We take Toyota’s new LandCruiser 300 Series on a longer-haul drive from Sydney to Byron Bay and back, attracting plenty of attention along the way…
‘This is LandCruiser country’.
A decade ago, when Toyota Australia launched a new advertising campaign and signature slogan for its 2012 Toyota LandCruiser, the Japanese car-maker didn’t simply strike a chord with devoted enthusiasts.
More than that, Toyota’s marketing boffins perhaps unknowingly tapped into a growing Australian car buyer microcosm.
The 45-second advert depicted various members of Toyota’s then-new ’Cruiser line-up in a range of remote and toilsome settings, infused with small soundbites of authentic local expressions, wildlife and a laconic voiceover to match.
The setting for Toyota’s multimillion-dollar campaign was decidedly rural, broken up only by the extremes of snow, drought and general hardship.
As Toyota Australia’s current chief marketing officer Vin Naidoo recalls, the ad campaign focused on celebrating the LandCruiser legacy – a fundamentally utilitarian one at that.
“LandCruiser is still remembered for helping build the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme – it’s a legacy that’s helped build a country and that’s led to it being a trusted partner in many households and businesses,” he says.
“It was an idea that, in certain parts of Australia where you need a tough vehicle to be able to survive, the LandCruiser is a vehicle that can support you – this ability to trust and depend on your LandCruiser to bring you home.”
Today, the Toyota LandCruiser cut-through is considerably more widespread – and gentrified.
As wait times for the new LandCruiser 300 Series continue to stall at about eight months, the ‘LandCruiser country’ movement now clearly encompasses not only rural settings but inner-city suburbs, school runs and a growing legion of people wanting to tour our wide, brown land, often with a caravan hitched behind.
On a recent family holiday, the rubber-neck effect of our 2022 Toyota LandCruiser GR Sport, finished in Merlot Red, rams home the point.
No other vehicle in recent memory has struck up more conversations, attracted more index fingers or generally piqued the interest of passers-by at petrol stations, in road work zones or main streets up and down our eastern seaboard.
Anecdotally, the LandCruiser 300 Series must surely qualify as Australia’s most aspirational new car.
Indeed, officially, Toyota Australia concedes the new 300 Series has exceeded expectations, with a wave of fresh prospective buyers now on the radar combined with a loyal retained ownership base.
Company research shows 80 per cent of current LandCruiser owners will consider another one as their next vehicle.
With a price ceiling above $150,000, is the hype around the 300 Series truly warranted?
2021 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series GR Sport.
A longer haul
Throughout it all, the LandCruiser 300 Series has shone brightly. However, we’re yet to truly ‘live with’ the new LandCruiser.
Toyota Australia sure as hell isn’t going to give us one for six months when there’s such a long line of cashed-up buyers waiting for the LC300.
So that leaves a consummate family road trip as the next best option.
This adventure is typical of many Aussie families: a 2000km return journey – all on the blacktop – loaded to the gills with surfboards, luggage and an appropriate selection of service station snacks.
The road trip is an opportunity to learn the finer points of a new car (good and bad) and to truly test the LandCruiser’s comfort, range and efficiency during long stints behind the wheel.
Our adventure begins at 4.30am, south of Sydney. With the final checks of the house done, and the car packed the night before, the family bundles into the GR Sport’s sprawling, leather-lined cabin for the first stint of the drive.
The car’s interior lights utilise a proximity feature to switch on as we approach the vehicle, before a door has been unlocked.
2021 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series GR Sport.
Then, despite our best efforts to be quiet, we inadvertently startle our street with a leaving parade as the LC300 emits a cacophony of beeping at different intervals upon first unlocking the doors and then opening and shutting its automatic tailgate. We try in vain to slowly and softly close the passenger doors.
Depressing the starter button for the first time, a glow-plug icon flashes and quickly disappears on the instrument cluster before the LandCruiser’s V6 twin-turbo diesel engine erupts to life.
With the road blanketed by the LC300’s broad automatic LED headlights, it’s a quick and cosseted journey onto the Hume Highway as the rest of the family nods back to sleep and we venture north into the darkness.
Initially, the journey reaffirms what we already know: the LC300 offers supreme comfort in GR Sport trim, its kinetic suspension system imbuing an additional layer of control over lesser LandCruiser grades and its lounge-like front seats offering equal measures of support and softness.
Likewise, the driver controls are well-placed, the outward view is unobscured and the LC300 reins in the horizon with aplomb, thanks to its brutish diesel V6 engine and deft body control.
There’s an unprecedented level of detail for a Toyota, too, against a backdrop of general user-friendliness. The infotainment system is a cinch to operate, the instrumentation is clear and legible and the myriad dials and switchgear are laid out in a logical manner.
A heated steering wheel, heated seats and sun visors with extendable arms reaffirm the luxury pretensions, and are nice to have during long driving stints.
Negatives? Honestly, there a very few and we can assure readers that glowing and universal appraisal of the LandCruiser 300 Series in recent months is warranted. It is simply a good thing.
Complaints read more like basic gripes: a volume knob within the instrumentation is usually preferred over buttons, and the LC300 initially feels shy on odds-and-ends storage beyond the usual array of cup holders.
