New Toyota Land Cruiser FJ Is A Smaller And Means Extra Lovable SUV

Because it’s extra of a 4Runner various than a real Land Cruiser, you can argue the present Toyota Land Cruiser is the non secular successor to the FJ Cruiser. In spite of everything, it is a boxy off-roader with some retro styling cues. However now there’s an official new Land Cruiser FJ, the manufacturing model of the Compact Cruiser EV idea that Toyota has revealed forward of this 12 months’s Japan Mobility Present. And whereas Toyota does seek advice from it as a prototype in some locations, that is no idea. Manufacturing is deliberate to start in the midst of 2026.

However when you can in all probability inform you’re taking a look at a smaller automobile right here, it may be onerous to inform precisely how large it’s, even within the photographs from the official reveal. The brand new FJ has a wheelbase that is just below 102 inches and an total size of about 180 inches, which means the wheelbase is about 11 inches shorter in comparison with the Land Cruiser Prado (or simply the Land Cruiser within the U.S.), and it is about 14 inches shorter total. That additionally places it in a little bit of an odd place the place its wheelbase is a pair inches shorter than the Ford Bronco Sport, regardless that it is nonetheless about seven inches longer total. That is not precisely tiny, nevertheless it’s nonetheless fairly compact by U.S. requirements. It is simply not, you recognize, Suzuki Jimny-sized. 

For these of you who remembered the Compact Cruiser EV idea and are presently stoked to see Toyota lastly provide an electrical off-roader, I am sorry to tell you that did not occur. As a substitute, the Land Cruiser FJ will likely be powered by a naturally aspirated 2.7-liter four-cylinder fuel engine that makes a whole 160 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque. So whereas it might be ideally sized for the American market, it might in all probability make the smaller, extra aerodynamic Subaru Crosstrek look fast compared. 

Nonetheless, Toyota insists the brand new Land Cruiser FJ will likely be lots succesful off-road, being constructed on the identical IMV platform as the teeny Hilux Champ pickup. Along with a part-time four-wheel-drive system, Toyota says the brand new FJ’s wheel articulation matches that of the 70 Collection Land Cruiser. It is also barely greater than an inch narrower than the Bronco Sport, which ought to assist it match down tight trails, and Toyota guarantees “wonderful maneuverbility.” Sadly, Toyota stored most of the extra thrilling off-road particulars equivalent to floor clearance, method angle, departure angle and breakover angle to itself. 

Toyota

Not that any of that stuff will matter to U.S. consumers, at the very least not for the subsequent 25 years. When Automotive Information spoke with Toyota Chief Engineer Masaya Uchiyama, he stated the FJ will likely be in-built Thailand and bought throughout Southeas Asia, Africa, the Center East and Latin America, nevertheless it’s too small for the U.S. “There aren’t any plans for America or Europe,” Uchiyama advised AutoNews. “The beginning level for that is the worldwide South.”

In order that’s a giant bummer, however perhaps we are able to persuade ourselves the engine is simply too underpowered, and we’d have hated it anyway. I imply, it is not like anybody buys the Bronco Sport or the Crosstrek.