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Urban Legend: Toyota's Landcruiser.
In Australia, Toyota is seen as a “cardigan car” brand, with capable if unexciting vehicles such as the Aurion and Camry. The Corolla is consistently a high seller but, behind the scenes, is Toyota’s legendary Landcruiser. First released to an unsuspecting world in 1951, it’s grown and evolved and diverged into different models. I run into the 200 series GX and takes a look at where this classic nameplate is today
It’s a four model range: GX, GXL, VX and Sahara. The GX as tested comes with a planet rotation stopping twin turbo, 650Nm diesel V8, at 4.5L capacity. That torque is available at just 1600 revs with peak power a not unreasonable 190kW at 3400rpm. The iron block, alloy head engine 
sips just over 10L per 100 kilometres, incredible given the ‘Cruiser’s kerb weight of a lick over two and a half tonnes. The main tank is 93 litres in capacity with the auxiliary at 45L, providing a potential range of well over 1000 kms. There’s the characteristic diesel chatter under way, with the six speed auto calibrated to turn the engine over at 
1600/1700 rpm for freeway velocity whilst the exhaust emits a muted V8 burble.
On the road the Landcruiser is relaxed, unstressed, that massive amount of torque easily motivating the mass along; sink the right foot and the transmission quietly drops two spots, the engine takes a deep breath and sends the speedo spinning. There’s a palpable shove in the back and the horizon appears to increase in size rapidly. Given the drag co-efficient of the Landcruiser is akin to a kite in a stiff breeze, it’s a truly remarkable sensation to experience. Ride 
quality is niggly jiggly; the high profile dual purpose spec tyres (285/65s on 17 inch rims) do an admirable job of soaking up most bumps however the suspension (double wishbone front and live rear combination) is a bit touchy, with smaller and repetitive bumps being transmitted. Although there’s a squeal from the tyres coming into some bends, there’s never a true feeling of losing contact; the vehicle supplied was tested during some of Sydney’s wettest summer days and it was more of the pucker factor than anything when it came to handling. Under brakes, a well modulated pedal, with consistent travel, hauls the ‘Cruiser up with nary a blink, the near fourteen inch wide discs throwing out the anchors equally and without fuss each time.
As one would expect off road, it’s a sure footed machine, with plenty of torque to power through foot deep puddles in a clay basin; in fact, the wading depth is set at a maximum of 700 millimetres. On a tech level, there’s a centre diff lock, a transfer case for low range crawling and a dial for hill descent speed. With the front wheels being pushed more to the front bumper, approach angle is rated at a high thirty degrees with departure a tad less, at twenty. With an overall length of near as dammit five metres and a wheelbase of 2.85 metres, with a track of close to 1.8 metres, it presents a formidable footprint.
The interior is one of function over form; being a base model and consequently devoid 
of suburban fripperies, it’s a dirt friendly floor covering combination of rubber and vinyl. Get dirty, hose it out is the motto, with a simple cloth covering for the five seats, including the 60/40 split fold rear. There’s a basic set of steering wheel controls, including Bluetooth, single CD AM/FM radio with USB and auxiliary inputs, no parking sensors or reverse camera, which, initially seems a terrible omission. In hindsight, it brought back the driver training I received at a time where sensors and cameras for cars were a thing of science fiction; nowadays they’re there for people that haven’t been taught to drive. Aircon controls where minimalist also and, as such, a thing of engineering perfection, being a set of clearly identified buttons,
for their individual purpose.
Driver’s instrumentation is also simple; tacho and oil temperature in one dial, speed and battery charge in the other, bisected by fuel and water temperature atop the gear indicator. The gear lever itself is mounted in a gated design, with a Sportshift option, unused in the week, as the bountiful torque was available at the crack of a right foot.
Naturally, for such a physically big vehicle (overall width and height is equal at 1970mm) there’s plenty of cargo space, with a massive 1431 litres available. As is the wont of manufacturers nowadays, there’s a plethora of cup holders, ideal for the farmer’s early morning coffee or a coldie at the end of the day.
The exterior of the GX provided was the basic white, with colour coded bumpers contrasting with the plain black of the driver’s side mounted snorkel intake. It’s an evolution, looks wise, of the 100 series released in the late ’90s, 
with a solid and bluff look. A double lamp headlight cluster and a simple, compact taillight assembly bookend the big machine.
