Toyota's perennial golden goose continues to dominate the sales charts, amongst plenty of updated competition. Is it still the smart choice?
If you're the man running sales and marketing at Norweld, one of Australia’s better known tray and canopy manufacturers, chances are you aren’t going to leave your Toyota 79 Series LandCruiser stock. In fact, there’s a fair chance you are going to throw the kitchen sink at it...
Why go to the effort and expense of removing your standard 4WD tyres for some new ones? Because they're better. Not in every sense, but in the ones that count. After a big few days getting an ARB GVM upgrade, bullbar and winch, along with the Norweld tray and canopy installed onto our 2018 Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series, it wasn't long until it was booked in to Solve Offroad in western Sydney, the preferred dealers and specialists in BFGoodrich tyres...
We'd wager a bet that the 79 Series LandCruiser is the most modified vehicle in Australia.
There are many things the 2018 Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series does well. Audio, satellite navigation, Bluetooth clarity, phone connectivity and smartphone integration - those features we bundle under the term 'infotainment' in other words - are not among them. Not even on the consideration set as a matter of fact. The 79's infotainment is somewhere between awful and non existent...
While 4x4 utes need no introduction to the Australian automotive landscape these days, tastes are changing. Once upon a time, the only guys who were fitting trays to their 4WDs were folks needing to shift hay bales and pallets around the place, and a simple flat bed of steel or timber was often the easiest and best solution...
Why pull out new suspension and spend your own hard-earned money to replace it with some aftermarket gear? Good question, right? The answer comes down to customisation, and setting up your vehicle to perform well where it counts. While the standard suspension system of the LandCruiser is quite stout and a decent performer, there is definite room for improvement...
It’s old, it’s overpriced, it’s slow and it’s thirsty. It’s also expensive, awful in traffic, and come to think of it, not exactly great on the highway either. It’s also a legend in its own right, and regularly outsells some of the cheaper, faster, safer and more efficient competition out there. It’s the Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series, in double cab format...
While the GXL is the quintessential go-to for so many Prado buyers, there's also the entry-grade GX manual as an option for those on a tighter budget.
The Prado GXL has always been the pick of the range, and in 2018 it still represents excellent, hard-to-argue buying for the family needing a large SUV.
In 2017, the Toyota Prado was the biggest-selling large SUV in Australia, with nearly 16,000 finding new homes. Its off-roading abilities are legendary. The Prado sits comfortably in the LandCruiser family, and that badge alone leaves 4WD tracks in a quivering mess. However, most are bought simply as a vehicle to drop off or pick up the kids at school...
