Are the new gizmos worth not having locking diffs in the 200?

[r3run33]

I forgot to add I'm not bashing the 200 series I just think toytoa lost track of what the land cruiser was to the world; a basic suv that would work under extreme conditions and keep working. You think the UN land cruisers want electronic folding 3rd row seats? I wish toyota would offer a ARB model; there is a market for this type of vehicle. Look at the ford raptor or even back when the hummer was popular. The basic vehicle needs to function then add on the luxury items but keep the non sense stuff out.

 

[JAC83]

I forgot to add I'm not bashing the 200 series I just think toytoa lost track of what the land cruiser was to the world; a basic suv that would work under extreme conditions and keep working. You think the UN land cruisers want electronic folding 3rd row seats? I wish toyota would offer a ARB model; there is a market for this type of vehicle. Look at the ford raptor or even back when the hummer was popular. The basic vehicle needs to function then add on the luxury items but keep the non sense stuff out.

Guess what? they do make bare bones version of the 200 series, manual gear box, snorkel, vinyl floor mats, vinyl seats, troopy style seats in the back, the only thing missing is a solid front axle a bigger engine, but even as it is, it looks like the base version that Toyota should sell wherever LCs are used and abused.

YouTube - TGS Land Cruiser 200 Series Video

 

[pman]

Guess what? they do make bare bones version of the 200 series, manual gear box, snorkel, vinyl floor mats, vinyl seats, troopy style seats in the back, the only thing missing is a solid front axle a bigger engine, but even as it is, it looks like the base version that Toyota should sell wherever LCs are used and abused.

YouTube - TGS Land Cruiser 200 Series Video

Yup, Toyota sells all the hardcore LCs everywhere except North America. Between the all the configurations for the 200 and the 70, the rest of the world has a Cruiser that fits every operating condition imaginable.

 

[Combat Chuck]

Look at the ford raptor or even back when the hummer was popular. The basic vehicle needs to function then add on the luxury items but keep the non sense stuff out.

Are you advocating the Raptor and Hummer as bare-bones rigs, or using them as examples as to how the notion of an offroad vehicle shouldn't be?

Cause the Hummer seemed a really cush shoebox with practically massaged the driver's ass while the engine was on, and the Ferd Raptor's loaded with nonsense gizmos and dares to call itself a truck while not possessing a clutch. Neither seems very bare-bones, shoot, you have to grovel on your knees at a stealership for a bare-bones anything, even a simple corolla.

Anyway, not trying to come across harshly, just trying to disambiguate

 

[mark71]

Beno,

Have you researched how to get a 70 stateside? I love it's simplicity, and diesel motor, and am wondering what it would take to get one.

 

[OGBeno]

Beno,

Have you researched how to get a 70 stateside? I love it's simplicity, and diesel motor, and am wondering what it would take to get one.

If you are talking about a new one, then a bit, yes, I have.

It'll cost you well north of $150K to do it correctly.

 

[mark71]

thanx.

think i'll forget about the 70. at least until it starts raining money.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

There is no comparison between these two vehicles.

And neither is there any comparison between the small, gutless, spartan 70-series you mentioned earlier. A 70-series is a hunk a junk compared (overall) to a 200. But again...totally different. You can't compare!

Your posts make me laugh though! Keep them coming.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

I drive a 40th anniversary 97 80 series. It's great, but I want to push my wife's car off a cliff and replace it with a 200.

I love the 200's, but I'm wondering if not offering locking or limited slip diffs is a significant disadvantage. If anyone has owned an older cruiser with locking diffs and now owns a 200, what kind of difference do you notice off road? Does the 380 hp make up for the lack of lockers?

Are there any serious flaws in the reliability of of the systems on the 200. I've never driven one, but some of the new gizmos sound great. I'm just wondering if the new gizmos carry the same reliability as I have in my Abrams tank, oops I mean 80 series.

Depending on where you go and what you do...a 200-series can do everything an 80 can...or it can get close. I went through this stuff 10-years ago when I was wheeling my unlocked 100 with locked 80's and everywhere they went. Some trails were even quite difficult. The hard-core 80 owners (who didn't have 100's...or couldn't afford them) told me the 100 couldn't do crap. Man, has time proven them wrong! LOL!

It's simple...Traction Control will get you through 90% of the trails out there. If at some point you run trails where it's not cutting it then you can add lockers and ones better than 80-series lockers...ARB Air Lockers. This should get you to the 95% level of the trails out there.

If you want to hit those insane ones then you have the wrong vehicle...too big. So is the 100 too big though for those. And so is the 80 too big for those...HOWEVER they have 6" lifts and such for the 80 and that takes it up a notch. That said...for those 5% trails out there...the 80 is WRONG too. If those Rubicon-type trails are your desire...buy a vehicle made for them. A Wrangler LJ or JK. They will destroy any Cruiser wagon you meet on those trails (though some of the 60/80 guys just can't admit it).

The 200's have been very reliable so far. The powertrain is unequalled in it's class in strength and refinement. Nobody can touch it!

Oh...and you mentioned "Tank" and "80". Once you drive and wheel a 100 or 200 you will know which series is the "tank".

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

And neither is there any comparison between the small, gutless, spartan 70-series you mentioned earlier. A 70-series is a hunk a junk compared (overall) to a 200. But again...totally different. You can't compare!

Oh, and let me clarify...I'm not trashing the 70's series. But bringing a 70-series into a 200-series discussion is like somebody bringing up a Nissan Xterra to somebody wanting a 200-series.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

But when it comes to off road, I'm just amazed by the "Def" land rover defender 90 is King... I just wish for you, off road enthusiasts in the US, to be able to have the acquire a rig like that.