Toyota’s GX Landcruiser is part of a legendary family; in it’s own right, for what its design objctives and true intended market are, it’s virtually ideal. There’s nothing excessive, it’s fitted out internally to suit the target usage, it is more than capable off road and in muddy environs and is decently economical. Price, though, is not for the faint of heart, clocking in at around 83 large. However, for the life of the car and for its sheer overall usefullness, it’s really not that much. Legend, writ large. Head here: http://www.toyota.com.au/landcruiser-200/specifications/gx-turbo-diesel?WT.ac=VH_LC200_RangeSpecs_GXL_Specs for more.
Optimal Appeal For Kia's Big Car
Charles Darwin espoused “The Theory of Evolution”; it certainly applies to the world of automotive transport and Kia’s Optima is a brilliant case in point. Starting off as a somewhat ugly duckling, it’s now a classy swan. With a profile not unlike Jaguar’s gorgeous XF, it cuts a sharp figure on the road, but is everything else up to the task? I check out the entry level Si Optima…
The Driven Heart
It’s well and truly a common engine size at 2.4L and churns out a respectable 148 kilowatts, albeit at a high 6300 revs. Peak torque is 250 Newton metres at a revvy 4250rpm, with the engine drinking from a 70 litre tank. Economy is quoted as being 7.9L per 100 kilometres on a combined cycle, with the weak spot being the urban figure, a tick over 11.2L. A Wheel Thing averaged, over a week, a tick under 10L/100kms in a predominantly urban driving program. Tagged as GDI, for gasoline direct injection, it’s a freespirited, if slightly buzzy, piece of engineering, revving freely when asked and quietly tootling around when not.
The Clothing Store
Lithe, angular, curvaceous where it counts, the Optima has a sense of presence on the road. The vehicle provided came clad in 
Platinum Graphite, a metallic grey which looks superb on the sharp panels. A gloss black grille, swept back and wrap around style headlights give the Optima an arrow head front end, moving to a high belt line and sweeping back into a coupe 
style rear roof line, endcapped by an angular taillight cluster. It’s cohesive and balanced. The Si misses out on the LED running lights as featured on the SLi and Platinum. At 4845mm in length, 1830mm wide and under 1500mm in height, it’s a trim and taut looking beast however it’s a touch porky at nearly 1600kg.
The Office Space
Base model it might be but the seats provided some of the best support and least stuffing around to get a comfortable seating 
position I’ve had in weeks. A mixture of manufactured leather and cloth, 
the wrap around of the wings and what feels like just the right amount of padding go, immediately, a long way to starting a journey comfortably. An efficient dash layout, sensibly laid out switchgear, paddle shifts, wide opening doors, a 500 odd litre cargo space are let down somewhat by a cheapish looking and feeling steering wheel. 
Although symmetrically laid out, there’s a touch too many buttons to look at plus there’s an Eco button hanging off the bottom right which could have been better located elsewhere.
The audio system screen is the tried and proven red dot matrix design, it sounds good but the menu system to adjust the sound becomes nonintuitive after the first two steps. The Si has an old tech foot operated park brake as well, somewhat out of tune with the rest of the tech, such as reverse camera (shown in the rear vision mirror), traction control and Hill Start Assist.
On The Road
The lack of torque is an issue at times, initially off the line and when required to make an overtaking move. It’s geared to be around 2000-2200 revs at freeway speeds, requiring either a bit of preplanning and a deft right foot or a hefty thump on the go pedal, sending the tacho surging past 4000 revs and the six speed auto back to fourth, sometimes third. The brake is beautifully 
pressured, wonderfully modulated, reading the driver’s desire to squeeze down to a stop as equally well as a momentary dab or a full emergency brake. The suspension is the well proven combination of McPherson strut front/multilink rear, providing a sublime ride on smooth surfaces and ironing out the niggles all too often found, aided by the 215/55 section rubber, wrapped around 17 inch alloys with a five spoke tuning fork design. Turn in is precise however it feels more weight on centre and lightens up left and right, feeling, oddly, as if the steering is activating the wheels from the top rather than from inside the hubs.
The Wrap
Time, money, research, result. Time and money well spent on research and the result is the Optima. The test car is priced at $31990 + ORCs and metallic paint is $595. Click here: http://www.kia.com.au/showroom/optima for more.
