2024 Toyota Land Cruiser First Drive Review: Great Expectations

The Toyota Land Cruiser is a bit of a legend, and the first choice for comfort inside a rugged, insanely capable and dependable vehicle. It’s changed a lot over eight generations and more than four decades, and on foreign soil, it existed in various iterations as a go-anywhere, do-anything, never-give-up SUV with a stout V8 engine. Here in the USA, though, the Land Cruiser was discontinued in 2021; it seems it was just too expensive of a proposition in a country saturated with capable trucks and SUVs.

But, now the Land Cruiser is back in the USA as a whole new vehicle, and with a much more attractive price tag. That first bit will likely disappoint those who want a behemoth of an SUV with a relentlessly churning V8 under the hood. Instead, despite being off-road-focused, the new Toyota Land Cruiser is built on a body-on-frame platform and designed to be comfortable – and it’s powered by a hybrid-assisted turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with 326 hp and bags of torque. More torque than even the old 5.7-liter V8 managed.

We arrived in San Diego to take the 2024 Land Cruiser for a spin around a renowned off-road ranch, wondering exactly what the point of the smaller Land Cruiser is, particularly when Toyota is also showing off the new 4Runner, which is built on the same platform.

Exterior: Brought Forward, Remembering The Past

The new Land Cruiser is just under 194 inches long, which is close enough to the old one not to be noticeable, as is its width. The overhangs are short, as an off-roader demands, with a ride height of up to 8.7 inches.

There are just three trim levels: Land Cruiser 1958, Land Cruiser, and the First Edition. The 1958 trim is designed to reflect the classic’s roots, including a relatively low starting price and touches like round headlights instead of the rectangular ones on other trims and fabric seats inside.

Toyota has leaned into the Land Cruisers past when it comes to design, including the new model’s boxiness, the old-school-styled grilles, and round rear lights. Standard wheels include a variety of 18-inch alloys, and 20-inch wheels are available for those who want style over off-road ability.

Interior: Upscaled

By the end of its reign, the last generation Land Cruiser was behind the times when it came to infotainment, but lovely when it came to space and comfort. The new one is comfortable, but loses the airy, nostalgic leather feel – particularly on the base model with its fabric seats. That’s not to say fabric seats are a bad thing, though. Heated and ventilated seats are available, and all rear seats recline. Inside, it doesn’t feel as big as the previous model, but that may be because we haven’t driven one in a while. In reality, there’s plenty of elbow room up at the front, and leg and headroom in the rear for adults.

​​​​​​

Infotainment: The Necessary Upgrade

Thankfully, the new Land Cruiser uses Toyota’s latest infotainment technology, based around either an eight- or 12.3-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto installed. It’s a nice, easy system to use with quick responses to touches.

There’s a lot of available equipment, but the base model includes most of the essentials except wireless charging, which should go hand in hand with CarPlay and Auto, in our opinion. A 14-speaker JBL sound system is also available and standard on First Edition models, but we appreciate the standard 2400-watt AC inverter with a household plug socket in the cargo area.

• 
  2024 Toyota Land Cruiser 1958 4WD
  

  1958

  MSRP

  $55,950

  Head-Up Display

  Not available

  Navigation System

  Available

  Adaptive Cruise Control

  Dynamic Radar Cruise Control Standard

  Cooled Front Seat(s)

  Not available

  Heated Front Seat(s)

  Standard

  Multi-Zone A/C

  Three-zone climate control

  Power Driver Seat

  Not available

  Leather Seats

  Not available

  Premium Synthetic Seats

  Not available

  Sun/Moonroof

  Not available

  Show More

• 
  2024 Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD
  

  Land Cruiser

  MSRP

  $61,950

  Head-Up Display

  Optional

  Navigation System

  STANDARD

  Adaptive Cruise Control

  DYNAMIC RADAR CRUISE CONTROL STANDARD

  Cooled Front Seat(s)

