Toyota: V8 ownership a psychological barrier

TOYOTA Australia has come out swinging against welded-on V8 LandCruiser fans who dismiss the new four-cylinder opinion out of hand, saying customers need to drive a 1GD-powered 70 Series before making up their mind.

Speaking to media gathered for the national launch of the 2024 LandCruiser 70 Series range – which debuts a four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine and six-speed automatic combination – Toyota Australia vice president of sales, marketing and franchise operations Sean Hanley said in many cases V8 ownership was merely a “psychological barrier”.

“The only thing preventing a V8 person going to this four-cylinder will be a psychological barrier,” he said.

“Once they drive the four-cylinder, they’ll realise its capability and I don’t think it will be a hard sell at all … History suggests Australians will move (to a four-cylinder) when they get capability and performance.”

Mr Hanley, who initially denied the existence of the four-cylinder 70 Series, was also adamant that the V8 engine was here to stay, despite being unable to place a date on when orders for the driveline – which have been suspended since August 2022 – would re-open.

“We will sell both (the four-cylinder and V8) at the moment; we have no end-date right now for the V8,” he said.

“But what we do know is that there are a whole bunch of different regulations coming (and) we believe the vehicle environment in Australia will change, but it’ll be a necessary change, particularly when fuel efficiency standards come to the fore.

“I think every manufacturer wouldn’t be exempt from having to look at their product line-up going forward.

“Our first priority right now is to exhaust what is a fairly extensive V8 order bank that we have … then we will determine – based on (model) mix and the environment we go into the position the V8 has in the future line-up.

“Until we can see a clear pathway to clear the order bank we have, we won’t move on that – it will remain on pause.”

The long-serving 4.5-litre V8 may well be axed from the LandCruiser 70 Series (LC70) range when stricter fuel efficiency standards are introduced.

“We (Toyota Australia) will always operate within the regulatory environment that we operate in, so we will have to wait and see,” explained Mr Hanley.

“But the good news is, that by having this four-cylinder out right now, there is no compromise on its (LandCruiser 70) capability. It does reduce CO2 (and) it meets Euro 5 emissions standards, so there are a whole bunch of benefits there.”

The V8 engine, which first appeared under the bonnet of the LC70 in 2007 is the highest CO2 emitter in Toyota’s local portfolio with “worse than average” performance of 281 grams per kilometre, according to the Australian government’s Green Vehicle Guide.

Toyota Australia is yet to provide a CO2 emissions figure for the four-cylinder 70 Series, although its official fuel consumption figure of 9.6 litres per 100km extrapolates to around 250 grams per kilometre of carbon dioxide (the V8 consumes 10.7L/100km).

Further, and despite its towering 4461cc capacity, the turbocharged V8 unit delivers a kilowatt-per-litre output of just 33.5kW/litre, well behind the incoming 1GD-series four-cylinder with 53.6kW/litre. The four-cylinder engine also delivers a considerable 70Nm more torque (500Nm versus 430Nm).

But according to Toyota Australia, the four-cylinder will bring benefits beyond the hard numbers.

As well as offering the ease-of-use of a six-speed automatic transmission as standard, the four-cylinder model range will also allow probationary drivers in both Queensland and Western Australia the opportunity to legally get behind the wheel of a new 70 Series.

Mr Hanley says it is a point likely to considerably improve the employment opportunities of those entering sectors whose fleets predominantly comprise LC70s.

“Fleets are very attracted to the four-cylinder, for various reasons. In the case of many government contracts, they can’t have V8s, so that works, having a four-cylinder,” he said.

“Secondly, in some states – Western Australia and Queensland – a provisional licence driver can’t drive a V8, so that works for a fleet or a mine (scenario), perhaps where there is a provisional licenced driver who can now drive a four-cylinder.”

A Toyota mandated embargo means GoAuto cannot its report driving impressions of the vehicle until later in December. Visit GoAuto again soon for our drive impressions of the 2024 Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series.