Category: Toyota

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TOYOTA LAND CRUISER PRADO ALTITUDE

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I’ve spent a lot of quality time in the Toyota Prado over the last year or two clocking up thousands of kilometres in Outback Western Australia. With four adults and their luggage, it was a bit of a squeeze at times and I would have loved to remove the two intrusive, fold-down third row seats to free up space. Alas, I don’t think the rental companies would have been too impressed. Given this close association, I was looking forward to driving the all-new, larger and dare we say odd-looking Prado… Read more

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TOYOTA COROLLA – STILL KEEPING AHEAD OF THE GAME

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It’s amazing how the Toyota Corolla has evolved over the years. Back in the day it was basic, vanilla transport and that’s the way it stayed for years. Then someone, somewhere flipped a switch and things began to change dramatically, starting with the 11th gen Corolla in 2012. But it was just a warm up for the current model which arrived in early 2018, with its complex, unrepentant, multi-faceted design. Sitting lower than before with a steeply raked windscreen, it presents a predatory nose, with a design that is as… Read more

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BIG BROTHER GIVES PRADO A LIFT

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The pride of the Toyota SUV parade, the Prado, is showing off a new stiff upper lip thanks to TNGA-F architecture shared with its bigger LandCruiser 300 Series sibling. Also on board is the latest in the company’s on and off-road driver assistance technology, including a new 48-volt V-active powertrain mated to a new eight speed automatic shifter. The pedigree has its origins in the iconic LandCruiser with all its on- and off-road capability and functionality. The latest generation consists of five members – GX, GXL, VX, Altitude and Kakadu… Read more

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TOYOTA C-HR KOBA 2WD

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We’ve always liked the look of the Toyota C-HR. Can’t say the same for its most direct competitor the Nissan Juke, a truly ugly attempt to be different. Now in its second generation and built in Turkey, C-HR offers more style, more power and more equipment than before — but it comes at a cost because prices have jumped considerably since our last encounter with the little crossover. Sitting between Corolla and RAV4 and updated in late 2019, for some price is unimportant. The letters C-HR stands for Compact High… Read more

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PICK-UP FAR FROM A WORKSHY MATE

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Retaining that thought throughout a week with the workhorse failed to take the edge off initial utilitarian impressions: horses for courses of course. Not that ‘old mate’ harked back to some long-past Luddite era. Depending on the grade, the new WorkMate boasts a line-up of automotive advances such as Bluetooth connectivity, Toyota Safety Sense suite of measures, Toyota Connected Services and power this and that. Performance also is taken to new heights with a 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine with V-Active technology. There is still the tried-and-true 2.4 litre turbo-diesel available. All… Read more

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CAMRY ASCENT A LONG TREK TO HYBRID HEIGHTS

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In Australia it was the halcyon days of the big ‘six’ family sedans from Ford and Holden when Toyota muscled in with Camry, a four-cylinder mid-size sedan, blowing the Falcon and Commodore off course. Fast forward to the late 1990s when the Japanese automobile giant pinned the future of the electrification of its vehicles on hybrid petrol/electric power with the Prius. Now a lost legend, the so-popular Prius was to become the staple of taxicab fleets around the world. Since, Toyota has stayed on script by backing hybrids across the… Read more

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COUNTRY … MUSIC TO TOYOTA LAND CRUISER EARS

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If the new Land Cruiser were any more last century, it would be rolling on solid rubber tyres. After 40 years or so, the 70 Series is still holding its own among the gentrified HiLux, Navara, Ranger and Triton upstarts. Toyota’s 70 Series has survived beyond its original intended lifespan and 76, 78 and 79 Series Land Cruisers have received ad hoc upgrades from a far-from-enthusiastic maker. The latest ’79’ is no exception, adding a 2.8-litre turbodiesel engine option from top-selling sibling, the HiLux, mated with a six-speed automatic transmission,… Read more

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COROLLA CROSS GOES HYBRID ONLY

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  Launched here in 2022 the Toyota Corolla Cross is – as the name suggests – an SUV crossover version of the everlasting Corolla sedan/hatchback.’ It’s the largest of Toyota’s three-model range of compact SUVs above the smaller Yaris Cross and the sportier C-HR. The original Corolla Cross was available with the choice of petrol or petrol/electric hybrid powertrains but, in line with Toyota’s recent decision to discontinue petrol-only variants where a hybrid alternative is available, the petrol versions are now being phased out. Although existing stocks of the petrol… Read more

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KLUGER NOW COMES WITH A HYBRID DRIVETRAIN

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Toyota Kluger is a semi-luxury family SUV that will celebrate 21 years on the Australian market later this year. Like most other model updates Kluger has grown in size progressively through its life and the latest (fourth) generation, launched here in mid-2021, and is no exception coming in at just under five metres in length. Note that the Kluger name is only used in Japan and Australia. It’s the Highlander in all other markets but that name had already been taken by Hyundai for some of its top-spec variants. Kluger… Read more

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TOYOTA FORTUNER FILLS A GAP

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You don’t hear much about the Toyota Fortuner. Launched in 2015, Fortuner is the SUV equivalent of the Hilux utility. Like the Kluger it comes with seven seats, but it’s aimed at a quite different buyer. Depending on your perspective, it’s either the quiet achiever or the under-achiever, with about half the sales of Prado. For Toyota, its raison d’etre is or perhaps was to provide a diesel option to Kluger as well as an affordable alternative for those who can’t afford a Land Cruiser. But now that the US-engineered… Read more