Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series 2021 Review

Fear not, Toyota LandCruiser aficionados. As hype percolates around the much-anticipated (and continually delayed) arrival of the new 2021 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, there’s a palpable sense of trepidation among diehards – that Toyota’s exacting engineers have gone and stuffed things up.

The first new LandCruiser since 2007 arrives in Australia this month without its trademark diesel V8, sitting on a new TNGA-F architecture and with an arsenal of new technology and equipment which, on paper at least, threaten to go against the LandCruiser’s utilitarian legacy.

However, on first impression it’s clear the new LandCruiser 300 Series represents a quantum leap on its 200 Series predecessor – offering new-found comfort, capability and luxury without diluting the off-roader’s core appeal.

One thing is startlingly obvious with the new 2021 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series: it is not cheap.

You can read our full pricing and specification breakdown here , but in a nutshell the entry price has risen almost $10,000 to $89,990 plus on-road costs, with the expanded six-model line-up now exceeding $150,000 drive-away at the top of the model walk.

Indeed, the freshly anointed Toyota LandCruiser GR Sport ($137,790 plus ORCs) and Toyota LandCruiser ZX Sahara ($138,790 plus ORCs) flagships raise the 4x4 off-roader to lofty new heights, pricing it $50,000 north of the most expensive Nissan Patrol Ti and well within the territory of European competitors including the Land Rover Defender 110.

Four familiar badges carry over from the outgoing LandCruiser 200 Series – GX, GXL, VX and Sahara – with each subject to price rises of between 5.6 and 11.3 per cent.

As a starting point, the base LandCruiser GX is fitted with a single-piece tailgate, dusk-sensing LED headlights, keyless smart entry and start, two-zone automatic air-conditioning, a multifunction steering wheel, 9.0-inch display (was 6.1 inches), reversing camera, one-touch power windows for all doors, smartphone integration, road sign assist, dusk-sensing headlights, electric park brake and downhill assist control.

Each step up in the model range brings meaningful equipment upgrades, the biggest being the introduction of a larger 12.3-inch screen and 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster from the mid-level VX ($113,990 plus ORCs), as well as four-zone climate control, heated and ventilated front seats and Toyota’s Vehicle Dynamics that links traction and stability control, electric steering and other systems.

Toyota claims this improves performance, responsiveness to driver input and safety.

The range is also split between five-seaters (GX, Sahara ZX and GR Sport) and seven-seaters (GXL and Sahara), with no version offering eight seats as the previous GXL did.

Emphasising the importance of towing for LandCruiser owners, all 300s are equipped with a trailer wiring harness. They also come with Toyota Connected Services including automatic collision notification, an SOS button and stolen vehicle tracking.

The latest Toyota Safety Sense package is standard and includes autonomous emergency braking (AEB) as part of a pre-collision system that can detect pedestrians (day and night) and cyclists during the day.

It also features all-speed active cruise control, auto high beam, lane keeping technology that steps up to lane trace assist with steering wheel vibration in VX and above.

Finally, all 300 Series models get AWD Integrated Management that Toyota says harmonises steering assist, brake and throttle control, shift pattern and drive torque distribution “for precise handling and stability”.

The LC300 is yet to be formally crash tested, but watch this space.

Every Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series is fitted with a full-size spare wheel and is rated to tow 3.5 tonnes (braked).

Toyota’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre factory warranty is standard, while servicing intervals are spaced every six months and 10,000km. Sorry, Toyota, but for a vehicle actively marketed as the choice of remote Australians, we reckon those intervals are simply too short.

The car-maker partially justifies the intervals with its peerless servicing network of more than 200 dealers around the country.

Additionally, each service will set owners back $375, meaning over a five-year/100,000km servicing term, the new LandCruiser will cost at least $3750 to maintain.

The headline news underneath the skin is that the 2021 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series revealed introduces a new 227kW/700Nm 3.3-litre V6 twin-turbo diesel engine.

It replaces the old 200kW/650Nm 4.5-litre turbo-diesel V8, while also eschewing that drivetrain’s six-speed auto combination for a new 10-speed automatic that continues to power all four wheels via a permanent all-wheel drive system with low-range transfer case.

