In july 1941 he geo toyota founder of toyota motor corporation expressed his dream to produce a japanese car his key aims were low price high performance and good fuel economy nearly ten years later the us army invited japanese carmakers for a bid to produce a four-wheel drive truck and so the toyota bj was born although toyota didn’t win the bid after the bj
Prototype made an excellent impression by climbing to the sixth hill station of mount fuji further than any vehicle had gone before the japanese police adopted it as a patrol vehicle and toyota started production in 1954 the toyota bj was renamed the toyota landcruiser in 1955 the land cruiser 20 series was launched it was available with a metal roof and doors as
Well as something quite astonishing for that time air-conditioning in 1956 the land cruiser was the first mass-produced toyota car to be officially exported to world markets starting with brazil and saudi arabia followed by the middle east southeast asia and south america its toughness and go anywhere capabilities was soon recognized and the landcruiser reputation
Started to spread around the world in 1957 the us army invited toyota to bid once more again the land cruiser was not selected but this time the superiority of the model was acknowledged in the united states this convinced toyota to enter the american market and the first land cruiser was sold there in 1958 the first landcruiser in europe also arrived in 1958 when
The model was introduced at the barcelona motor show in spain in 1960 the 40 series was launched production techniques were modernised and the vehicle was improved with the introduction of low ratio gearing for better acceleration and off-road performance in addition room for a third front occupant was made the 40 series also marked the debut of a diesel engine in
1967 the 55 series arrived the land cruiser now made its appearance as a cross-country four-wheel-drive vehicle the first real station wagon the 55 series was developed to meet american standards of safety and highway driving but it retained its off-road capabilities for tackling rugged roads in the 80s the debut of the 60 series marked the start of land cruiser
Being seen not only as a workhorse but also as a recreational family vehicle this trend continued in the 80 series with the adoption of airbags and anti-lock brakes a hundred series marked the introduction of the first toyota v8 petrol engine adding substantially more power to the land cruiser family with more than five million customers worldwide the toyota land
Cruiser is the best-selling suv in the world and it continues to be a global success it is currently manufactured in 9002 plants around the globe and is sold in 140 countries the land cruiser is the most iconic car in the toyota range and it has played a major role in toyotas worldwide expansion over the years it has evolved from a basic four-wheel-drive utility
Vehicle into an upmarket suv that pairs the go anywhere capability of the original land cruiser with the refinement of a luxury passenger car the all-new land cruiser v8 takes those values further than ever comfortable without compromising its authentic off-road performance the new land cruiser v8 is truly the ultimate go anywhere vehicle the land cruiser v8 is
Available with two brand new suspension control technologies the kinetic dynamic suspension system or kdss is a european first it automatically adjusts the front and rear stabilizer bars to suit the terrain on-road active stabilizing is permanently engaged helping to control body rock but as soon as you head off road the system automatically disables the stabilizers
To improve rough ground reports the automatic responses of kdss cleverly rely on two hydraulic cylinders one in each of the anti-roll gar months these are linked by pipes so the pressure generated by one cylinder can be transmitted to the other on road when body role occurs this changes the pressure and the hydraulic cylinders of the stabilizer bars but because the
Change is similar in both the front and rear cylinders they cancel each other out neither cylinders pissy is able to travel much this blocks the stabilizer bars movement and they perform normally ensuring a high level of driving stability however during off-road driving the front and rear wheels can move out of sequence and often in a diagonal because of this the
Hydraulic cylinders do not counteract each other and the system releases the anti-roll bar the result the full suspension stroke can occur allowing maximum wheel articulation up to 640 millimeters for the front and 690 millimeters for the rear this helps ensure excellent traction control and ride comfort good stability and remarkable rough road performance the
Second suspension technology available with land cruiser v8 is toyota’s four-wheel active height control and adaptive variable suspension this is a world first combining length suspension for all four wheels height control and adaptive suspension together with spring rate adjustment it provides exceptional on-road refinement and comfort and excellent body control
Adaptive variable suspension electronically manages the shock absorbers damping and comfort is increased and stability is improved the spring rate control function meanwhile operates on the front suspension and influences its characteristics when turning or braking it is stiffened during high-speed maneuvers for example to give more composure during normal travel
It is softened for maximum comfort offroad the movement of wheels out of phase with each other allows the hydraulic pressure and the four linked shock absorbers to vary this releases individual wheels for excellent articulation the result is that land cruiser soaks up more bumps and offers greater ground contr improving off-road performance active height control
Enables drivers to raise or lower the vehicle by adjusting the fluid distribution between the shock absorbers the system now features a shorter lowering time and a greater range of height adjustment the front of the vehicle can vary by 110 millimeters while the rear can travel through 100 millimeters thanks to all this technology the new land cruiser v8 at its
2,850 millimeter wheelbase can tackle height differences of six hundred and thirty millimeters without lifting a wheel off the ground a further benefit of active height control is its auto leveling function this maintains constant suspension height regardless of the number of passengers or the amount of luggage it also lowers the vehicle’s height at speed improving
Stability even more with both of these sophisticated active suspension systems the rewards of toyotas engineering expertise are clear from excellent write comfort to even better off-road performance land cruiser v8 is now smarter than ever and it shows quality durability and reliability are key elements of toyotas dna and no vehicle demonstrates this better than
The new land cruiser v8 during its development toyota’s expert engineers took full advantage of computer-aided evaluation but for an suv known for decades as the king of all roads extensive field testing was essential this is the exciting journey that the new land cruiser v8 experienced all in the name of thorough toyota testing during the initial development
Phase in japan the land cruiser v8 underwent a series of laboratory trials such as an ordeal on a shaker structure to verify long-term vehicle durability chassis robustness an underbody protection meanwhile were checked with radical vehicle impact evaluations next there was time to expose the vehicle to the toughest real-world off-road situations the test car
Was sent to the united states followed by oman and then on to australia in search of the most extreme weather and road conditions in the states the car was evaluated for high-speed performance for comfort levels during traffic jams for behavior in deep snow and for general off-road durability in oman the land cruiser v8 was exposed to dry sandy environments and
Its air-conditioning performance was evaluated in scorching desert temperatures australia was another ideal testing ground with its variety of road surfaces and off-road situations such as swamps beaches and dusty tracks it’s here that the land cruiser also underwent a hundred thousand kilometer long-distance durability tests to focus attention on both vehicle
Performance and passenger comfort the new toyota land cruiser v8 was developed tested and improved over the course of a program that lasted five years twice as long as the engineering time for any normal passenger car over 1,500 passionate toyota engineers work together on this endeavor helping to make the new land cruiser v8 the ultimate king of all roads
Transcribed from video
Toyota Land Cruiser V8' heritage – The history of Land Cruiser By n2k2u
