2024 TOYOTA LANDCRUISER 79 SERIES 2.8-LITRE REVIEW
With the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series 4.5-litre V8 turbo-diesel now retired, the equally powerful 2.8-litre 4-cylinder 1GD-FTV engine is the only engine option available for the Australian market. You can choose an automatic or manual transmission, but we’re behind the wheel of the six-speed automatic for this review.
Putting the nail in the V8 has been arguably the most controversial decision Toyota has made since it launched the facelifted model with a 4-cylinder. However, most didn’t realise that order-taking for the 1VD-FTV 4.5-litre turbo-diesel engine had been paused for nearly two years before they decided to put it to rest. Production of the V8 Wagon, Troop Carrier, WorkMate, and GX pick-ups will be finished this month, and that will be it.
What we’re looking at today is a Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series double cab chassis GXL with the 2.8-litre 4-cylinder 1GD-FTV engine and six-speed automatic transmission.
Our test vehicle is finished in Merlot Red and priced from $83,500 plus on-road costs, an astonishing amount of money by any calculation. However, as we’ll detail in our review, this is not typically a buyer consideration. It’s all about the reliability, the old-school character, and the resale value, which is amongst the highest of any new vehicle on the road. Here’s everything you should know about the LandCruiser 79 Series.
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What Does the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series Cost?
Here’s a list of pricing for the full line-up of Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series in Australia:
- 79 Series single cab chassis WorkMate – from $76,800 plus on-road costs
- 79 Series single cab chassis GX – from $78,800 plus on-road costs
- 79 Series single cab chassis GXL – from $80,900 plus on-road costs
- 79 Series double cab chassis WorkMate – from $79,300 plus on-road costs
- 79 Series double cab chassis GXL – from $83,500 plus on-road costs
We tested the top-spec 79 Series double cab chassis GXL for this review. It’s priced from $83,500 plus on-road costs, which works out to be around $96,000 drive-away for a random NSW postcode.
Optional extras for model grades include:
- Premium paint – ~$675 (Sandy Taupe, Midnight Blue, Graphite, Silver Pearl, and Merlot Red)
- Front and rear differential locks – $1500 (Single cab GX and Double cab WorkMate only)
You might turn your nose at such high prices for an incredibly basic vehicle, but these LandCruisers hold their value like Porsche’s. In my research for this article, I couldn’t find a single 79 Series double cab chassis of any model grade below the MSRP price online. If you want to get your hands on an old-school V8 model, expect to pay more than $20,000 over the original MSRP, and that number’s only going to climb.
How Nice is the Interior in the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series?
The inside of the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series is like taking a step back in time, but that’s exactly why you’re buying this vehicle. If you’re after cutting-edge tech and screens, look elsewhere. Even the newest and most luxurious LandCruiser 300 Series Sahara ZX is fairly barebones on the inside compared to newer vehicles from China. However, that’s not the point of a LandCruiser. We’re talking about a rock-solid vehicle that will never let you down, and this means keeping things pretty simple.
That’s not to say Toyota hasn’t made strides in the technology department because this new 70 Series features a new 6.7-inch multimedia system with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s certainly not at the cutting edge, but you can use Waze and figure out where all the speed cameras are, even though you’ll be doing 10km/h under the speed limit everywhere.
New steering-wheel buttons can all control this, including the new-look instrument cluster in front of the driver with a 4.2-inch colour multi-information display. However, the two USB-C ports on the GXL model may be the most telling addition to the cabin. Without these, there’s a real chance you could be stuck in the 1980s while driving this vehicle.
Still, you don’t get satellite navigation, digital radio, or onboard apps, so don’t expect to find your way off the beaten path easily. When heading bush, you’ll want to run third-party navigation, such as Hema Maps, through an iPad or similar device. Finally, for tech, you don’t get a reverse camera on the dual-cab variants, only the wagon, making parking difficult with over a metre of galvanised tray behind you.
Seats are a sore spot for us and many other 70 Series owners. You sit very high in the vehicle, which gives you great visibility. However, they’re quite uncomfortable, and for a vehicle designed for long-haul journeys, they simply don’t cut the mustard. You can have them in grey fabric for the GXL model as tested, but WorkMate and GX variants have vinyl trim, which is not good enough.
If you plan on heading away on long trips, there’s a real need to factor in the cost of more comfortable aftermarket seats to make the journey bearable. We drove 400km from Sydney to Tumut in the 79 Series and arrived at our destination quite sore.
Still, the automatic has freed up space for more storage around the gear selector, where you’ll find a lidded centre storage box, a cupholder and multiple small item compartments, including a space to hold your smartphone with the cable attached. This joins added tech such as automatic high beam, road sign assist, and downhill assist control in 4-cylinder variants, all welcome additions that help modernize the vehicle.
Space-wise, there’s more space up front than in an old-school Defender, but it’s more like sitting in a Jeep Wrangler than a modern dual-cab ute.
The lack of legroom in the second row is even more surprising, especially for a vehicle over 5 metres. The wheelbase is 95mm longer than an SR5 HiLux (3,085mm), but the 85mm shorter overall length is likely to blame here (5235mm vs. 5320mm). That has drastically affected the legroom, and you’ll barely fit behind the driver if they’re 6ft or taller. You won’t be able to carry kids in the second row as there’s no top tether point.
What Powers the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series?
The 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel powering the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series is a great engine. It’s a bit old-school by today’s standards—even the new HiLux is a mild hybrid—but it fits a vehicle designed for a throwback driving experience.
