New Land Cruiser gets V-8 - Toyota Land Cruiser - includes related article on the Lexus LX450

Automotive Industries, Feb, 1998 by Lindsay Brooke, Mark Phelan

Dynamically, the UJZ100's structural changes have wrought a vehicle devoid of any body flex or squeaks when flung over the roughest terrain we could find at Borrego Springs, a California desert off-road park that's far more amenable to motocross bikes and extreme dune buggies than luxury SUVs. Driven back-to-back versus a '97 FJ80 over washboard dirt roads, the '98 Cruiser's NVH attenuation is noticeably better. Toyota has added more melt-on asphalt sheeting to the floorpan, and has increased the amount of sound-deading urethane foam and pads injected into pillars and roof rails. On the highway, wind noise is lower due to faster (by three degrees) A-pillars, and new flush-mount windshield and rear quarter window glass.

The extra stiffness and refined manners come at a price, however--mass. The new, all-steel-bodied Cruiser weighs nearly 500 pounds more than its predecessor, mostly due to the chassis and body upgrades. Kondo says there was no plan to offset the added mass with lighter weight components, such as aluminum body panels. At nearly 6,500 pounds GVWR, the Cruiser is actually a medium-duty vehicle.

Powertrain: New V-8

Land Cruiser finally gets a V-8 (a first for any Toyota-badged vehicle), but the new 4.7L engine does not contribute to the new model's extra heft. Even with its cast-iron cylinder block, the dohc, 32-valve V-8 weighs 66 pounds less than the FJ80s 4.5L inline six.

Program boss Kondo admits he wasn't initially sold on the V-8. "We evaluated the (Lexus) aluminum-block car V-8 early on, but it did not have enough low- and midrange torque for our vehicle," he recalls.

So he chose displacement. The UJZ100 design spec required an iron block, with extensive ribbing for bulletproof durability. Manufacturing efficiency called for the Cruiser's block to be machined on the same Tahara plant line as the 4.0L Lexus car V-8. Thus both blocks share common bore centers, but the Cruiser's has the maximum displacement permitted by the Tahara line. The 94mm bore is 6.4mm larger and stroke, at 83.5mm, is 1mm longer than on the car V-8. Besides its iron block and more displacement, Toyota's new "truck V-8" also differs from its car cousins in combustion chamber shape (though valve angles are the same as the 4.0L), cam profiles, and intake manifold geometry. It has a stouter crankshaft, and the con rod big-end bearing shells are aluminum. Package efficiency was also critical; the V8's designers placed the water pump and starter motor inside the block's "vee" to save space.

Powerful 32-bit engine control and effective catalysis, plus Denso top-feed injectors and coil-on-plug ignition, help certify the new Cruiser as a Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) in California. Claimed output is 230 hp at 4,800 rpm, and 320 lb-ft of torque at 3,400. That's a boost of 18 hp and 45 lb-ft over the old inline 6. At presstime, city/highway fuel economy was estimated at 14/16 mpg, more frugal than with the six This basic V-8 will also power the '99 T100 pickup, although rumors persist that the T100 engine will have sohc cylinder heads.