The much-anticipated Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series has been spied on Australian soil ahead of its imminent launch.
The redesigned full-sized SUV will arrive in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Instagram user benjamin.foon spied this example in Melbourne traffic, with his photos shared by the account land.cruiser.300.
It looks to be the GR Sport model, judging by the unique wheels and rear bumper. The badging has been taped over.
There are no shots of the front, however we can see this example is fitted with a bullbar.
Toyota has yet to officially confirm the model line-up coming to Australia, though the 300 Series model page on the Toyota website makes note of only one engine.
That’s Toyota’s new 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 diesel, producing 227kW of power and 700Nm of torque. It’s mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.
The 300 Series range in markets like the Middle East will be topped by a new 3.5-litre twin-turbo petrol V6, which makes 305kW and 650Nm. A hybrid petrol V6 is also expected in due course.
The new GR Sport trim level has more of an off-road focus, and features black lower body trim, wheels, wing mirrors and wheel arch linings.
It also has a unique front apron, including a grille featuring the Toyota word mark for a retro look.
The 300 Series LandCruiser is the first vehicle from Toyota to use the TNGA-F body-on-frame architecture, which is expected to underpin the next Tundra, Prado and Sequoia among others.
It’s also the first all-new LandCruiser in 14 years.
Toyota claims the 300 Series is up to 200 kilograms lighter than the 200 Series and has received numerous enhancements to its off-road performance, with a lowered centre of gravity, altered weight distribution, and improved wheel articulation.
Top-spec models will be available with a new electronic version of the company’s Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System, which can achieve a longer suspension stroke by “effectively disabling the front and rear stabiliser bars”.
Other off-road aids include a Multi Terrain Select system that automatically chooses the best driving mode for the current road surface, and a new Multi-Terrain Monitor, which uses the central display to show otherwise obscured obstacles from the driver’s point of view.
There are plenty of new items on the LandCruiser’s safety roster, such as emergency steering assistance for evasive steering manoeuvres, as well as daytime cyclist detection, and day- and night-time pedestrian detection.
The four-wheel drive can also detect on-coming vehicles, as well as pedestrians crossing the street, when the vehicle is making a turn at an intersection.