GX, GXL, VX and Sahara grades feature a lockable centre differential, Sahara ZX adds a rear Torsen LSD while GR Sport adds lockable front and rear diffs.

The engine’s primary turbocharger is said to engage at low rpm to provide strong initial shove, with a secondary turbocharger materialising at about 2600rpm for strong mid-range pulling power.

Official combined-cycle fuel economy drops from 9.5L to 8.9L/100km, while the transmission is said to feature a broader spread of ratios and shift times which are twice as fast as the previous model.

Toyota’s decision to drop the LC300’s fuel tank capacity from 138 litres to 110L is countered by slightly better efficiency in both combined terms and on the open road. Keep reading on for the real-world translation.

As for underpinnings, the LandCruiser uses a ladder-frame chassis and is suspended up front via a double-wishbone arrangement with stabiliser bar, and a four-link rigid axle at the rear with stabiliser bar. Adaptive dampers are fit to ZX Sahara and GR Sport models.

The GR Sport adds an electronic Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (e-KDSS) which independently – and electronically – locks and frees the front and rear suspension stabiliser bars, purportedly enabling a flatter ride on-road and more wheel articulation off it.

Overall, the 300 Series is the first LandCruiser wagon generation not to grow in size and the first to decrease in weight.

There’s a drop in kerb mass measuring between 130kg and 180kg, according to Toyota. All told, the new LandCruiser tips the scales at about 2500kg, but you can check our in-depth analysis for the full run-down.

A 3280kg gross vehicle mass (GVM) means payload has increased over its predecessor, to between 650kg and 785kg depending on the variant.

Toyota says minimum ground clearance is 235mm – up 10mm over the 200 Series. All models come with a 2850mm wheelbase, 1667mm front track and 1668mm rear track, bar the GX which is 20mm wider at both ends.

The front overhang is 920mm for the four carryover model grades, 935mm for the GR Sport and 945mm for the Sahara ZX. Rear overhang is 1210mm for all models bar the Sahara ZX at 1220mm.

Overall length is 4980mm for the carryover grades, but the GR Sport measures up at 4995mm long, which is 20mmm shorter than the Sahara ZX. At 1990mm, GR Sport is 10mm wider than all other models bar the GX, which is 2000mm wide when fitted with a snorkel. All models are 1950mm high.

The product of a rigorous engineering and development program that began in earnest in 2015, the new LandCruiser is said to boast a lower centre of gravity, 20 per cent better structural rigidity plus a carryover wading depth of 700mm.

For all the marketing rhetoric, pictures, video and words written on the 2021 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, it still imparts a pleasant first impression.

Hoisting up into the cosseted cabin of our $150,000 test car, the Toyota LandCruiser GR Sport offers users a satisfying mix of soft-touch materials, screens and nifty storage options that immediately elevate it from LandCruiser models gone by.

Tasteful woodgrain highlights gently contrast with soft, stitched leather panels, and even the switchgear banks are laid out in an orderly and refined fashion. A big ergonomic tick there.

This is ground-breaking stuff for a Toyota – as it would want to be given the price.

Form inherently follows function: there’s an airy, light-filled glasshouse enabling excellent outward vision, grab rails readily accessible, and broad comfortable front seats ready for interstate adventures. The carpet is thick and the interior feels well put together.

That brings us to the infotainment. It wasn’t so long ago LandCruiser owners went without steering-wheel mounted buttons. Happily, that level of compromise is out the window with 300 Series.

The GR Sport’s mammoth 12.3-inch centre display offers an intuitive and user-friendly native layout, with piano keys on the lower centre fascia offering one-touch shortcuts to key commands.

A matching 7.0-inch screen in the digital instrument cluster provides legible and relative readouts, as well as quick access to trip information.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are well integrated into the centre screen, taking up two-thirds of the screen space and leaving a separate window open for climate control settings. Clever.

Annoyingly, both smartphone apps can only be accessed via a corded connection, and the LandCruiser doesn’t offer a volume knob – only buttons. Can’t win ’em all…

Further back the 300 Series offers excellent second-row amenity suitable for adults or children. The low-set window line affords excellent outward viewing, there are air vents in the roof and behind the centre console, plus ample USB ports.

