Landcruiser 300

[Davman]

Hi All.
I had the chance to drive a relatives Landcruiser 300 Series VX the other day.
Now I have owned a Landcruiser 200 series VX and a Sahara before, so I come from a line of having full respect for the Toyota system, and the vehicles that they produce.
The 200 Series was vehicle that had a presence about it, the V8 Diesel was a beast of an engine, which sounded awesome, and it just had.....  dare I say it "balls".  It was a great truck to drive.

Now the 300 Series VX - All $130,000AUD of it.
It has taken the term LAND CRUISER to a whole new level.  Everything about the car works extremely well, the engine is punchy, the interior luxurious, it is comfortable to drive only every now and then hinting that it is a large heavy car as it pitches and twists over some undulations.  It has a mountain of tech in the car, the sound system is great, but some of the tech does interfere with the driver experience.
The improvements over the 200 Series are marked and obvious and it is a big evolution over the previous model.

However......  The improvements come at a big cost, because for me, the car just has NO SOUL.
Everytime I looked at it from the outside before, I just didn't like it, and I couldn't make myself like it.
Now I have driven it, my opinions have not changed.... I still dont like it, not because it isn't a great machine.. it is, but because it doesn't have...... dare I say it "balls"

However, every time I look at the Grenadier, something stirs from deep within because it has.... yes dare I say it.....  you know what.

I am looking forward to parking my Grenadier next to any  LC300, and then watching the look on Toyota owners face,  when 95% of blokes  walk straight past their LC300- and start drooling over my Grenadier.

My 2 cents worth.

 

[mmel]

I have been looking to 'quickly' replace an aging VW Passat Alltrack with something more robust as the poor thing can't deal with our ever worsening roads. I had hoped the car would last until the grenadier arrives, but am now furiously researching other options due to more and more issues on the car. I started looking at Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Landcruiser, the Pajero Sport seems cheap and cheerful while the LC seems immensely capable and I know which would hold its value better. I am thinking of going for a VX just so I have something reliable and comfy that I know will deal with the horrendous state of the roads. Then when the grenadier comes I can retire my VW Amarok. Would have the best of both worlds really.

 

[Tazzieman]

No soul...the curse of every modern car. The generic , vanilla experience.I'm expecting the Grenadier to feel relatively modern to someone who only drives 27-58 year old cars , but I'm sure it has the soul we require.
At least it doesn't look like a bar of soft soap.

 

[Plainview]

Pretty much the same for me - I have a 2008 LC200 that has served me well for 14 years, was going to replace it with a 300 but I just can't get over the design. Interior is fab and would be a great place to spend days in driving up and down Western Australia as we do, but I can't love the exterior. So the Grenadier is ordered. I'll keep the 200 series as well though - its got too many good memories. 

 

[grenadierboy]

[QUOTE username=Tazzieman userid=8441415 postid=1332769776]No soul...the curse of every modern car. The generic , vanilla experience.I'm expecting the Grenadier to feel relatively modern to someone who only drives 27-58 year old cars , but I'm sure it has the soul we require.
At least it doesn't look like a bar of soft soap.[/QUOTE]

you and I are on a unity ticket Tazzieman.

The production year of my last 4 car purchases (since 2014): 1968, 1969, 1983, 1966. 

Driving a 2022 Grenadier will feel positively space age!

 

[G-Man]

[QUOTE username=Tazzieman userid=8441415 postid=1332769776]At least it doesn't look like a bar of soft soap.[/QUOTE]

I just Googled the 300 to see what you were talking about. Those bonnet butt cheeks would take some getting used to ?

 

[Davman]

It has a huge crack down the middle of two chubby cheeks.  HUGE

 

[Andy]

I have a LC 300 on order for the last 4 months,  and was told delivery expected late 22 early 23 .However, was told this week it will be another 2.5 years    hence IG order placed.  Happy with either car.

 

[Davman]

Andy - good to have you on board.
What is your build date?

 

[Andy]

July 23    I did have a reservation last year and cancelled it when I ordered LC300   what a mistake that was.    hence July 23 build now

 

[stickshifter]

Hi All.
I had the chance to drive a relatives Landcruiser 300 Series VX the other day.
Now I have owned a Landcruiser 200 series VX and a Sahara before, so I come from a line of having full respect for the Toyota system, and the vehicles that they produce.
The 200 Series was vehicle that had a presence about it, the V8 Diesel was a beast of an engine, which sounded awesome, and it just had..... dare I say it "balls". It was a great truck to drive.

