Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series 2024 review: 79 Series Single Cab Chassis Workmate auto - off-road test

It’s still boxy and blocky, and straight up and down but the hard edges have been softened a tiny bit.

The front end has been redesigned – take a look at the accompanying photos and come up with your own hyperbolic description – and the interior has undergone a styling upgrade of sorts, along with benefiting from a redesigned instrument cluster and centre console plus a multi-information display.

The front end has been redesigned. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

The mismatched wheel track remains. When the V8 was brought into the line-up in 2007, the front axle track was stretched 80mm (in the base-spec Workmate) and 120mm (in the GX and GXL), so the frame could accommodate the V8 and its bigger radiator. Nothing’s changed – even though it’s a new, smaller engine in the engine bay.

It’s still boxy and blocky, and straight up and down but the hard edges have been softened a tiny bit. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

Good news is that there’s a thriving space in Australia’s dynamic aftermarket industry for rear-track correction systems – that widen the track of the rear axle so it matches the front – and their fitment.

The interior seat trim is grey vinyl in fitting with the 79 Series’ utilitarian character.

This 79 Series has a 2.8L four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, producing 150kW at 3400rpm (1.0kW less than the V8) and 500Nm at 1600-2800rpm (70Nm more than the V8).

For reference, in case you can’t work out the simple maths, the LC79 V8 produces 151kW at 3400rpm and 430Nm at 1200-3200rpm.

This 79 Series has a 2.8L four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, producing 150kW at 3400rpm. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

For the first time in a 79 Series, a six-speed automatic transmission is offered.

All LandCruiser 70 Series variants have part-time 4WD, a transfer case with high- and low-range gearing working off a stubby shifter to the right of the auto.

This 79 is 5235mm long (with a 3180mm wheelbase), 1790mm wide and 1970mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 2145kg, but your 79’s weight will depend on what tray and other accessories you have fitted.

As mentioned earlier, this test vehicle has a galvanised general purpose steel tray which tips the scales at 319kg.

The single-cab chassis has a listed turning circle of 14.4m.

If you’ve driven a 79 before, you should know what to expect, woeful steering, harsh bouncy ride, noise from the engine, the wing mirrors, etc.

If you don’t love the noise, the bouncing and the all-pervasive feeling that you’re driving a mini-bus then go get in something else because you don’t belong here.

But, on road, the new 2.8L four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine and six-speed auto do make the 79 Series driving experience a lot smoother, more refined than you’d experience in the V8, for better and worse.

Better because driving the V8-powered 79 is like steering a tractor around that has ruined suspension. It’s gruff and agricultural with lots of engine noise and is a real rough rider.

This 79 is 5235mm long (with a 3180mm wheelbase), 1790mm wide and 1970mm high.

Worse because those agricultural characteristics noted above are exactly why the V8-powered 79 is so much fun to drive. It’s a whole-body immersive experience.

Engine noise is still there, just not as pronounced, and where the V8 growls, the four-cylinder whines.

In fact, no matter how clever this transmission is – and it is – this engine and auto combination feels much better suited to the HiLux and HiAce from whence it came than it does here. It just doesn’t feel right in the 79.

Off-road, the 79 is just as capable as always, except this base-spec ute does not have any diff locks but they are an option, so get them.

Ground clearance is 330mm (unladen) and off-road angles of 35 degrees approach, 29-degree departure and a (guesstimated) 26° ramp-over. Official wading depth is 700mm.

The four-cylinder offers up a flat and fat torque curve, just like its V8 big bro, and that’s ideal for low-range 4WDing, but there’s an underlying whininess about the four-cylinder engine.

Visibility remains great, due to the 79’s straight up and down cabin with plenty of glass every which way.

Maximum trailer weights of 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg (braked). (Image: Glen Sullivan)

Ride and handling on the blacktop, dirt tracks and during low-range 4WDing are better than what you might expect, if you know what previous-gen 79s are like.

As noted earlier, the LC79's wheel tracks remain mismatched: 1555mm at the front, 1460mm at the leaf-sprung rear axle. This irregularity can cause, at best, mild annoyance or, at worst, major annoyance when you’re driving at speed through deep wheel ruts as the rear tyres try to grind or plow their way through unbroken terrain.

For those who tow, rest easy, the 79 can still tow maximum trailer weights of 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg (braked).

Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) is 3510kg, Gross Combined Mass (GCM) is 7010kg, and payload is listed as 1000kg (depending on the tray).

Australia’s aftermarket industry is full to the brim with every accessory you can possibly think of for the 79, so go nuts.

The LC79 had the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating (as a result of testing in September 2016) but that rating expired in December 2023. It is now designated 'unrated'.

As standard, new-gen 79s have AEB, driver and front passenger airbags, curtain shield and driver’s knee airbags, lane-departure alert, traffic sign recognition, auto high-beam LED headlights, off-road hill descent control and 'Hill-start Assist Control'.