Toyota Land Cruiser vs Range Rover

What's the difference?

The i-Force Max hybrid set-up is aimed at improving performance rather than fuel efficiency, but its effectiveness in that respect is hard to fathom.

Increases in power and torque are welcome, of course, but the 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 diesel Cruiser is just as good as the hybrid off-road and with a bigger fuel tank and greater driving range.

The hybrid LandCruiser will certainly appeal to some buyers, but the lion’s share of those interested in the 300 Series are looking to tow big loads and go long distances in comfort, which is why the diesel Cruiser at this stage is the better pick of the two powertrains.

The Range Rover Autobiography long wheelbase is an outstanding SUV that is not just beautiful to drive but makes family practicality a priority, too, 

The price is reasonable relative to the competition, the features list is long and complementary servicing offers peace of mind.

If you don’t need the third row, I’d consider the standard wheelbase Autobiography even if it does reduce legroom, there’s still plenty of space.

My son stopped short of giving the Range Rover Autobiography full marks "because there are no massaging seats in the second row".     

Nothing of note has changed onboard the Cruiser and the GR Sport variants are all the same, inside and out, no matter which powertrain you opt for.

And that’s fine because this is a good-looking rooster.

The GR Sport is listed as 4995mm long (with a 2850mm wheelbase), 1990mm wide and 1955mm high. It has a kerb weight of 2620kg.

This 300 Series looks much the same as it did at launch in 2021: big, chunky, imposing – like me if I was wearing high heels.

As a point of difference to other Cruisers, though, all GR Sports have variant-specific badging on the grille, front doors and rear tailgate.

Inside, it’s pretty much the same story which is borne out in how comfortable and practical it remains.

This fifth-generation Range Rover debuted in 2021 and despite its smooth, modern styling this SUV retains the familiar traditional Range Rover look with the short squared bonnet, flat roofline and tall windows.  

Let’s talk about the wheelbase, because it has a huge impact on passenger space.

We had the long wheelbase which is 3197mm between the front and rear wheels - that’s 200mm more than the standard wheelbase. 

Just look at those stretched rear doors in the photos - this is a go-anywhere limousine, or go-anywhere daycare centre in my case.

The overall length of the long wheelbase Range Rover is 5252mm. That’s big, but the design of this SUV doesn’t make it appear enormous.

What I don't like are the retractable door handles. They take a while to pop out and they look and feel cheap. Land Rover has used these on its other SUVs and if I had time I’d pen a letter asking the company to please stop. I’m sincerely hoping this review will do the same thing. I await your response JLR.

I think the tail-lights are pure genius. The pencil thin design is such a brave move away from the norm where brands are going over the top with LED lighting, and the simplicity is refreshing.

Inside, a traditional-looking Range Rover cabin awaits you with the flat dashboard, the low window sills contrasted by super modern touches like the displays and fully digital dials.

It’s sumptuous, luxurious, but not over the top. Again some people are looking for bling and gimmicks, but you won’t find them here - and I like that. This interior feels solid and substantial, but plush. 

The LandCruiser’s cabin is a functional and comfortable space, and – no matter the spec level – it always has a sense of familiarity about it.

All seats in the GR Sport are leather-accented and comfortable and there are soft-touch surfaces throughout the interior.

The driver gets a heated and power-adjustable steering wheel and both occupants up front cop ventilated and heated, power-adjustable seats (with memory functions for the driver).

The GR Sport’s 12.3-inch colour touchscreen is easy to use, with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and there’s a wireless charging pad near the shifter.

Physical buttons and dials make operational life in the Cruiser much easier than if all functions were adjusted via on-screen controls, as is the case in some new vehicles.

There are USB and USB-C charging points up front.

There’s a cool box in the centre console and its lid can be opened from either side, so driver or passenger can access whatever is chilling within.

There’s also a powered sunroof if you’re that way inclined.

