Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series 2022 review: 70th Anniversary Edition off-road test

The LandCruiser 70th Anniversary special-edition variants are priced from $78,500 (wagon). $80,050 (for the single-cab cab chassis), and $82,600 (double cab). 

They are all based on the flagship GXL grade and standard features include a 6.1-inch touchscreen multimedia system, with satnav, Bluetooth, Cruise Control, air-conditioning, power windows, Vehicle Stability Control with Hill-start Assist Control, 3500kg braked towing capacity, front and rear differential locks, a raised air intake, 16-inch alloy wheels and 130-litre fuel capacity.

Standard features include a 6.1-inch touchscreen multimedia system (Image: Glen Sullivan).

Beyond those, it has few features that set it apart from other 70 Series, and those are mostly styling tweaks.

The anniversary 70 is available in three colours: French Vanilla, Merlot Red and Sandy Taupe. 

Our test vehicle is fitted with a heavy-duty steel tray (Image: Glen Sullivan).

Our test vehicle is fitted with a heavy-duty steel tray ($4443.87), and an under-body tyre hanger ($596.50).

All 70 Series have a 4.5-litre turbo-diesel V8, producing 151kW at 3400rpm and 430Nm at 1200-3200rpm, and that engine is teamed with a five-speed manual gearbox.

All 70 Series have a 4.5-litre turbo-diesel V8 (Image: Glen Sullivan).

This is a proven combination offering plenty of useable torque across a long flat torque curve, ideal for low-range 4WDing and towing.

All 70 Series have a transfer case with high- and low-range gearing, working off the ol’ stubby stick, and it has front and rear diff locks.

While it's not as atrocious on road as some might expect, in terms of ride, handling or comfort, it really is the master of its domain when you head off-road.

When you’re 4WDing in the 79 Series, you can't help but have fun. 

There is ample visibility, so you can see where you’re going on bush tracks and all around you, because of the very open, straight up and down cabin.

The part-time dual-range 4WD system is easy to use – you just work off the good ol’ stubby stick down – and in low range, this is an all-conquering bush beast. 

It has such a low crawl ratio that you can really just creep up and over obstacles that other vehicles may not be able to get near. 

There is so much torque to tap into from the big V8 that you really have access to it right across a broad rev range. 

So as well as that super torquey engine, great low-range gearing, good engine braking – basically just a whole set-up that's built for hard-core off-roading – the 79 Series manages to be so capable you can forgive it the fact that it sacrifices a lot in terms of comfort and refinement. 

This is a vehicle purpose-built for 4WDing (Image: Glen Sullivan).

This is a vehicle purpose-built for 4WDing, and it comes from a strong tradition of off-roading machines with a separate chassis, and live axles, front and rear. 

Sure. It's not the most comfortable or contemporary ute around, but it's very capable on this kind of terrain. 

By the way, ground clearance is 235mm and wading depth is 700mm.

And while the 79 Series is pretty much ready to roll straight out of the showroom and into the Simpson Desert, I'd think about replacing the standard rubber – Dunlop Grandtrek AT1 (265/70R16), decent tyres in their own right – with an even more aggressive set of all-terrains, maybe some BFGoodrich or Cooper rubber, just to give yourself even more of an off-roading edge. 

One of the few annoying characteristics in the 79 Series when it comes to general driving and 4WDing is the 14.4m turning circle, especially if you have tight brush tracks to navigate your way along or, god forbid, you have turn around on such a squeezy track.

Ground clearance is 235mm and wading depth is 700mm (Image: Glen Sullivan).

This is not a highly manoeuvrable vehicle when you're out bush; you have to think about where you want to put it, you have to think about the line you want to take and how to get in and out of trees on the aforementioned tight tracks.

Some people have a problem with the fact that the 70 Series has different wheel tracks front (1555mm) and rear (1460mm) and, while those mismatched tracks do make for odd viewing, if you simply adjust your driving style while 4WDing to suit, then you shouldn’t have too much strife, other than it being a tad annoying on sand and through dried-mud wheel ruts.

If you’re thinking about using this ute for work or touring, then it’s well worth noting that because this 79 has a 357kg heavy-duty steel tray fitted, payload has been reduced from 1225kg (available on a 79 Series single-cab cab chassis when no tray is fitted) to 868kg.

It's rated to tow 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg (braked). Gross vehicle mass (GVM) is 3400kg and gross combined mass (GCM) is 6900kg.

The 79 Series LandCruiser single-cab cab chassis has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating as a result of testing in September 2016.

As standard, it has driver and front passenger airbags, curtain shield and driver’s knee airbags, brake Assist, vehicle stability control, hill-start assist control, electronic brake-force distribution and active traction control.

So, it’s sorely lacking a lot of the new active safety tech, such as AEB, blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure alert and more, that’s in many other, much cheaper, modern vehicles.