The All-New 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser

The all-new 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser sport utility vehicle (SUV), now in its seventh generation, continues to carry its incomparable reputation for quality, durability and reliability. This Land Cruiser, known as the 200 Series, adds significantly to the quality, dependability and reliability (QDR) equation by including new components, and more comfort, sophistication and value than ever before.

The Land Cruiser, with its incredible reliability and capability, is the iconic vehicle that helped Toyota gain its first foothold in the world automobile market. Over the years, it has evolved from a basic four-wheel-drive utility vehicle into an upscale vehicle with the capability of the original Land Cruiser and the comfort and convenience of a luxury sedan. This new Land Cruiser takes those values several steps further than ever before.

"The Land Cruiser asserts its position at the very top of the Toyota SUV lineup by building on our core heritage - durability, capability, fun-to-drive, and value," said Jim Lentz, executive vice president, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. "For more than 50 years, the Land Cruiser has delivered on off-road capability and performance, and this generation will raise the ante for overall capability and comfort."

The Land Cruiser cements its reputation as the "King of Off-Road" with systems and features that also make it the "King of On-Road." An all-new engine and transmission delivers unparalleled power, efficiency and smoothness. The sophisticated Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS) enhances the Land Cruiser's ride and off-road capability. The Land Cruiser also receives a new electro-mechanical system, CRAWL Control, which improves its excellent off-road capabilities and allows the driver to further concentrate on choosing a line without also having to manage momentum. A sophisticated new frame and suspension further help enhance Land Cruiser safety.

"As I began this task, I understood what Land Cruiser Chief Engineers have always understood: quality, durability and reliability are the priorities," said Land Cruiser executive chief engineer Hideki Watanabe. "The engineering team realized there could be no substitute for a Land Cruiser. This led us to believe we should further enhance the basic concepts that have made the Land Cruiser the iconic vehicle that it is. And so that's what we've done."

High-Strength Chassis and Suspension
To develop the next generation of the toughest, most desirable four-wheel-drive vehicle in the world, the Land Cruiser's engineers began with the frame. Rather than being tempted by a unitized body, the type used by some car-based four-wheel-drive vehicles, they elected to maintain a separate frame and body for the Land Cruiser 200 Series. Land Cruiser engineers determined that strengthening a unitized body, to stand up to the stress of rough roads and high-capacity towing, would increase the body's mass and weight as to completely negate the lightweight character usually gained by unitization.

Beginning with the current Land Cruiser frame structure and using advanced engineering methods and lightweight components, engineers developed an all-new frame structure that offers superior strength and rigidity while also enhancing towing capacity. Engineers worked on insulation and body-on-frame mounting bushings to reduce road noise, suppress vibration, and enhance on-road and off-road comfort.

The result is a high-strength, high-rigidity frame structure that uses lightweight, high-strength steel and deeper, wider frame longitudinals help to provide enhanced safety. The front of the frame adopts a three-stage crush structure so frame damage to other areas of the vehicle is minimized in the case of frontal impact.

Chassis and suspension components received as much thought and attention as the Land Cruiser's frame. It receives a new double-wishbone independent front suspension and four-link rear suspension with a solid live axle.

Up front, the Land Cruiser employs a high-mount double-wishbone system with tubular gas-pressure shock absorbers, a hollow stabilizer bar, and coil springs. The system was designed to suppress alignment change while the suspension travels through its stroke and maintains an optimal length of stroke. The purpose of this system is to achieve a high level of off-road driving performance and suspension control while maintaining a high level of on-road driving comfort.

At the rear, the reliable and trusted four-link, coil-spring with lateral rod format was redesigned to provide a longer suspension stroke for improved on-and off-road performance. The Land Cruiser's rear suspension also features tubular gas-pressure shock absorbers and a hollow stabilizer bar.

The brake system is enlarged and more powerful than ever, with 13.4-inch ventilated discs and four-piston calipers up front and 13.6-inch ventilated discs at the rear.

The Land Cruiser features power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering with a variable gear ratio that requires just 3.1 turns to go from lock-to-lock. Gear ratio is set larger around the steering center and smaller around the end position.

Enhancing this advanced suspension system is KDSS, a Toyota first, which provides a unique mixture of optimal on-road roll stiffness and off-road suspension compliance. This consists of a pair of hydraulic control cylinders that vary roll stiffness depending on suspension attitude.

Applying all this technology to the driving surface are P285/60 R18 mud-and-snow steel-belted radial tires mounted on 18 x 8.0-inch aluminum alloy wheels with a high-gloss finish. The Land Cruiser also features a full-size spare tire.

The Land Cruiser has a gross vehicle weight rating of 7,275 pounds, while it has a maximum payload of 1,585 pounds and a maximum towing capacity of 8,500 pounds. Approach and departure angles are 30 degrees and 20 degrees, respectively.