Four-cylinder Toyota Land Cruiser 70-series auto only no more

Dropped when sales of the 4.5 D-4D V8 turbodiesel engine ceased in Australia earlier this year, Toyota has sprung a surprise by re-introducing the manual gearbox to the four-cylinder Land Cruiser 70-series on no less than five derivatives Down Under.

Three pedals return

Offered until now only with a six-speed automatic in conjunction with the 150kW/500Nm, 2.8 GD-6, the manual, unlike in the Fortuner and Hilux, has had its ratio count dropped from six to five and its torque to 450 Nm with power unchanged at 150 kW.

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This represents a decrease of one kilowatt over the V8, but a torque hike of 20 Nm.

Compared to the five-speed used on the bent-eight though, the manual in the GD-6 has been revised with a new flywheel, a 12-inch clutch, triple synchronisation on first gear and revised ratios with fifth gear having been made longer as a means of improving fuel consumption and reducing engine noise at speed.

Price credit

Available solely on the 79 double chassis cab, the 76 station wagon and the 78 Troop Carrier, the manual comes with a credit of between $1 000 (R11 572) and $2 000 (R23 145) over the respective automatic, with Toyota billing its return as broadening the 70-series range that now consists of nine derivatives.

“When we discontinued the V8 Land Cruiser 70 Series earlier this year, we know there were some customers lamenting the absence of a manual gearbox in the range, so we wanted to ensure we were able to offer all our customers a range of powertrain options and this new manual fits the bill perfectly,” Toyota Australia’s Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, Sean Hanley, said in a statement.

Unchanged from the automatic externally, the interior differs slightly as the new centre console housing the gear lever has been dropped along with the standard Downhill Assist Control.

Unknown for South Africa

Locally, the V8 remains available as an alternative not only to the GD-6, but also the normally aspirated 4.2-litre straight-six diesel and the 4.0-litre petrol V6, both connected to a five-speed manual.

This will, however, soon change as per Toyota South Africa’s Senior Vice-President for Sales and Marketing, Leon Theron telling the assembled media at the brand’s annual State of the Motor Industry conference in January that, “[the V8] will be phased-out at some stage, we are not 100% sure exactly when, but probably within the next two years”.

Down Under, pricing for the Land Cruiser 70-series starts at $75 600 (R874 913) for the workhorse 76 WorkMate automatic and ends at $83 500 (R966 339) for the 79 double chassis cab GXL automatic.

The 11 model South African line-up meanwhile starts at R765 500 for the 79 single cab V6 and ends with the 76 2.8 GD-6 VX automatic priced at R1 091 400.

For the moment, it remains unknown as to whether Toyota South Africa will see it fit to introduce the manual GD-6 as it could clash on price with the V8.

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