2012 Toyota Land Cruiser

Vehicle Overview

The Land Cruiser is an eight-seat full-size SUV. It’s larger than Toyota’s Highlander and 4Runner midsize SUVs but smaller than the full-size Sequoia — and more expensive than all three. At this size and price, competitors include the Land Rover Range Rover Sport and Mercedes-Benz M-Class and GL-Class.

New for 2012
The 2012 Land Cruiser gains updated styling and new features. Newly available features include a four-camera surround-view system, off-road turn assist, ventilated front seats and Toyota’s Entune multimedia system. Entune provides access to mobile internet applications such as Bing, iheartradio, OpenTable and Pandora.

Exterior
The 2012 Land Cruiser has updated bumpers and headlamps and a revised grille. Of Toyota’s current SUVs, the Land Cruiser looks most like the Highlander. One major difference is that the Land Cruiser is a truck-based, body-on-frame model, which puts it in the same category as Toyota’s FJ Cruiser, 4Runner and Sequoia. Exterior features include:

• 18-inch wheels
• Fog lamps
• Front and rear frame-mounted tow hooks
• Power moonroof

Interior
Although it has eight seats divided among three rows, the Land Cruiser has a shortcoming that’s common to truck-based SUVs: Its interior space isn’t as great as you’d expect from its outside girth. The headroom and legroom measurements are less than the midsize Highlander’s. Only in width does it exceed the Highlander — most notably in the third row.

Safety Connect, a subscription-based telematics service, comes standard, and the optional navigation system includes XM Nav Traffic data service, which also requires a subscription. Interior features include:

• Power tilt/telescoping steering wheel
• Push-button start
• Power seats
• Leather-trimmed seats
• Standard Bluetooth, MP3 jack, USB port
• Available backup camera

Under the Hood
The Land Cruiser is intended to be off-road-capable. The rear suspension is multilink, but the rear axle is solid, which has off-road advantages but can be a detriment to ride and handling on pavement. The Land Cruiser has a Low gear in its transfer case, along with an adaptive suspension and a feature called Crawl Control that manages the throttle while the driver steers over obstacles. Mechanical features include:

• 5.7-liter V-8 makes 381 horsepower and 401 pounds-feet of torque
• Six-speed automatic transmission
• Full-time four-wheel drive
• 8,200-pound towing capacity
• Multiterrain system

Safety
Standard safety features include:

• Seat-mounted side-impact airbags for first and second rows
• Side curtain airbags for all three rows
• Electronic stability system
• Active front head restraints
• Antilock brakes