Amazon gains diesel V8
The Toyota Land Cruiser Amazon is even more unstoppable now thanks to a new V8 turbodiesel engine that made its entrance at the Bologna Show. The new engine is the centre piece of revisions to the Amazon that make it more refined, better to drive and less thirsty, but don't panic - it remains unstoppable whatever the terrain.
The 4.5-litre turbodiesel V8 comes with 282bhp and a colossal 479lb.ft of mid-rev grunt to make off-road work even simpler than it was in the previous generation Amazon. There's also a new six-speed automatic gearbox and 'Crawl Control' that allows the speed to be set at a constant rate as low as 0.5mph for descending steep, slithery hills.
With so much power, the new Amazon gets from 0-62mph in 8.0 seconds and carries on till 130mph. More importantly, it now manages 27.7mpg combined fuel economy and carbon dioxide emissions of 270g/km, both of which are substantial improvements over the previous generation of Amazon.
Other changes include a smoothed out front-end style, revised chassis and air-sprung suspension, and a new Lexus-esque interior with the option of a third row of seats. However, these seats still fold up to the side of the boot rather than fold flat into the boot floor as in a Land Rover Discovery.
The Toyota Land Cruiser Amazon V8 TD is set to cost from £55,995 when it goes on sale in the UK from January 2008.
Alisdair Suttie
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