2024 LandCruiser 70 Series...now with four-cylinder & auto!! Toyota's rugged ute/bakkie first look!

G'day, I'm Paul. Toyota has just updated the 70 Series Land Cruiser. They've added a four-cylinder diesel sacrilege and automatic transmission. So today I'm going to take you through the exterior changes, the interior changes, and the engine changes as well. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon so you can find out every single time one of these goes live. But let's get right into the details. Hey, by the way, they also announced a new Land Cruiser Prado, a 250 Series. So if you want to see our video on that, click up here to watch that. But this is going to be all about the mighty 70 Series. I've got my iPad here to take you through some of the changes. Now, it looks interesting. We saw some spy photos a little while ago and I thought, hmm, I wonder how they're going to update this and they've kind of, I don't know, looks like they've gone to AliExpress and just bought some LED headlights. It looks a little bit strange. So I'll run you through the changes. So up the front here, halogen lights are gone. They've put in this LED lighting set up so you can see an LED running light on the outside and then an LED headlight there in the center. I don't know, to me, it just looks a little bit cheap and chintzy, but I guess it is what it is. Toyota badge in the center there. And what you'll also notice as well is a little radar sensor there. So we don't know yet they are fitting the 70 Series with radar cruise control or whether this is part of the autonomous emergency braking system, which was recently fitted to this, but it is an interesting addition there as well. Chrome remains on the bumper there. We recently reviewed the 70 Series and it has quite a unique and old design set up to it. Indicators there and there on the side as well. And then a snorkel, which is fitted as standard as well, which is good to see. Now, another interesting point as well on the front here, they have introduced a new four-cylinder diesel engine and that is a carryover from the Highlights that I'll run you through in just a second, but that has meant different cooling requirements. So the engine bay looks a little bit different. The only engine they offered in this up until today was a turbocharged V8 diesel. So there is significantly more room under the bonnet there, which is good to see in terms of modifications and stuff like that. From a side profile standpoint, we'll jump over here. This is interesting. So the wheels look to me a little bit different. So it's a darker set up there. It still retains the auto locking hubs there in the center. So it means you get front and rear diff locks like it had previously. Still keyed entry there. You do have keyless entry, but it'll be a key start and also manually adjustable mirrors as well, which is a bit of a throwback to older cars, but it's something that has been a mainstay there for 70 series for quite some time. If you have a look at the rear here, it doesn't look like they've actually spaced it out at all. It seems to just be an engine change. A lot of people that buy these complain about needing to install spacers on the rear axle there to have it pushing out a little bit. This seems to be the exact same setup without any changes. And it also means you get that same overhang over the rear axle there as well. Doesn't appear to be any great differences there. I suspect they will actually do some changes to the ride. So with a different engine, the four cylinder diesel is going to be significantly lighter than the V8 diesel. So I think that's gonna mean also an adjustment there to the ride and handling tune of this vehicle. So it'll be interesting to see if it does actually feel like it performs differently when you do get behind the wheel of it. In terms of other exterior changes, there isn't really a great deal here. I can't tell from this image, but it appears they've gone down the path of LED fog lights as well. Prior to this, they weren't an LED setup. So it looks like they may have fitted those to this to just give it a slightly more modern appearance there as well. That's what it looks like when it's driving. Nothing sort of too crazy there. And again, a little bit of off-roading. It all looks pretty straightforward there. Let's jump to the inside. Actually, before we jump to the inside, I'll show you the wagon here as well, just so you can get a bit of a visual on that. I have absolutely no idea what that is. I didn't actually notice this until now. I'm not sure what that side bench is. I haven't seen that before. It actually looks like it opens. It looks like it's on a hinge, which is kind of bizarre. So this looks like a Japanese market vehicle. So that might be something that is specific to the Japanese market, but it is quite an odd one. Just notice this as well. I don't know if the current generation of 70 Series actually has this same setup. From memory, there was actually a taillight there in 70 Series. So I don't know, again, whether this is a Japanese market thing or whether they've actually changed that for some reason. It now just seems to have a blanking plate on it. So yeah, something interesting there. Let's jump inside the cabin now and have a look at the changes here. We'll actually go to the Australian market car first. Look at this, automatic transmission. So again, I'll run you through the engine changes in a sec, but you can see they've adopted an automatic transmission. Prior to this, you could actually get an automatic transmission as an aftermarket thing, and it would actually be a great mate to the V8 diesel because it ups the torque output as well. The weak point was the clutch in these. So we've now added an auto, which will be exclusively available to