Beyond those features, there are the usual storage spaces, cupholders, receptacles in the doors for bigger bottles and other spaces for your bits and pieces.

The second-row seats are in a 40/20/40 split-folding configuration.

The GR Sport’s cargo space, when all five seats are in use, is a listed 910 litres behind the second row, somewhat impacted by the underfloor presence of the hybrid battery. That cargo area grows to 1842 litres when the second row is stowed away.

The rear cargo area of the hybrid has a 200V/1500W inverter, four tie-down points and of course, there's a full-size spare.

All in all, the Cruiser has the goods when it comes to practicality.

Range Rovers have been a family favourite for decades and they’ve been doing school runs and trips away long before other brands even thought about producing SUVs for families.

So what you’re buying is Land Rover’s decades of knowing how to make a family SUV and you can tell by little things such as, how wide the doors open, how easy it is to get in and out of (even for little kids), the flat floor, the good visibility (thanks to low window sills), and then there’s the space and cabin storage. Stuff other brands seem to be still working out.

The second row seats in the Autobiography have electric sun shades, dual-zone climate control and the window seats are power adjustable and heated.

My eight-year old couldn’t resist playing with his electric sunshade and the seat adjustment, but fortunately the driver has an override switch which let me turn off his 'seat privileges’ as he called it. 

Being the long wheelbase means the rear doors are long and heavy. So while the eight-year old could open them, he had trouble closing them. 

The long wheelbase offers unrivalled legroom in the back and that meant my wife and I could put our own seats back further for our own comfort -even with a baby seat behind us.

Enormous door pockets, a giant centre console storage area, cupholders in all three rows, USB ports, wireless phone charging and in our case an optional domestic power outlet ($130) made this a comfortable, roomy, well equipped cabin.

Sure, the third row isn’t exactly spacious, but I’ve never met one that is. 

The intelligent seat folding system is remarkable. From the boot or side doors you can electronically adjust the second and third rows - either to raise them or lower them so they are flat for storage.

With all seats in place there is 229 litres of cargo space still left in the boot, but with those back seats folded flat you have 713 litres of capacity - and that’s just up to the cargo cover. 

The Range Rover Autobiography has air suspension and this means the SUV can lower itself to an 'Access' height to make it even easier to get in and out.

The Autobiography sits high in the Range Rover line-up and only the SVO (Special Vehicle Operations) models command higher prices.

Our Range Rover Autobiography was the long-wheelbase with the twin-turbo petrol V8 engine and has a list price of $312,193.

The standard features include retractable door handles with a proximity key, the LED headlights and tail-lights, a power tailgate and the panoramic sunroof.

Inside, 'Caraway' perforated semi-aniline leather seats are standard, too. So is a 13.1-inch screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus sat nav. There’s a fully digital driver display, a head-up display, wireless phone charging, and a Meridian 'Signature' sound system.

Four-zone climate control is standard and will keep the kids comfortable in the back, while the sun shades will project them from that giant fireball in the sky. 

Up front there are heated and cooled seats which also massage, while the outboard rear seats are heated and power adjustable.

Our Autobiography was the seven-seater and it’s only about $1600 more than the five-seat version.

Ours had a few options fitted - there are the 23-inch wheels, the standard alloys are 22-inch, there’s also the black contrasting roof and the privacy glass which is so dark it’s almost impossible to look in. 

All up the total list price for ours came to $318,603.

The big news here is the i-Force Max hybrid powertrain consisting of a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine, an electric motor and a 10-speed automatic transmission.

Toyota reckons the “purpose‑built 1‑Motor Hybrid system” is designed for towing, off‑roading and heavy‑duty performance and that the additional electric motor “enhances power and responsiveness (compared with an equivalent diesel-only model), working seamlessly alongside the internal combustion engine”.

In general driving, it’s difficult, nigh on impossible, to discern the positive impact, if any, of the i-Force Max. But the 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine alone is impressive.