For instance, the usual tangle of phone cords and coffee cups means you’ll occasionally resort to the door pockets for wallets and personal items; an open cubby near the centre fascia wouldn’t go astray.
The initial portion of the journey also establishes something of a run-through process that is repeated every time we bundle into the LandCruiser.
First, the lane keeping assist function is turned off via holding down a button on the steering wheel – it is simply too intrusive and distracting on longer trips.
Next, the adaptive cruise control function is set to its softest setting; even then, we wish there was some way to turn it off, such is the suddenness and distraction of its interventions upon approaching upcoming traffic.
Elsewhere, we are barely 50km into the journey when the LC300 undergoes a DPF (diesel particulate filter) regeneration process designed to burn off excess carbon in the filter. There will be another eight separate DPF burns over the next 1950km – and although it’s hardly an arduous process, it does leave you to wonder why the engine would require such regular burns travelling at highway speed?
As the sun wakes from its slumber, there are an overwhelming number of positives and enamouring traits from the LC300.
On a comfort and amenity level, the GR Sport’s cool box is a treat, the soft contact points of the cabin offer supreme comfort and there is not one complaint from the cabin about the broad seats, ride and handling.
Three hours into the journey, it has been cosseted, quiet and refined progress.
The engine, too, is a peach. It spins at a miserly 1750rpm during highway passage, audible clatter commensurate with many diesel engines is minimal, and fuel consumption is listed at 9.4L/100km early on.
After 2000km, it finishes at 9.6L/100km, higher than the average consumption claim but progress on the predecessor diesel V8.
Drawing attention
We get to the first checkpoint – the twin Caltex service stations at Wyong, for breakfast – when the first instance of LandCruiser effect becomes apparent.
A voice floats over from the other side of the car park… “Is that the new 300 Series?”
Pete, a Parramatta man travelling north with his young family, is visibly besotted with the new 300 Series. He admits he’s never seen a GR Sport in person, but the first impression is sound.
“They’ve done a good job with the styling of it. And I love that it’s not any bigger than the 200 Series,” he says.
Like many enthusiasts, Pete is well-read on the 300 Series and is able to happily rattle off its key facts and figures, including price.
“One of these is way out of my reach, it’d be a huge jump from our old Prado,” he admits. “But it’s nice to dream. Maybe one day.”
The rest stop reaffirms the absence of another feature we wish had made it through to the 300 Series: a split tailgate – like that of the 200 Series.
Getting access to the cargo area is often cumbersome with a boot full of luggage and holiday paraphernalia. In this instance, getting thongs from a bag in the back seems more trouble than it’s worth.
In any case, it’s back on the road north. We take only one more quick lunch stop en route to our final destination, Byron Bay.
As the weather outside warms moving north, the GR Sport’s seat ventilators are switched on and the climate control system is set to arctic blast.
The LC300 continues to cosset its occupants, and from a comfort perspective the only obvious omissions are integrated rear sun shades, which would undoubtedly help passengers in the rear.
Once at Byron, we emerge from the cabin still relatively fresh and comfortable after a 10-hour drive.
It is a remarkable vindication of the local engineering and development work that has gone into the LandCruiser 300 Series.
From a touring perspective, it performs as prescribed on the box.
Byron bae
The kudos keeps on coming for the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series while on holidays.
It seems even in a town traditionally fascinated with campervans and Kombis – admittedly much less so nowadays – the cut-through of the 300 Series is evident.
We encounter another half-a-dozen random interactions with holiday-makers and residents in Byron Bay and surrounding towns, each asking about its on-road credentials.
Drives to nearby waterfall spots and hiking destinations again prove its mettle, with consummate control and refinement on rural roads.
On broken, undulating bitumen, it almost feels akin to an Irish Riverdance, the body retaining rigidity and composure while the underbody flails and flexes following the ground underneath.
Granted, the on-road control is reserved for the GR Sport; lesser 300 Series variants are subject to more pitch and roll, and generally less composure on rougher surfaces.
Well-weighted steering and a comprehensive electronics suite are separate strong points, teaming with the aforementioned kinetic suspension to yield decent roadholding and balance for a circa 2.2-tonne SUV.
Moving billboard
With the proven on-road, off-road and towing credentials of the 300 Series, plus its evident cut-through with the public, there’s little reason to go spruiking the LandCruiser 300 Series’ wares.
Even less so when there’s at least an eight-month wait.
Toyota Australia concedes its latest multimillion-dollar LandCruiser campaign is less about pitching the LC300 and much more about retaining visibility.
“The role the campaign plays is to elevate the brand further and to ultimately thank our customers for their loyalty,” Naidoo explains.
“We already had high expectations for the LandCruiser 300 Series, but those expectations have been exceeded.”
In any case, our recent 2000km journey in the 300 Series demonstrates the pent-up hype for Toyota’s latest flagship is justified.
The price? That one’s debatable, but clearly it isn’t dampening people’s aspirations.
How much does the 2022 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series GR Sport cost?Price: $137,790 (plus on-road costs)Available: Now (for delivery late this year)Engine: 3.3-litre V6 twin-turbo dieselOutput: 227kW/700NmTransmission: 10-speed automaticFuel: 8.9L/100km (ADR Combined), 9.6L/100km (as tested)CO2: 235g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested
Keyword: Is the hype over the new Toyota LandCruiser justified?