The More Things Change….
Being the circuit commentator for Sydney Motorsport Park has a few advantages; I’ve met quite a few of Australia’s best or more well known racing drivers and, occasionally, get to work and be involved in some pretty high profile events, such as the Top Gear Festival. Saturday 15th February was a big day as it was the official test day for Australia’s top tier racing category, the V8 Supercars and I was the MC for the event.
As is the wont of the weather, it was wet, wetter than standing underneath Niagara Falls, it felt like. It certainly didn’t stop the cars nor did it stop the crowd. Both built slowly; the crowd was considerable by midday and the cars times dropping rapidly per lap as the rain eased and the track dried. Of prime interest was the new entrant to the category, a revisiting of an oddly popular name for the sport: Volvo. The car is the S60, the team is Garry Rogers Motorsport, known for their left of field approach and fostering of young talent, in this case Kiwi born Scott McLaughlin, alongside experienced Swedish driver Robert Dahlgren. With GRM’s long term backer, Valvoline, prominently displayed on the sides, the cars looked the part but the party piece is the engine. A 60 degree vee configuration and of five litres capacity, it doesn’t have the same bass note of the rest of the field, instead it’s a higher pitch, certainly not unpleasing to the ear. With work being done by the Swedish company’ performance arm, Polestar, it’s a return to Australian tin top racing after a break of over fifteen years. Here’s a look at the car: http://www.volvocars.com/au/all-cars-my13/volvo-s60/Pages/video.aspx.
After the rain had stopped, times dropped and dropped quickly; at one stage there was a new quickest time every couple of laps before plateauing. To give an indication, laps were around one minute forty six seconds (1.46) to start off before bottoming out at one minute thirty!
Another highlight was the now traditional grid walk, with the cars lining up on the main straight and the crowd being able to walk around them. This was kicked off by a stunning announcement from the larger than life Betty Klimenko, head of the Erebus Racing team. Rather than spending a fortune on a media driven team launch, Klimenko decided instead to donate what she estimated may have been spent to the Westmead Childrens Hospital. The sum? A tidy $50, 000 thank you….
The Volvos performed well, perhaps better than expected; having said that, Dahlgren’s car was the only one to momentarily retire, with a power steering hose coming loose and spraying fluid onto the hot engine, laying down a sizeable smokescreen. Given the field, 25 cars in all, was spread by a mere 2.5 seconds at the end of the test day, it bodes well for the return of Volvo to Australian motorsport, with their first real test being at the fabled Clipsal 500, in Adelaide, covering the first weekend of March. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Welcome back, Volvo.
And Then There Were None……
The earlier than expected news that Toyota Australia will also cease manufacturing came as no surprise apart from the timing of the announcement. Widely expected to be in March, it nonetheless completes the trifecta with Ford and Holden announcing their cessation of manufacturing last year.
Workers are said to be devastated at the news, whilst Toyota said: “Together with one of the most open and fragmented automotive markets in the world and increased competitiveness due to current and future Free Trade Agreements, it is not viable to continue building cars in Australia.” There’s another 2500 jobs to go with the Altona engine manufacturing plant but it reaches further than that. As one person on Twitter said: “One day I’ll be telling my kids we built cars in Australia”. That’s a fair point because now gone are the days where one might aspire to work in the car industry. It’s history that will write the future of manufacturing full stop, but now the longer term situation needs to be examined, with component suppliers, transport groups and more all to be affected by the decisions made by the last three companies. 
Naturally, there’s fingers being pointed at the current Australian government, with the not unexpected slamming of them by Australian Manufacturing Workers Union secretary Dave Smith, saying: “I think disastrous is the best way to describe it. In the space of the few months the Federal Government has come to power they have just destroyed the car industry and they make no apology destroying it. Fifty-thousand jobs will go because of an ideologically driven position that we don’t support inefficient industry. We’re the only country in the world that thinks that.” As has also been pointed out, so many other businesses that don’t get assistance are still in operation so it again begs the question, what processes were being undertaken internally for so long that allowed this to happen? Free trade agreements haven’t helped, nor have successive governments with a lack of subsidies to keep encouraging companies to continue.
Regardless, it’s a sad, sad day for the automotive industry and the associated businesses.
Level 2, 9 Help Street