the new four-cylinder diesel. But I guess that is a good thing for some of the companies that buy these. If you have employees that don't know how to drive a manual for whatever strange reason, at least you have that point covered. USB-C, so again, changing away from USB-A, giving it a little bit more, I guess, modern amendments. A power and haul button just here. So that was the same thing that we've seen in the Hilux previously. This just makes the throttle slightly more responsive there. And also a hill descent control, which has been added to the automatic version of this as well. The infotainment system looks a little bit different too. So they've gone down the path of a different infotainment system I've never seen before. So they've removed the knob that was in the 70 Series previously. That means adjusting the volume. It appears you're gonna have to use these things off to the side here, which just seems like a bit of a pain. I don't know why they didn't just keep the knob there. It doesn't seem to be a massive advancement, but it does look like they've added Apple CarPlay though, which means this will be slightly more civilized. Now, this is also a little bit tricky to see as well, but if you have a look over here in the gauge cluster, it looks like it's an analog gauge in this section, but this part here looks digital because you can see a temperature rate out there. You can also see a clock as well. So it looks like they've gone down the path of adding a slight digital element there. And if I have a look at this press release here, what they're saying is that that side of it has a 4.2 inch multi-information display. And then the multimedia infotainment system is a 6.7 inch display that comes with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. So just making it a little more modern. I can't also see here the addition of radar cruise control because normally it's a button here that you change on Hilux to adjust how close you follow the vehicle in front. I can't say that. So it might not actually have radar cruise control. That could have just been on the front bumper there, just a safety feature. But I can see this, a lane departure warning, which seems to be a new addition to 70 series. Outside of that, the interior looks pretty similar to me. You do have the switch gear down here for the front and rear diff locks. And you also have in this next image, we pop to here, you can see the side of that automatic transmission just there, and also the manual gear change system for the four-wheel drive system. So it goes from two-wheel drive high range to four-wheel drive high range into four-wheel drive low range as well. So outside of that, the interior looks pretty similar to what it was previously. If we go to the Japanese market car, gives us a bit of a closer look there at that LCD cluster off to the side. You can see there that it's just this side section here. All of this stuff remains analog gauges. Love the wood grain here on the Japanese market car. Very impressive. And then idle up switch and a manual DPF burn switch down the side there as well. So they've definitely made this a little more modern. You can see the Japanese market car doesn't actually have a radio at all. So consider yourself lucky you're getting a radio in Australia. So yeah. Now let's talk about engines. Toyota will retain the V8 diesel in some markets. So Australia will retain that 4.5 liter turbocharged V8 diesel only available with a five-speed manual transmission. Not exactly groundbreaking there. The engine they have introduced to this though is the four-cylinder diesel from the Hilux. It is not the mild hybrid version. It's just the standard version. That means it produces 500 Newton meters of torque and that's made it to that six-speed automatic transmission 150 kilowatts of power, 70 Newton meters more than the V8. So it does give you an idea of how old the V8 is in comparison to the four-cylinder. According to Toyota, this will start to arrive here in Australia Q4 2023. So if you actually do have a Land Cruiser 70 series on order at one point there, they stopped all of the orders. It is likely that you're gonna be switched into one of these new ones. Make sure you elect for the V8 if you do want the V8 otherwise there is a chance they will actually put you in the four-cylinder. All of these changes are also going to mean that I suspect the price is going to go up. They haven't mentioned the price here in this press release but I suspect that means the price is going to go up which means that it is going to be more expensive if you have placed an order. So if you do have a contract make sure they honor the existing price. If you don't have a contract you're likely to be paying more. And just having a little closer look here at the press release, it actually says here that late departure alert, road sign assist which is for the speed signs and automatic high beam a part of that safety suite that they've fitted to the vehicle now. So that has been your first look at the new Toyota Land Cruiser 70 series. Sorry, this was kind of hobbled together. This only just dropped and I'm kind of just getting across it all at the moment. What do you reckon about the design? Do you think it looks good? Not exactly the biggest fan of it. I think it looks a little bit funny but I guess people are going to buy it anyway. What do you think about them introducing a four-cylinder diesel? Do you think they should have just stuck with the V8? I am keen for your feedback. Let me know in the comment section below what you think. And if you did enjoy this video please make sure you like it and you share it with your mates as well. If you haven't done so already subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon. But until next time, take it easy.