2021 Powertrain Upgrade and 200 Series Refresh (1 Viewer)

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Toyota has been 'running the table' with the LC since 1951 or so. Some had quirks and personality but no dogs.
I wager that they will field another winner. Some of us will moan loudly and after a while we will, once again, realize they were not nearly so dumb as we imagined.
 
Toyota has been 'running the table' with the LC since 1951 or so. Some had quirks and personality but no dogs.
I wager that they will field another winner. Some of us will moan loudly and after a while we will, once again, realize they were not nearly so dumb as we imagined.

Man...you are right. That’s the pattern.
80 came out & people moaned Totota had sold out..
100 came out and people moaned again.
200 came out...& I personally hated its looks in 2007.

But...the 80 is now the long-referred-to “real” off-roader... 100 too proved itself too...& even sits IFS form did surprisingly well.
The 200? Man, it’s bulbous looks for 2007 were no joke...but the thing is a beast off road.
 
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I posted this on another thread (with additions here):

These vehicles are amazing - the history, reliability, longevity, capability........ For the anniversary (or the future), I'd like to see the Cruiser go retro and forward at the same time and offer more options for the purists. Options for a solid front axle or long travel IFS, NA V8 petrol, turbo 6cyl, turbo diesel, full factory e-lockers, factory lift options, no stability control or traction control or the ability to disable them completely in any mode, and expedition and off-road type options (armor, ladders, tents, racks......). Many of these options are available in other countries already.
 
"Nightshade Edition"

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Sorry but I disagree strongly. If you’ve ever seen the flex of a 200’s rear axle or experienced why such articulation is imperative off road, I don’t believe you’d have made that statement.
Perhaps. I can count on one hand how many times I've had a 200 series on the trail with me. So I don't have a ton of trail experience with 200s that I've seen with my own eyes. Toyota actually toyed with making the land cruiser IFS and IRS in the 90s to early 2000s AFAIK.

I couldn't disagree more!

Some overland styling, bumpers, etc, is not what a Land Cruiser makes. The atrocity you posted there couldn't' be further from what I want from the LC.

Toyota really gets the niche that the LC fits in. It's why over 3x generations of the vehicle, that it's wheelbase has remained 112.3". It's a mountain goat workhorse with true HD capabilities built for badlands.

I tow too. The Sequoia without a doubt would be a better towing vehicle on account of its wheelbase and IRS. Yet that doesn't make me want the Sequoia.

There already exists a smaller Yota rig, several in fact. Those based on the 120-series platform.

They are almost the same size. The front suspension is almost identical, same with the motor. I'm sure the solid rear flexes more-but with the age we are in of chromoly CV axles and plenty of companies making long travel independent suspension-that can be changed. Yes their is the 120 platform, but it doesn't really compete with the JK or JL. That's my opinion, I formed it after driving all of the toyota vehicles and all of the Jeep vehicles. Although I have yet to drive a JL. I'm not sure what Mr. Toyoda has in mind as far as a passion. He wants cool cars but rarely has the balls to really come through. At the same car show Toyota came out with the ft-4x, Chrysler unveiled the Demon. The supra has 320hp, I think that's almost v6 mustang territory which is sad.
 
Perhaps. I can count on one hand how many times I've had a 200 series on the trail with me. So I don't have a ton of trail experience with 200s that I've seen with my own eyes.

Come out to Cruise Moab in a couple months and you’ll see with your own eyes. Rear flex on the 200 is actually pretty impressive.

Even on mild stuff, rear flex is clear...
Here is my 200 in Breckenridge...and another on nearly the same spot (photos by @kreiten & fam)...

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I think the current 200 series type of large land cruiser should be dropped. Instead just sell the sequoia in place of it. The rear suspension is pretty robust and would do almost if not as well as a stripped down version in Africa/Australia. Then redo the land cruiser as a smaller rig that's a true JL fighter. I just don't see the need of having a sequoia and 200 series even in foreign markets. The sequoia can be outfitted to be a large off road rig.