There’s no denying this Cruiser now benefits from a substantial increase in power (up 114kW to 341kW combined peak output) and torque (up 90Nm to 790Nm combined peak output) over the diesel Cruiser.

The Dakar Rally-inspired LC300 GR Sport’s 10-speed torque converter auto cleverly handles open-road driving and high- and low-range 4WDing, micro-managing power and torque to maintain a level-headed but involved driving experience.

The GR Sport has full-time, dual-range 4WD, a well-calibrated off-road traction control system, as well as front, rear and centre diff locks, so it’s almost unstoppable.

In this realm, the Cruiser holds its own against the likes of Nissan Patrol Warrior and Land Rover Defender.

The 4.4-litre twin-turbo petrol V8 is a perfect match for the Range Rover Autobiography.

There’s enormous power at 390kW and a colossal 750Nm of torque, but it’s delivered so smoothly and without sounding like Armageddon is beginning.

You might here the engine referred to as the P530. That signifies it’s petrol and makes about 530 horsepower. 

All that grunt means that despite weighing more than 2.7 tonnes, this SUV can hurl itself from a stand still to 100km/h in 4.8 seconds. 

An eight-speed automatic sends the drive to all four wheels. And making this SUV incredibly capable off-road is an excellent four-wheel drive system with a low range gear, plus a maximum ground clearance (thanks to the adjustable air suspension) of 283mm and a wading depth of up to 900mm.

There is a six-cylinder diesel, but if you decide on that instead of the V8 then it's all over between you and me. That’s how good this V8 is.

Official fuel consumption is 10.0L/100km on a combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle.

Our fuel consumption on this test was 13.6L/100km, which is substantially more than the claimed figure, but testing did, of course, include high- and low-range 4WDing.

This hybrid Cruiser has a 98-litre fuel tank (the diesel holds 110 litres) so, going by those fuel figures, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 720km out of a full tank.

Now, you’re going to use a lot of fuel. But that’s okay because this will probably be your last petrol car and the next one will be electric so let’s go out with a bang - last drinks at the petrol bar! Land Rover says you’ll use 11.8L/100km.

After a week of punishing my Range Rover with school drop offs, shopping centre car parks, hilly suburbs, motorways and rural roads the petrol pump told me we’d used 19.8L/100km.

I’m not shocked by that consumption. This is a 2.7 tonne all-wheel drive twin-turbo V8 SUV that was almost always ferrying around four people with a pram, garden supplies and shopping in bumper to bumper traffic. A real world fuel test. 

There is that six-cylinder diesel and a hybrid version of the Range Rover, but this V8 engine suits the character of the SUV perfectly - anything else and it’s like eating reduced fat ice cream.

Steering, now electric, is light but precise and this 4WD wagon feels highly manoeuvrable; with a turning circle of 11.8m it's quite nimble.

The new hybrid set-up is aimed at performance rather than fuel efficiency and as before the Cruiser remains a comfortable open-road cruiser, smoothly tapping into oodles of power and torque when required, all managed smoothly through the 10-speed auto.

This Cruiser’s on-road ride and handling are composed but it is soft rather than dynamic. Its suspension – double wishbone, independent at the front and live axle and multi-links at the rear with coils all-around – soaks up most irregularities in any road surface.

Its ventilated disc brakes front and rear brought the big Cruiser to a controlled stop during our emergency-braking scenarios on test.

When it comes to off-roading, this LandCruiser benefits from handy 4WD gear some other Cruiser grades miss out on, namely Toyota’s swaybar-disconnect equivalent E-KDSS (electronic-Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System), front and rear differential locks, and adaptive variable suspension.

The E-KDSS set-up acts like an electronic active swaybar, adjusting tension on the front and rear sway bars to suit the terrain and driving conditions.

