DriveTech

2006 Toyota Land Cruiser beats the competition
When it comes to off-road luxury vehicles, you have to admit the Toyota Land Cruiser is at the top of the list.

Its ancestor, the "BJ model," was the first vehicle to make it to the sixth station of Mt. Fuji in 1951. It was renamed Land Cruiser in 1954 and came to the U.S. in 1958, where it earned the nickname "the Land Crusher" because of its ability to go anywhere, with or without a road.

The Land Cruiser's downside has always been its lack of horsepower, but today's Land Cruiser has plenty of ponies for your money. It boasts a 4.7-liter V8 producing 275 horsepower with the help of Variable Valve Timing intelligence and 332 pound foot of raw torque, all backed by an electronically controlled five-speed automatic transmission.

But there is a downside to all this power. The fuel mileage is 13 miles per gallon in the city and 17 miles per gallon on the open road. Still, for what you're going to pay for a Land Cruiser, fuel costs really isn't an issue. What you get for your dollar really makes up for the fuel mileage loss.

The 2006 Land Cruiser has added some pizzazz to its look, with an 18-inch tire and wheel package, new headlights, taillights and grill, and a cool looking roof spoiler in the rear. It has leather interior treatments in all
the seats and you can haul up to seven passengers. The last two seats flip down like in the old FJ Jeep model. It also has a roof-mounted DVD player,
wireless headphones and a great sound system that accepts just about all the toys out there.
The dash and all the controls are easy to read and operate. Plus, they've been upgraded from the last Land Cruiser with all new gauge layout that includes a new redline tachometer and a new tire pressure monitoring system.

Toyota has added some features you may have to read the owner's manual to operate, such as the optional Active Height Control (AHC-4 wheel height control) and Toyota Electronic Modulated Suspension (TEMS), just to name a few. With the fulltime four-wheel drive, you don't have to stop and engage anything; Land Cruiser does all the thinking for you. Some of the systems
may take a little getting used to. For example, if you dive into a turn like you're in a Toyota MR2, the Land Cruiser brakes the vehicle so that you don't end up on your head. But then, whoever thought of a Land Cruiser as an autocross vehicle?

Another feature I really like is the electric rear door. Just push the key fob or the button hidden in the large handle and the door opens so you can load in items hands-free. A skeptical friend of mine asked, "what happens if you close the rear hatch with someone standing there -will the door crush them?" Knowing how safe Toyota vehicles are, I said, "go ahead and close the door with me under it." Once the door hit the top of my head, it stopped, giving me only a light tap on the head.

The Land Cruiser has all the safety amenities you could want. Standard front air bags, optional side head curtain air bags, TEMS, crumple zones surrounding occupants, safety beams in the doors and a color rear backup camera system that comes on the minute you put the Land Cruiser in reverse. The camera is optional, but it should be standard on all vehicles.

Is the Land Cruiser for you? Look at it this way - have you ever seen one on a used car lot or dealership? There's a reason for that. The Land Cruiser gives drivers everything they could want in a big SUV.

Is there any downside to the Cruiser? It's a little light on towing capacity (6,500 pounds, when the average for this size vehicle is around 8,500). Plus the rear cargo area is a little small. The Cruiser has 20.8 cubic feet of
cargo area available and the standard is 39.13 feet of cargo.

The only other drawback is the price, because this model costs $50 K. One bright spot is the 60-month/60,000-mile power train warranty, which is more than the competition gives. Plus, Toyota stands for reliability.

Thanks to Toyota for sending me this Land Cruiser and letting me have fun with it for a week. If you'd like to see if this vehicle is for you, check out your local Toyota dealer.