Sticking it to Toyota

The prawn burger started climbing back up the gullet as the Prado nosed into the big red hole.

Dashboard lights flash, there's more urgency from the V6 and, tyres slipping and grabbing, the wagon slides right on through to the other side.

A Toyota Prado can be trusted when the track turns to muck.

The prawn burger, a fine lunch from Archies at Rainbow Beach, settles back down.

So here comes the Kluger, one Toyota down in size and a world away in off-road ability. The Kluger has all-wheel drive in a suburban family wagon, less ground clearance and less confidence.

This one slips off to the side, gets stuck in, nose first.

So the count is now Prado this side, Kluger in the muddle, LandCruiser wagon and the brave little RAV4 on the other side of this clay mine.

And well before the 30 minutes of slipping and sliding and some laughs is over, there is one lesson learnt here – when the entry to the Cooloola Way (south of Fraser Island, north of Noosa) suggests four-wheel drive is advisable, particularly in wet weather, it means four-wheel drives, not all-wheel drive.

For where the Kluger has run up the beach in fine style, matching it with its bigger and smaller brothers for ride comfort on hard-packed sand, it loses out with suspension travel and traction when the going gets tougher.

Words of caution: the sand was damped by recent rain and there'd been little traffic to dig holes and trenches. Besides, the Kluger was running with just one up; a loadful of family may hinder beach progress.

It has its place.

The Kluger is a safe machine for the school bus runs, trips to the snow, maybe down and along the beach for a picnic.

If tackling tougher tracks, take a bigger Toyota four-wheel drive along for the security.

No doubt the Kluger would run this Cooloola track in dry weather; indeed it handled much of the slip and slide of a wet dirt road without drama although that softish front suspension can be caught out over ruts, bringing the nose down.

In these conditions, the Kluger is favoured with constant four-wheel drive and a viscous coupling centre differential; these work well with the five-speed automatic on slippery surfaces.

And there is, according to the factory, 187mm of ground clearance on the Kluger Grande with its 17-inch wheels, 184mm on Klugers with 16-inch wheels.

In contrast, the RAV4 Cruiser has 180mm, the Edge version has 190mm. The smaller Toyota, smallest of the crowd's recreational vehicles, gains off-road credentials with a shorter wheelbase and more compact dimensions and a weight advantage.

Some of this crosses the mind while looking back across the Cooloola chasm at the rest of the fleet.

Here the LandCruiser, trying to tow the Kluger out, has slipped sideways into a gutter of much deeper goo.

So, now it's Prado safe, Kluger and LandCruiser stuck, brave little RAV4 waiting.

The five-door RAV4 gets the Kluger out, with a little strain and a yank back. (The excuse on this side is that the Kluger's nose is buried too deep to hook up). Now the Prado goes back through the hole, and with a decent snatch, frees up the big Cruiser.

From here, with some local knowledge and fresh approaches developed over the last half hour, the four Toyotas slip and slide through the hole, running on to the next adventure.

Damage is limited to a wounded plastic shroud underneath the Kluger's bumper. And a tonne of mud over the machines.

There is nothing more untoward on the track, some slips and slides, a couple of minor washouts. The Kluger does drag its belly a touch through some of the (soft) ruts on the forest roads.

And then there's a turn right somewhere where it should have been a turn left and the four Toyotas end up in Gympie, not the bucolic Kin Kin.

Still, it is an easy run from here to home.

And the day's discoveries?

Toyota's fleet of recreational vehicles – prices ranging from $30,000 to $92,000 – are all fine and handy machines in each of their respective niches.

The RAV4 is forever a trier.

Despite a lack of low range and minimal ground clearance for off-roading, the five-speed manual here was never found wanting. The 120kW, 2.4 litre engine was always willing and there is a certain amount of charm to the RAV4, whether on town or country duties.

This is the one for getting out on the weekends, maybe down to the beach, maybe to the hardware store for those renovation specials or plants from the nursery.

But the RAV4 cannot match the Kluger for on-road smoothness and quietness or interior space.

The Kluger is a bland family wagon with all-wheel drive and a heap of room.

It breezes down the highway but will not go as far, as easily, as its little brother off the road. It averaged 10.5 litres per 100km on the day.

Soft-roaders have a place. But not on hard tracks.

Yet the base Kluger costs more than a base Prado. And a five-speed manual, 4 litre Prado GX at a recommended $43,650 has to be a better value buy than an automatic 3.3 litre CV Kluger at $43,990 (with air).

The Prado is a machine for the family adventurer, strong enough for a cross-country trip, handy enough for a run to the shops.

It is impressive in the rough, looks smart around the town.

 
There is that extra body weight, say 400kg, over the Kluger and that extra body height (the Prado's ground clearance is a useful 220mm) which makes the Kluger a better, more car-like driving business on the highway.

The Prado averaged just over 15 litres per 100km for the mix of highway, sand and mud work

The LandCruiser 100 Series is a big and strong machine with constant four-wheel drive and a two-speed transfer case.

It is quite a handy wagon under ordinary conditions, despite its size. But when the going gets serious or there's a full load, plus boat and trailer to tow on a regular basis, it is a superb wagon.

And while this one ran the V8, it averaged close on 16.5 litres per 100km for the day's work, proving a big engine is not always that much thirstier when there's work to be done.

So it's horses for courses and Toyota just about have the field covered. There is a recreational vehicle to suit most styles and budgets, a fair spread of engines and a tonne of appointments to pick through.

And yes, Toyota had to cover this new-found soft-roader niche. Just don't expect the Kluger to measure up to some of its more established, more credentialled brothers if the weather closes in and the track gets sloppy.