Now the 300 Series VX - All $130,000AUD of it.
It has taken the term LAND CRUISER to a whole new level. Everything about the car works extremely well, the engine is punchy, the interior luxurious, it is comfortable to drive only every now and then hinting that it is a large heavy car as it pitches and twists over some undulations. It has a mountain of tech in the car, the sound system is great, but some of the tech does interfere with the driver experience.
The improvements over the 200 Series are marked and obvious and it is a big evolution over the previous model.

However...... The improvements come at a big cost, because for me, the car just has NO SOUL.
Everytime I looked at it from the outside before, I just didn't like it, and I couldn't make myself like it.
Now I have driven it, my opinions have not changed.... I still dont like it, not because it isn't a great machine.. it is, but because it doesn't have...... dare I say it "balls"

However, every time I look at the Grenadier, something stirs from deep within because it has.... yes dare I say it..... you know what.

I am looking forward to parking my Grenadier next to any LC300, and then watching the look on Toyota owners face, when 95% of blokes walk straight past their LC300- and start drooling over my Grenadier.

My 2 cents worth.

Aaaah, the "soul" of a vehicle. Hard to quantify, but eminently recognizable when a vehicle has soul. I had a similar experience as yours: I sold my 2008 Audi RS4 (manual transmission, 4.2 liter naturally aspirated V8) due to its terrible fuel economy and the fact that it was going to be expensive to maintain out of warranty. But I began to miss owning an all-wheel drive sport sedan, so I got a 2012 Audi S4 (manual transmission, supercharged 3.0 liter V6). In many ways, the supercharged V6 was "better" than the naturally aspirated V8 - especially with low rpm torque - but the S4 had no soul. In contrast, the RS4 was one of the greatest vehicles I have owned: the sound of the engine, the feeling of connection with the vehicle, the supreme confidence cornering. That car had soul.

My other "favorite" vehicle was a 1978 Jeep CJ-7. With its three-speed manual transmission, 4.2 liter inline six, rag-top, roll cage... that little truck had miles and miles of soul. No words to describe being out on a beach, after a great surf session, no top on the Jeep, and the glow of the setting sun lighting up the face of the beautiful woman in the passenger seat... Young and dumb, I dumped it on its side once, off-road, after a foot of fresh snow in the middle of winter. My buddy and I had to run 8 miles home through the fresh snow in the middle of the night. We came back the next morning with another friend who had a front-mounted electric winch, and we also used a hand-cranked come-along, and we got the CJ-7 right side up. The Jeep started up on the first try; the only damage was a broken side-mirror. Sure, it broke down all the time, but I could fix just about any problem with the tools I carried. Easiest vehicle to work on I've ever owned. I think Defender owners understand the kind of relationship that one develops with a vehicle like this.

I think many of us are drawn to the Grenadier because it seems like it might be one of those rare vehicles with "soul".

 

[DCPU]

Then when the grenadier comes I can retire my VW Amarok. Would have the best of both worlds really.

They'll be partly sisters ~ the chassis both having been made by Gestamp in Bielefeld.

"The finished Amarok ladder frame weighs 230 kilograms, is almost five meters long and nearly one and a half meters wide, making it the largest part ever produced at the Gestamp plant in Bielefeld. Well over 200 individual steel parts are used to produce it."

Gestamp relies on the expertise of KUKA Systems | KUKA AG

KUKA Systems’ automotive engineering expertise in action at Gestamp

www.kuka.com

 

[CountyV8]

They'll be partly sisters ~ the chassis both having been made by Gestamp in Bielefeld.

"The finished Amarok ladder frame weighs 230 kilograms, is almost five meters long and nearly one and a half meters wide, making it the largest part ever produced at the Gestamp plant in Bielefeld. Well over 200 individual steel parts are used to produce it."

Gestamp relies on the expertise of KUKA Systems | KUKA AG

KUKA Systems’ automotive engineering expertise in action at Gestamp

www.kuka.com

Pity the new Amarok is a ford ranger

 

[Spjnr]

Pity the new Amarok is a ford ranger

Yeah very strange move on VW's part. The Ford Ranger sells like hot cakes here in the UK, so I don't see why people will pay the premium for the Amarok when they realise they're the same truck underneath. It didn't work for Merc so why would it work for VW?