TOYOTA LANDCRUISER PRADO FROM $53,490
HOW MUCH?
LandCruiser Prado wagons with the 2.8-litre turbodiesel start with the GX six-speed manual at $53,490. GXL manual is $59,990, the VX auto is $73,619 and the Kakadu auto is $84,119.
The six-speed auto is a $3000 option on GX and GXL. Two extra rear seats add $2550 to the price of the GX.
NUTS AND BOLTS
• The Prado is made in Japan.• The GX wagon is a five-seater model. Other wagons are seven-seaters.• The 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel produces 130kW at 3400rpm. Peak torque is 420Nm from 1400–2600rpm with the manual and 450Nm from 1600-2400rpm with the automatic.• Six-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmissions drive all four wheels in high or low range• CRAWL (from the 200 Series) is standard on Kakadu. It’s a feet-off low-range cruise-control system that uses the electronic throttle and the stability control to “walk” the Prado across rough, rocky terrain — a 21stcentury interpretation of the old hand throttle.• Kakadu also gets MTS — Multi Terrain Select — an idea that Toyota has pinched from Land Rover. It also uses the stability control system to vary the slip/grip mix to suit different conditions: Mud and Sand, Loose Rock, Mogul and Rock. Each specific control map is selected using a switch on the steering wheel.• Kakadu and VX also include four cameras: front, one on each side, and rear, to help with parking, seeing the track ahead on a steep crest and working out your position and clearance in tight, rough conditions.• Prado automatics have PCS — Pre-Crash Safety — as standard, which includes autonomous emergency braking and pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, lane departure alert and automatic high beam switching. VX grade also includes blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert, with a camera system that allows you to see what happening all around the car, using front, rear and two side cameras.• Suspension is double-wishbone front/five-link live-axle rear, with longer travel and revised spring and damper rates. VX and Kakadu also have KDSS — Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System — inherited from the 200 Series, which uses hydraulic pressure to automatically increase stabiliser bar resistance when cornering at high speeds, thus minimising body roll while effectively decoupling the hydraulics in low-speed off-road conditions for maximum wheel articulation.• Brakes include four-piston front calipers.Steering is rack-and-pinion.• Total fuel capacity on the fivedoor is 150 litres. When the 87-litre main tank is low, fuel supply is automatically switched to the 63-litre sub tank.• The Prado weighs in at 2290–2435kg.• At GVM, the manual will tow up to 2500kg and the automatic up to 3000kg, as claimed.• Toyota offers fixed-price servicing on the Prado, at $240 a time, for the first six services up to 60,000 kilometres.• Like HiLux and Fortuner, Prado has a manual diesel particulate regeneration switch to burn off accumulated carbon deposits.