While it’s a high-value addition on-road – tightening them for better body control at higher speeds on sealed surfaces – it gives the vehicle a lot more flexibility in terms of wheel articulation off-road, offering full stretch on the axles when tackling off-road scenarios.

This hybrid 300 Series tackled all obstacles at our unofficial testing and proving ground without any strife; its top-tier power and torque levels are consistently delivered across a broad rev range and that 10-speed auto is never caught out, scrambling through ratios to find the sweet spot.

High- and low-range gearing are solid in the 300 Series, and the suite of driver assist tech, aimed at making off-road driving easier and safer, is comprehensive: the traction control system has been further fine-tuned over previous versions, and is now even more precise in application.

The 300’s multi-terrain select system gives you the option of cycling through driving modes – for example, Sand, Snow, Mud, Rocks and Dirt – to suit the terrain. When engaged, the modes adjust vehicle systems, throttle, engine output etc to best suit the conditions, driving style and terrain.

Off-road measurements and angles are on point for a large 4WD wagon. Ground clearance is 245mm, wading depth is 700mm, and approach, ramp-over and departure angles are 32, 25 and 25 degrees, respectively.

Besides that, whether it’s being able to access 790Nm of useable torque across a broad rev range, or relying on the LC300’s well-calibrated traction control, or if you are engaging front, rear and centre diff locks, this Cruiser is an almost unstoppable off-roader in the right hands.

Even without the diff locks engaged, this 300 conquers every obstacle you drive it at, through and over.

If you plan to use this 4WD wagon for anything more difficult than dry-track 4WDing in good weather then get more aggressive all-terrain tyres to replace the standard Bridgestone Dueler all-terrains (265/65 R18).

The GR Sport’s full-size spare is mounted to the underbody but it doesn’t impact running clearance.

The 300 Series can legally tow 750kg unbraked, and 3500kg braked.

Here, the Cruiser remains true to its old-school spirit – albeit with a tech edge – in the same way the Nissan Patrol Warrior does, while something like the Land Rover Defender is more spaceship than scrub explorer.

Driving the V8-powered, long-wheelbase, 2.7-tonne, Range Rover Autobiography is a lot easier than it sounds. Really, it’s the Range Rover’s height above sea level which will strike you first.

You’ll lord it over other cars. The length doesn’t come into it - even for parking because the visibility is so good, the steering is so light and the engine is civilised and smooth.  

This is truly an easy and enjoyable SUV to drive, with power and performance whenever you need it. 

There are several drive modes from a 'Dynamic' sporty one, which makes the engine more responsive and suspension firmer, to off-road settings.

Most of the time I left the Range Rover in 'Comfort' mode for the softest ride, but with 530 horsepower lurking in the background ready to jump out and eat up hills and overtaking.

The front seats are wide, comfortable and supportive even after hours of driving. 

The Range Rover was given the maximum five-star ANCAP rating when it was tested in 2022.

For second-row child occupant protection the Range Rover scored a high 86 per cent in frontal and side impacts.

Standard safety tech includes AEB (junction and forward) with cyclists and pedestrian detection, there’s blind-spot warning, lane keeping assistance and rear cross-traffic alert, but no rear AEB.

For child seats there are ISOFIX mounts in the second row, and top tether anchor points in the second row and third rows.

Along with an entire suite of airbags it’s good to see a centre airbag up front and also head-covering curtain airbags all three rows.

The hybrid Cruiser is covered by Toyota’s five year/unlimited km warranty.

Servicing is scheduled for every 12 months or 20,000km (whichever occurs soonest) and costs are, at time of writing, $450 per appointment for the first five years or 100,000km (whichever occurs first).

Toyota Australia has more than 300 authorised service centres around the country.

The warranty is good with five-years and unlimited kilometre coverage.

There’s also five years roadside assistance and a complimentary five-year/130,000km service plan.

Yep, that's complimentary, as in free servicing for five years. I didn’t believe it myself and called Land Rover to check and was told that it does indeed mean free-of-charge.