Land Cruiser: Petrol or diesel? 2021 Motoring Newsmaker No 11

Petrol engine produces 305 kW of power and 650 Nm of torque, with the oil-burner making 225 kW and 700 Nm.

2021 Motoring Newsmaker No 11 Toyota Land Cruiser 300 petrol or diesel

The Toyota Land Cruiser 300 in 3.5T V6 ZX trim.

Two-thousand-and-twenty-one was an interesting year for the South African motoring landscape.

Some things changed, like an acceleration towards greener cars, while others stayed the same like Toyota topping the monthly sales charts.

In this series of 2021 Motoring Newsmakers, The Citizen looks back at the top 20 most popular online stories of the year. The series is dominated by South Africa’s most popular body style, bakkies, while the Toyota Land Cruiser 300 was by far the most viewed single model on our website. Other local favourites in the form of hot hatches, fuel efficient hatchbacks, big, mean SUVs, compact SUVs, Mercedes-AMGs and BMW M cars also drew their fair share of attention.

Replacing the Land Cruiser 200, which was powered by a 4.5-litre V8 diesel engine, there is a choice of two powertrains in the LC300. A 3.3-litre V6 turbo diesel option and a 3.5-litre V6 turbocharged petrol mill. The petrol engine produces 305kW/650Nm and the oil-burner 225kW/700Nm.

We know that those numbers mean the Land Cruiser can climb a mountain with three caravans in tow on the way up, but what does it translate to in daily city life? How fast can a 2.5-ton monstrosity be off the line and how big is its thirst?