  STANDARD

  Heated Front Seat(s)

  STANDARD

  Multi-Zone A/C

  THREE-ZONE CLIMATE CONTROL

  Power Driver Seat

  STANDARD

  Leather Seats

  AVAILABLE

  Premium Synthetic Seats

  STANDARD

  Sun/Moonroof

  AVAILABLE

  Show More

• 
  2024 Toyota Land Cruiser First Edition 4WD
  

  First Edition

  MSRP

  $74,950

  Head-Up Display

  STANDARD

  Navigation System

  STANDARD

  Adaptive Cruise Control

  DYNAMIC RADAR CRUISE CONTROL STANDARD

  Cooled Front Seat(s)

  STANDARD

  Heated Front Seat(s)

  STANDARD

  Multi-Zone A/C

  THREE-ZONE CLIMATE CONTROL

  Power Driver Seat

  STANDARD

  Leather Seats

  STANDARD

  Premium Synthetic Seats

  NOT AVAILABLE

  Sun/Moonroof

  STANDARD

  Show More

Powertrain, Drivetrain, and Chassis: Off-Road Ready

The new hybrid powertrain uses a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder to create 326 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque, which is ample for an off-roader. The big benefit over the old V8 is in fuel economy, which was just 14 mpg combined. Now you can get 23 MPG, which in these crazy days of sky-high gas prices is welcome.

Start looking at the drivetrain, and you can see Toyota wants the Land Cruiser to go off-road. Center and rear-locking differentials are standard, with the electronic center diff-lock able to split the power 50/50 between the front and rear wheels. Available is an electronically controlled front stabilizer bar disconnect mechanism to improve articulation. Toyota’s Multi-Terrain Select system works in both 4WD High and 4WD Low and can be set for Mud, Dirt, Rock, Sand, and Deep Snow. This feature isn’t available on the 1958 model, however. Crawl control is also included to act as low-speed off-road cruise control through treacherous terrain.

Going Off-Road: A Teaser

It’s worth stating that Toyota packed a lot of cars into a few short days at this First Drive event for us to get to know, so our time and experience with each was limited – and even more with the Land Cruiser as we weren’t able to take it on the road, and the off-road course available to us was short and not overly challenging. Although most off-roaders would make it through such a course, there was a section of off-camber ruts that did give an idea of how much travel is available with the Land Cruiser.

What we could gather on the course is that the suspension system in the Land Cruiser is excellent. While any off-roader could have navigated the course, we can only think of a few who could do so while passengers happily type away on their phone – it’s that forgiving of lumps and bumps. This bodes well for how the Land Cruiser marries on- and off-road performance.

​​​​​​​

We also learned that the throttle response is excellently tuned for navigating rocky areas where a deft touch is required. It’s so good that one of the spotters asked if we used CRAWL Control through the section and then switched it off for the bigger rocks where a firmer approach was needed – we hadn’t. It was just that easy to modulate the throttle and be precise.

The Land Cruiser is more than capable of a mildly challenging off-road course and clearly capable of much, much more intense duty. We were particularly impressed with the rear and center diff locks, although we then went through without using them, just requiring heavier use of throttle and paying attention to where the wheels were.

​​​​​​​

Conclusion: A Big Tease

We left thinking Toyota probably could have seriously impressed us with a more challenging course or terrain or a longer, more scenic drive off-road to show off the comfort level, so we’re now eager to get hold of one for an extended test drive. Off-roading chops are a given, but one of the Land Cruiser’s great features was in the name – cruising over rough ground was never an arduous experience and could compare with Range Rover’s offerings – but with a much better reputation for reliability. How the 2024 Land Cruiser really performs is something we look forward to unpacking – all we have for the moment is expectations.

Related

Toyota Land Cruiser Generations: Everything You Need To Know In One Place

One of the oldest nameplates in the USA, the Toyota Land Cruiser has evolved over eight generations. The latest model has a hybrid powertrain.