The out-going 4.5-litre V8 turbo-diesel (1VD-FTV) felt like it could go forever, but it’s been around since the mid-2000s and its days were numbered once new global emissions regulations put their mighty grip on the new car market. Still, this new 2.8-litre 4-cylinder turbo diesel engine that we find here in the facelifted 70 Series is a good engine that makes more torque than the V8 and only one or two fewer ponies.
The 2.8-litre 4-cylinder turbo diesel produces the same 150kW of power and 500Nm or torque as the non-hybrid HiLux, and it matches the six-speed automatic well. This engine and transmission combination is never overworked around town, and it’s in its element out on the highway, where it will comfortably sit at 110km/h.
If you’d prefer to row your gears, the five-speed manual transmission is now available for the 4-cylinder 70 Series. It has shorter first, second, and third gears and a longer fifth gear to help with fuel consumption and noise at highway speeds.
Our testing showed a combined fuel consumption of 10.6L/100km. That’s higher than Toyota’s 9.6L/100km claim and closer to what the brand states for the V8 (10.7L/100km). We wouldn’t be surprised if this figure went north quickly with some weight attached, but it’s acceptable for a box with wheels.
The 130-litre fuel tank means the 70 Series’s touring range is more than 1,000 kilometres, which is ideal for the Australian Outback.
How Does the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series Drive?
If you’ve never driven a live axle vehicle with leaf springs and a steering rack from the 1980s, strap yourself in because it’s an experience.
The steering is beyond vague, the vehicle’s body audibly vibrates while accelerating, and the engine makes more noise than Sheila after a few too many. Stick the boot into it, and the turbo will spool up and move the LandCruiser along at a brisk walking pace. It’s not quick by any means, but it’s still considerably quicker than the old V8 in a straight line, thanks to an extra 70Nm of torque.
The simple fact is you’re going nowhere fast in a Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series. While most owners seem to find themselves half a metre from your rear windscreen, this vehicle isn’t built for precision, and you won’t be accelerating, stopping, or turning at any sort of speed. You’d fall out of the seat attempting to do so anyway.
What you will do is constantly smile and laugh while driving a 70 Series because it’s a unique experience you won’t find anywhere else. Getting thrown around the cabin, bumping over speed bumps, steering the thing around a roundabout, and finishing the day with a sore back and arse are all part of the joy of ownership experience.
We’re not entirely sure it would be our first choice, but there’s something to be said for knowing this vehicle will just keep going, and the 79 Series gives you every sense that it will.
Take it offroad, and the experience is amplified with bouncy suspension, more rattles and shakes, and a significant amount of understeer on unsealed roads. Still, with front and rear diff locks installed on our GXL model, there are not many places this 79 Series wouldn’t go when the roads get rough and rocky.
Of course, when you’re not driving around Marrickville looking for another craft brewery with your chinos and polished R.M. Williams boots on, there’s a good chance you’re using your LandCruiser 70 Series to tow a lot of stuff around. It’s kind of the whole reason someone would buy one of these in the first place… or maybe it’s just the looks? Anyway, the LandCruiser 70 Series has one distinct advantage over modern dual-cab utes in the towing department.
It might have the same 3.5-tonne braked tow capacity as your average Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux, but the 70 Series has a monstrous 7,010kg GCM.
This means you can combine the maximum payload and towing capacity and still have room for a few people inside the vehicle. You’ll have to be mindful of ball weight, but this is significantly higher than most modern dual-cab utes that max out at around 5,900kg.
Is the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series Safe?
The facelifted Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series does not carry an ANCAP safety rating. However, it was last given a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2016, which expired in December 2023. Still, this new vehicle comes with a handful of additional safety equipment over the previous generation, including:
- Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)
- Lane Assistance
- Road Sign Recognition
- Automatic high-beam headlights
So why doesn’t Toyota test the new vehicle with ANCAP? Well, the testing process has recently become far more stringent and somewhat defunct. The new testing regime focuses heavily on driver assistance features and monitoring devices that have unquestionably ruined many vehicles with overly assertive and sometimes dangerous systems.
That said, a few systems are missing that would make the experience safer without ruining the vehicle. They include:
- Adaptive Cruise Control
- Blind Spot Alert
- Rear Cross-Traffic Alert
The facelifted 70 Series would likely score very poorly if it were to be re-tested, but if the Driver Attention Warning systems were to be installed, it would ruin the vehicle and make the ownership experience worse. We’re glad it doesn’t have these features, but consider your own personal needs before shopping.
Verdict on the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series
The Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series is a vehicle built for those who demand the highest reliability, towing potential, off-road prowess, and, most importantly, the proven durability of this nameplate in Australia.
It also suits those looking for a vehicle to customise until their heart’s content because the 70 Series’s aftermarket support is nearly unmatched.
The 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine is the only option moving forward, but it’s never stressed, and when paired with the six-speed automatic transmission, it gives you every sense that it will go forever. There’s plenty of power for towing, it doesn’t struggle up hills, and the extra 70Nm of torque is a welcome addition.
Suppose you’re not a farmer, a mining company, a person touring the country regularly, or someone who only wants to buy one car to last their lifetime. In that case, the Toyota 70 Series is probably not for you.
If you’re buying one for the looks or second-hand value, we hate to say it, but you’re a poser, and we felt like one driving the dual-cab around Sydney for the week for this review. Get one, and get out and explore the country. Maybe bring a pillow for the seats. More information can be found at the Toyota Australia website below.
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