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Seqouia is a great passenger vehicle like Suburbans and tahoes. If the trail get technical then it struggles. Search around for Seqouia off road videos...very painful to watch. Most of the videos I have seen are the earlier generations with solid rear axles. I suspect the new generation with IRS is probably worse.
 
Have you guys seen this rendering yet? It looks very plausible to me. The most realistic one I've seen yet. It's definitely a bolder front. I just can't get over that it looks kinda like a Mitsubishi (especially when you squint your eyes), but hey at least it's not Lexus LX fugly. It does look like a heavy evolution of the current model which lines up correctly with speculation. If this is what it is really going to look like, hopefully that front fascia being lower is just an optical illusion and doesn't actually impede approach angle. Maybe this is the Middle Eastern variant?

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Whenever the real release happens someone should go back and catalog all these renders to see how far off they are.
 
That is yet another artist's rendering. It likely has nothing to do with the real thing and is based on no inside information. It is likely pure speculation.
 
That is yet another artist's rendering. It likely has nothing to do with the real thing and is based on no inside information. It is likely pure speculation.
You could very well be right, but I will say that I'm pretty sure that some of these Japanese magazines do have inside information. They are after all, in Japan.

This rendering of the 2016 refresh was dropped more than 5 months before the actual unveiling by some Japanese publication. I don't think it would have turned out to be that accurate if it was just "pure speculation."
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FWIW. There are NO CHANGES in the 2021 200-series. Not even CarPlay. Maybe 2022.
:deadhorse:
 
Have you guys seen this rendering yet? It looks very plausible to me. The most realistic one I've seen yet. It's definitely a bolder front. I just can't get over that it looks kinda like a Mitsubishi (especially when you squint your eyes), but hey at least it's not Lexus LX fugly. It does look like a heavy evolution of the current model which lines up correctly with speculation. If this is what it is really going to look like, hopefully that front fascia being lower is just an optical illusion and doesn't actually impede approach angle. Maybe this is the Middle Eastern variant?

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I really don’t consider this a rendering. They‘ve taken the current grille and headlights and half-ass added some grille treatment below the 2nd bar. At the belt line, it appears they’ve grafted something from another vehicle (Google “Mitsubishi“ with or without “Pajero”), as the out of place black line at the bottom of the a-pillar (absent on the passenger side) continues through the mirror and onto the rear.
 
You could very well be right, but I will say that I'm pretty sure that some of these Japanese magazines do have inside information. They are after all, in Japan.

This rendering of the 2016 refresh was dropped more than 5 months before the actual unveiling by some Japanese publication. I don't think it would have turned out to be that accurate if it was just "pure speculation."
Have you seen some of the Corvette renderings from US car magazines? Most of them were complete crap.

Until Toyota issues a press release, take everything with a grain of salt.
 
What I would really like to see in the 300 is a front bumper cover that is shaped in a way that it can be completely replaced by an ARB or similar bumper. Having to cut the plastic bumper cover, and the resulting sloppy look, is definitely an issue for me.
 
What I would really like to see in the 300 is a front bumper cover that is shaped in a way that it can be completely replaced by an ARB or similar bumper. Having to cut the plastic bumper cover, and the resulting sloppy look, is definitely an issue for me.
Sadly, not gonna happen.
Toyota puts zero consideration into accommodating aftermarket mods.
 
Will Toyota ever release a diesel in the LC or LX, hell even the Tundra. Every other manufacturer has a high fuel economy diesel engine in their light trucks (Ford, GMC, Chevy, Dodge, Nissan)
 
Will Toyota ever release a diesel in the LC or LX, hell even the Tundra. Every other manufacturer has a high fuel economy diesel engine in their light trucks (Ford, GMC, Chevy, Dodge, Nissan)
Very unlikely in the US. Much more likely to be a mild hybrid of some sort.
 

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