Toyota releases another Prado Altitude special

Every year the Toyota Prado Altitude special-edition is trotted out and, just like clockwork, the latest version is now available in Aussie showrooms.

Priced at $68,230 plus on-road costs, the Altitude costs $5000 more than the turbo-diesel Prado GXL auto, but is claimed to offer at least $10,000 worth of extra value.

Just like the previous Prado Altitude special-editions, the spare wheel has been moved from the tailgate to under the body, however, this means the auxiliary fuel tank has been removed, reducing its cruising range.

The underbody spare wheel can also be trickier to get to and is more easily punctured if you're travelling on rough tracks, but buyers who won't take the seven-seat SUV off-road will appreciate the lighter tailgate action.

Other additions to the Altitude special include new-look 18-inch alloy wheels, auto-levelling LED headlights, exterior chrome accents and a powered tilt/slide sunroof.

Toyota's accessory department has also tizzied up the interior with partial leather upholstery, power adjustable front seats, an upgraded 14-speaker JBL stereo system with digital radio tuner and extra load-through hatch for the cargo area (which has been standard on European models for years).

A remote-control ceiling-mounted 9.0-inch entertainment screen hooked up to Blu-ray/DVD player and accompanying wireless headphone set is part of the package too.

These extras come on top of the popular Prado GXL's standard equipment for the ageing Prado, including sat-nav, three-zone automatic climate-control, reversing camera, rear parking sensors, keyless entry and ignition plus downhill descent control.

The current Prado has been around since 2009 but received a 2015 upgrade headlined by a downsized 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel, which currently develops 130kW and 450Nm and returns official combined fuel consumption of 8.0L/100km in the 2.4-tonne, full-time 4WD SUV.

All Toyota Prado models are covered by a capped-price service program that costs $240 per service for the first three years or 60,000km, whichever occurs first.

Toyota's Prado remained the top-selling large SUV in Australia last year, when 14,730 found local homes – easily out-selling the next-best player in the class (the Subaru Outback with 12,207 sales) and a host of other off-road SUVs and crossover wagons.