The nifty reading lights, which blanket only a small part of the cabin without dazzling other occupants, are a great touch, and we love that you can access the centre console cool box via a button at the rear of the console.

Gripes? Second-row sun shades would be a nice-to-have at this price point, and the second-row folding operation is a bit heavy-duty, especially if you have your hands full. Fold the lever and the seatback clumsily flips forward and simultaneously tumbles like a worn-out sofa bed.

The cavernous 1153-litre boot area is strictly a five-seat only affair in our GR Sport model – even though it carries over all the air vents and cup holders from the seven-seat equivalent.

Let’s address the elephant in the room, shall we? The new 2021 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series gives away nothing with its new twin-turbo V6.

If anything, the new oiler only trumps the predecessor V8. Even the soundtrack is suitably muscular.

The 3.3-litre makes effortless torque low down in the rev range to provide the rich, almost-boundless wave of go-forward akin to a lazy V8.

Getting up to around-town speed is a cinch, and there’s an inherent refinement at play in all scenarios.

The diesel bruiser is also swiftly effective when called upon, too, thanks in part to the 10-speed automatic which slices through the ratios as required. Toyota claims the auto is twice as fast with its shifts as the predecessor six-speed ’box; we don’t doubt the claim.

At highway speeds, the engine and gearbox conspire to offer effortless open-road passage, the tacho gently resting at 1300rpm at 100km/h – and that’s in ninth gear. Cruising the 130km/h Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory will be an absolute dream.

We can’t thoroughly speak for the LandCruiser’s fuel consumption just yet, but on a mixed 500km trip with a short stint of towing it managed 12.5L/100km. On that basis, you can expect a circa-880km range from a full tank.

Of course, the engine is only one small part of the LandCruiser formula – we were equally enamoured by the dynamic and off-road wares of the 300 Series.

Light low-speed steering and new-found levels of body control endow the LC300 with a more pleasant on-road demeanour in daily conveyance. The brake pedal feels well modulated and outside noises are superbly supressed.

On country B-roads, it’s more good news. There’s no unwieldy body movements and the vehicle’s 2.5-tonne mass is confidently tied down to the bitumen underneath.

In this first test (there’s more to come soon), we can only report on the dynamic findings of the GR Sport, which swaps to electro-hydraulic steering assistance (hydraulic from models beneath VX), but it proves to be a revelation for the LandCruiser’s cornering prowess. It tracks faithfully and is devoid of unwanted mid-corner kickback.

Happily, the LC300’s new-found on-road nous also transcends off-road scenarios. High-speed gravel surfaces are met with a remarkably planted poise, and the GR Sport boasts an uncanny ability to isolate occupants from terra firma underneath in slower, rocky driving, a trait of its clever electronic Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System.

We engaged low-range four-wheel drive on one occasion to discover another novel trick: an underbody forward-facing camera system that acts like another pair of eyes.

It’s a similar brains-and-brawn attitude to towing, with the LandCruiser offering utmost stability and composure with a 2.5-tonne caravan in tow. The engine remains composed and reliable with the weight on board, and the LC300 remained in control through crosswinds for climbs and descents alike. Huge box ticked there.

Dynamic gripes? Speaking the obvious here but the LandCruiser still feels like a large vehicle, especially in car parking scenarios, and some of the driver aids can feel like a hindrance at times, such as the lane keeping assist system that swiftly bullies you back into your lane.

That said, an arsenal of cameras really do help mitigate some of the sheer bulk of the latest 300 Series, while its improved on-road ability also make it much more user-friendly for the entire family to drive.

The all-new 2021 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series is hugely impressive.

It emerges from the other side of three days’ testing this week with an unequivocal tick of approval and offering a positive portent for open-road trips ahead.

The LC300 isn’t cheap, and other models miss out on the luxury wares fitted to the GR Sport tested.

But as far as jumping behind the wheel and taking off into our beautiful Aussie landscape, it’s hard to think of a better package.

A brave new guard indeed.

How much does the 2021 Toyota LandCruiser GR Sport cost?
Price: $137,790 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now (for delivery in 2022)
Engine: 3.3-litre V6 twin-turbo diesel
Output: 227kW/700Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 235g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested