Toyota Land Cruiser 76 Series wagon 2020 review

The five-door, five-seat LC76 GXL wagon, pictured here, has a price as tested of $72,100 – that's the $71,500 MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail price), plus $600 premium paint.

It has the line-up's 151kW/430Nm 4.5-litre turbo-diesel V8 engine, a five-speed manual transmission, and part-time 4WD with a low-range transfer case.

Standard features on the GXL, like a trip down memory lane, include cloth seats, carpet flooring, cruise control, air conditioning, power windows, anti-lock braking system (ABS), vehicle stability control with hill-start assist control, and differential locks.

It also has 16-inch alloy wheels. (image: Marcus Craft)

It also has 16-inch alloy wheels, over-fender flares, chrome and painted front and rear bumpers, front mudguards, front fog lamps, and multi-function clock.

Note: the 2021 70 Series line-up includes a 6.1-inch touchscreen multimedia system, with voice control, satellite navigation and Bluetooth connectivity. Those variants will also get two front USB ports, a 12V power outlet, a more substantial smartphone holder and a cupholder in the passenger's door pocket.

The new wagons are $2410 more expensive than previous versions.

The 76 Series has a 4.5-litre turbo-diesel V8 engine – producing 151kW at 3400rpm and 430Nm at 1200-3200rpm – and a five-speed manual transmission.

It also has a part-time four-wheel system with a low-range transfer case, via an old-school stubby stick-shifter, not a dial or a button. Top stuff.

The GXL has front and rear differential locks and front locking hubs, standard on all 70s.

The 76 Series has a 4.5-litre turbo-diesel V8 engine, producing 151kW@3400rpm and 430Nm@1200-3200rpm. (image: Marcus Craft)

As impressive as ever.

This is a purpose-built off-road truck and nothing has changed in terms of its 4WD set-up for ages, so it's still as brutally effective off-road as it's ever been.

Its suspension set-up – coil springs at the front, leaf springs at the rear – yielded a comfortable ride over chopped-up back roads and corrugated gravel tracks as we drew closer to my off-the-books 4WD testing and proving ground.

Just by looking at the 76 Series, you can see it has good ground clearance (230mm, claimed), wading depth (700mm, claimed) and an approach angle (33 degrees). The departure angle (23 degrees) is a bit shallow for a hard-core 4WD and the ramp-over angle is not listed.

Low-range gearing (via the ol' stubby stick, as mentioned) is great and there's plenty of torque available at low revs. Second gear was revised a few years back, so it now offers even more flexibility when you're in low-range 4WD.

This is a purpose-built off-road truck and nothing has changed in terms of its 4WD set-up for ages, so it’s still as brutally effective off-road as it’s ever been. (image: Marcus Craft)

The 76 also has an effective off-road traction control system, front and rear diff locks (dial-operated from the driver seat and standard on the GXL), as well as driver-assist tech, such as hill-start assist, to call upon.

The 76 has live axles front and rear and wheel travel – articulation, flex, whatever you want to call it – is very decent, so you're generally able to stretch a tyre to the dirt in order to get more dirt-grabbing traction, no matter how severe the terrain.

Some people have whinged about the difference in the 76's wheel tracks from front to rear – 1555mm wide at the front (because of the line-up's V8 engine and large radiator) and 1460mm wide at the rear – but that only ever comes into play on sandy tracks, where you effectively have to make two sets of tracks, rather than just the one, so, the Cruiser has to work harder to get through. We've driven a 76 on beach and river sand and – while that two-track scenario is never ideal – it's not exactly torture either. Plenty/most/all of 70 Series owners just get on with it. Still, the 70 Series will be even better when the narrow-track rear axle is widened to match the front. In the next-gen 70 Series, perhaps?

In terms of the wagon's suitability as a long-range tourer: the front seats are comfy, the rear seat is a bit more straight up and down, but there's plenty of head, arm and leg room on all seats.

There is also ample space for your work or camping equipment in the cargo area, although official capacity figures are unavailable.

Access to the rear is via the 60/40-split barn-type tailgate.

Unbraked towing capacity is listed as 750kg; braked towing capacity as 3500kg.

The 76 Series has a gross vehicle mass (GVM) of 3060kg and a gross combined mass (GCM) of 6560kg.

The 76 Series does not have an ANCAP safety rating.

Safety gear includes driver and passenger airbags, ABS brakes, vehicle stability control, active traction control, brake assist and electronic brake-force distribution, and hill-start assist.