My first experience behind a wheel, operating the wheel, pedals and gear lever in unison was in a Land Cruiser 100 Series, this very same one in fact. It’s a fairly easy car to drive, even though it’s pretty large. It has good visibility all round, linear inputs, and the strong drivetrain will gladly take punishment from a novice driver.
It is not a particularly nice thing to drive, however. Fun and handling were probably not high up on the engineers’ list when developing the car, and understandably so. The long stoke 4.5 litre straight six engine is rather lazy and not particularly powerful. The numbers the engine produces are very modest – 212 horsepower and 268 lb/ft of torque. The torque is good in the low and midrange, which makes lugging the two and a bit tons an easy job, albeit it at a very relaxed pace.
The short gearing of its 5 speed manual gearbox is a pain in town. The shift is long and demands deliberation. The ratios are very short which means you’ll be working your left calf on the heavy clutch often. In 5th gear, which feels like an over-drive to me, the wheels are doing dismal speeds compared to the engine speed. At 120 km/h (75 mph), the engine is turning almost 3000 revs. That makes for terrible fuel consumption which is why it has a combined fuel capacity (yes it has two tanks) of around 140 litres or 37 gallons.
The ride is harsh over road imperfections and the rear live-axle hops and skips over bumps, which is especially terrifying in fast corners. Mind you, the understeer and body roll of the tall Land Cruiser discourages any high speed cornering. The way the car handles can be simply described as ‘agricultural’.
But that is precisely what this car was built to be. It is definitely more at home on a farm than on a ring road. Yes it will inevitably need to drive on paved roads where all those flaws will make themselves very apparent, but they are a necessary evil. For when there is no tarmac it really comes into its own. It is much like how rally cars need to do road sections in between the gravel stages of a rally; they’re not ideal.
It is not a particularly nice thing to drive, however. Fun and handling were probably not high up on the engineers’ list when developing the car, and understandably so. The long stoke 4.5 litre straight six engine is rather lazy and not particularly powerful. The numbers the engine produces are very modest – 212 horsepower and 268 lb/ft of torque. The torque is good in the low and midrange, which makes lugging the two and a bit tons an easy job, albeit it at a very relaxed pace.
The short gearing of its 5 speed manual gearbox is a pain in town. The shift is long and demands deliberation. The ratios are very short which means you’ll be working your left calf on the heavy clutch often. In 5th gear, which feels like an over-drive to me, the wheels are doing dismal speeds compared to the engine speed. At 120 km/h (75 mph), the engine is turning almost 3000 revs. That makes for terrible fuel consumption which is why it has a combined fuel capacity (yes it has two tanks) of around 140 litres or 37 gallons.
The ride is harsh over road imperfections and the rear live-axle hops and skips over bumps, which is especially terrifying in fast corners. Mind you, the understeer and body roll of the tall Land Cruiser discourages any high speed cornering. The way the car handles can be simply described as ‘agricultural’.
But that is precisely what this car was built to be. It is definitely more at home on a farm than on a ring road. Yes it will inevitably need to drive on paved roads where all those flaws will make themselves very apparent, but they are a necessary evil. For when there is no tarmac it really comes into its own. It is much like how rally cars need to do road sections in between the gravel stages of a rally; they’re not ideal.
It’s no wonder that the Land Cruiser is very popular in more desolate parts of the world. The uncomfortable suspension on the road performs better on rugged terrain. The dampening is particularly good when bumps and ruts are tackled at speed. The suspension components are large and heavy and therefore strong and durable. The wheels articulate massive vertical distances, and if equipped with diff locks the car is virtually unstoppable. The 105 series was available front axle-beams suspension of previous generations, replacing the independent front suspension introduced in the 100. Those proved very popular with UN motorcades and in the Australian outback.
The 4.5 litre straight six in this car is slow on the road, but that under-stressed hunk of steel is incredibly reliable and can virtually run for the rest of time. The short ratio gearbox, paired with a low range transfer case, delivers all that mid-range torque from that 1FZ-FE unit in spectacular fashion. The long and deliberate shifts are really handy when you are being bobbed around in the cabin. The steering is heavily assisted, which must be because of the mass of the front drive-train that has to be swung left and right.
The 4.5 litre straight six in this car is slow on the road, but that under-stressed hunk of steel is incredibly reliable and can virtually run for the rest of time. The short ratio gearbox, paired with a low range transfer case, delivers all that mid-range torque from that 1FZ-FE unit in spectacular fashion. The long and deliberate shifts are really handy when you are being bobbed around in the cabin. The steering is heavily assisted, which must be because of the mass of the front drive-train that has to be swung left and right.
The Land Cruiser has proven to be very popular in Arabia, Africa, South America and Australia. Over the latter half of the past century, it has replaced more traditional forms of transport – namely four-legged mammals. Even after roads and bridges were built, it remained a favourite with the locals. With that said, less and less are actually going off-road and have morphed into people carriers stuck in congested city traffic where the car’s at its worst. I reckon owners should every now and again experience what this car or any other 4x4 is capable of off-road. |
This particular example has 275mm section tires all around and coupled with a hefty curb weight and shady handling, it’s next to impossible to experience any fun on the road. On loose surfaces like gravel, sand, or mud, however, the grip limits are drastically reduced which means you can experience a more playful side to the car that is rather enjoyable.
I took this 15 year old car out for a little fun in the desert. I must say it is not nearly as exciting watching this footage as it was making it; it’s much more frightening from inside the car!
I took this 15 year old car out for a little fun in the desert. I must say it is not nearly as exciting watching this footage as it was making it; it’s much more frightening from inside the car!
RevDrome © 2015