The Toyota Land Cruiser 250 is still new enough for many of us never to have seen one in the metal. New enough and, of course, rare enough, thanks to a limited supply that’s nowhere near enough to keep up with demand.
Could that be about to change? Well, even before it was launched, Toyota said the 250 would be getting a new 48V mild-hybrid version of its existing 2.8-litre diesel engine a year or so after its introduction. And now it’s here.
Mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, this gains an electric motorgenerator, lithium-ion hybrid battery and
DC-DC power converter, which go together to deliver smooth, linear and powerful acceleration from a standing start, as well as more refined and responsive operation for the engine’s stop-start system. Turning the engine into a hybrid can hardly help but improve its efficiency and economy, too, but Toyota very much concentrates on the effect it’ll have on what the vehicle’s like to drive.
Read the full article in the September issue of Overlander 4×4 –
