirable. As for the Philippine market, the very first Prado officially surfaced in 1996. The new Toyota Land Cruiser Prado enters the ring against foes like the Hyundai Palisade, Peugeot 5008, Honda Pilot, and even the Dodge Durango.

Basic introduction out of the way, let’s get acquainted with some of the other aspects of this 4x4.

Exterior

There’s a certain something about a ruggedly handsome, body-on-frame, true-blue SUV - a personality trait that one could definitely append to the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. Even better, where the previous Prado’s styling wasn’t to everyone’s liking, this new one can please the socks out of almost any SUV fanboy. The butch front fascia of the new Prado has been thoroughly revised, now with a new and specially contoured bonnet,

large hexagonal grille decorated with chrome and thick vertically-placed slats, sleek yet sizeable headlamps with LED DRLs, and a muscular but chiseled bumper with integrated fog lamps. The Prado also boasts a body length of 4,780 mm, width of 1,885 mm and height of 1,890 mm, with a wheelbase measurement of 2,790 mm.

Some of the most observable design characteristics of the upright sides of the Land Cruiser Prado are its hugely flared fenders, deep wheel wells, prominent and stylish 18-inch alloy rims, vast 215 mm ground clearance and fixed running boards.

At the rear of the Prado, there’s a chunky roof spoiler, modern-looking 3-D design LED tail lamps, tailgate-mounted thick chrome bar, and an inconspicuous-looking back bumper. While the mighty Land Cruiser 200 still rules supreme, the Cruiser Prado easily holds its own and can be just as intimidating to look at.

Interior

Compared to any of the previous-gen Land Cruiser Prados, this new one’s interior looks surprisingly upscale and modern, albeit a touch boring to look at. The dashboard is clutter-free in its layout and design, with most of the controls and buttons concentrated on the upper half of the centre console. Toyota has spattered this cabin with a choice of beige, black and silver tones,

along with faux wood trim, metallic accents and piano black finishes - most of which are concentrated upfront. However, build and fit-and-finish feels rock-solid, while every panel and piece of trim is screwed together and show no signs of weakness. Being a seven-seater SUV, the Land Cruiser Prado has no qualms carrying around its occupants - on or off the road. The third row might feel a touch uncomfortable on long journeys, but for short hops, they’re a non-issue.

Conveniences and safety features

Toyota has also crammed in several features and creature comforts in this new Prado, including stuff such as automatic LED headlights with washers, LED fog lights, rain-sensing wipers, heated wing mirrors, Toyota’s Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS), smart entry with push-start button, and full leather upholstery.

There are also power-adjustable front seats with ventilation, split-folding & power-operated third-row seats, power-adjustable, multifunction steering wheel, cool box, tri-zone automatic climate control with rear vents, cruise control, sports drive mode, 6-speaker sound system, and a touchscreen infotainment head unit with built-in GPS navigation.

Some of the equipment in the Land Cruiser Prado’s safety basket includes Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA), Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) with Traction Control (A-TRC), Hill-start Assist Control (HAC), Downhill Assist Control (DAC), Emergency Stop Signal (ESS), active front-seat headrests, ISOFIX anchor points, and of course, a full complement of up to seven airbags (driver and passenger, driver’s knee, front-side and curtain side).

Engine and transmission

In the Philippines, the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado specs sheet tells it is offered with a choice of two diesel powerplants. Firstly, there’s the 1KD-FTV, 3.0-litre four-cylinder that pushes out 161hp and a healthy 410Nm of torque. It comes paired to either a 6-speed manual or 5-speed automatic transmission, and the entire grunt is routed to a permanent four-wheel-drive (4WD) system.

Meanwhile, the entry-spec variant of the Prado gets a smooth, 4.0-litre V6 petrol engine that chucks out 271 hp and 381 Nm of maximum torque. This mill is only available with a 6-speed automatic slush-o-matic ‘box -- power still being sent to all four contact patches. In terms of its on-road performance, the petrol-powered Prado can do a maximum of 175 kmph, with 100 kmph from a standstill coming up in around 9.5 seconds or less. As for its average fuel economy, this petrol motor manages only around 9 kmpl at best.

Pricing

In the Philippines, the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado comes in three variants, and they’re priced at Php 3,270,000 for the petrol version, Php 3,910,000 for the manual transmission variant with diesel heart and PhP 4,010,000 for the automatic transmission variant with the same oil-burner.

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