Depends on the trail and users vehicle demands as to which one is "King". The D90's are awesome but not best at everything. I have a close friend with one that's built to the max and he can do some killer things. In other spots my LWB Cruisers rock his world.

 

[r3run33]

i was not comparing the raptor and the h2; I was referring to the fact that these vehicle sell in the usa and there is a niche market for these type of vehicles and I wish toyota would offer an ARB equiped or even that bare bones 200 shown in the video. Go to a dealershp and see if you can even order that; you won't get to far. Ok i will be quiet now

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

i was not comparing the raptor and the h2; I was referring to the fact that these vehicle sell in the usa and there is a niche market for these type of vehicles and I wish toyota would offer an ARB equiped or even that bare bones 200 shown in the video. Go to a dealershp and see if you can even order that; you won't get to far. Ok i will be quiet now

There's a ton of us who agree with you! I just think Toyota is too conservative to do it. Hummer really had a sweet operation going.

 

[Tapage]

Toyota Auto Body is the old Araco. The Yoshiwara Plant is the exact same plant they have been making LC's since 1957.

Beno

Araco = Arakawa . . ?

I have an Arakawa sticker in my 80 series drivers door ..

 

[OGBeno]

Beno

Araco = Arakawa . . ?

I have an Arakawa sticker in my 80 series drivers door ..

Yes. Toyota Auto Body and Araco merged in 2004.

 

[mark71]

a Wrangler is better than a 200 on the Rubicon. a Corvette is better than a 200 on the Autoban.

but if you need one vehicle that can go like a bat out of hell and still crawl on the rocks, the 200 is pretty hard to beat.

my $0.02.

 

[Tucan viajero]

Sticking to the original question, the answer is a resounding YES!

Being a previous CJ7, FJ55, FZJ80 (three of them) and FZJ71 owner, who has wheeled his 200 series pretty hard, I can say that the latest Land Cruiser has surpassed all my expectations.

When I got my UZJ200 (yes, with the 2UZ engine) I even kept an 80 series for a while, just in case the new car wasn't good enough for my offroad needs and wants. Needless to say, that old truck is gone and I'm not looking back.

The CRAWL system, which at first I regarded as a silly thing worth only for fooling around with, has more than once taken me where fellows in front and rear locked 71, 78 or 80 series have been unable to go unassisted.

Please let me repeat this. I have helped an OME suspended front and rear locked 71 series up a rocky hill I had previously climbed with my 200 series, thanks to the effectiveness of the CRAWL system. There is a picture of this event here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/200-series-cruisers/257436-200-series-picture-thread-15.html#post5989130

And more than once, this big, fat, heavy truck has surprised me with its capabilities, even when I expected it to get hopelessly stuck in deep mud with all that weight, which keeps worrying me.

As much as I loved the 80 series, I regret to say that after the 200 series experience, it now seems dated, slow, clumsy, noisy and uncomfortable.

That said, now my main concern is related to its fording capabilities, considering the many electronic systems inside the passenger compartment, which is why my next mod will be the installation of two 1.000 gph bilge pumps to keep all that stuff as dry as possible.

So in my experience, yes, the new gizmos, particularly the KDSS and CRAWL combination, even without the 380 hp, beat locking differentials under almost any circumstance I can think of.

Please pardon the long post and the poor english.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

Sticking to the original question, the answer is a resounding YES!

Being a previous CJ7, FJ55, FZJ80 (three of them) and FZJ71 owner, who has wheeled his 200 series pretty hard, I can say that the latest Land Cruiser has surpassed all my expectations.

When I got my UZJ200 (yes, with the 2UZ engine) I even kept an 80 series for a while, just in case the new car wasn't good enough for my offroad needs and wants. Needless to say, that old truck is gone and I'm not looking back.

The CRAWL system, which at first I regarded as a silly thing worth only for fooling around with, has more than once taken me where fellows in front and rear locked 71, 78 or 80 series have been unable to go unassisted.

Please let me repeat this. I have helped an OME suspended front and rear locked 71 series up a rocky hill I had previously climbed with my 200 series, thanks to the effectiveness of the CRAWL system. There is a picture of this event here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/200-series-cruisers/257436-200-series-picture-thread-15.html#post5989130

And more than once, this big, fat, heavy truck has surprised me with its capabilities, even when I expected it to get hopelessly stuck in deep mud with all that weight, which keeps worrying me.

As much as I loved the 80 series, I regret to say that after the 200 series experience, it now seems dated, slow, clumsy, noisy and uncomfortable.

That said, now my main concern is related to its fording capabilities, considering the many electronic systems inside the passenger compartment, which is why my next mod will be the installation of two 1.000 gph bilge pumps to keep all that stuff as dry as possible.

So in my experience, yes, the new gizmos, particularly the KDSS and CRAWL combination, even without the 380 hp, beat locking differentials under almost any circumstance I can think of.

Please pardon the long post and the poor english.

FANTASTIC POST!

ONLY somebody who has experienced the different vehicle-types INCLUDING the 200-series can evaluate this objectively.

Oh, and be careful making statements like the one above in BOLD. You would not believe the HATE MAIL that'll come your way! Ask me how I know.

As far as fording...the 100-series has the same electronic goodies. It's been good in the water for a few to several minutes. I keep moving and so the does the 100. Water free, far superior to my 80's. And no sputtering like the 80's did. I'd expect the 200 to be equal or better.

 

[96r50]

ONLY somebody who has experienced the different vehicle-types INCLUDING the 200-series can evaluate this objectively.

So are you going to pipe down now?

 

[Tapage]

I believe Toyota are not going to waste time and money in a project that won't bring all lessons learned in all previous Land Cruiser models ..

but to me .. I would jump in to VDJ76 first than VDJ200 .. it's just a matter of look to me ..