Part 2 – New York International Auto Show 2013 – Toyota

Just around the corner from the Dodge offerings was the Toyota section.  Toyota didn’t have any new unveilings but they did have a few attention grabbers which pulled me in for a while.  Being a gear head I couldn’t help be take notice of the Sequoia outfitted to move a family of five down the quarter mile in a hurry!  This clean looking Matco sponsored SUV fit somewhere in limbo because it didn’t quite fit the bill as a full on drag racer and it wasn’t even close to be a comfortable weekend cruiser.  A full on drag racer certainly wouldn’t have the additional seats and for sure not a kid size Mastercraft in the middle of the second row.  The rear seat entertainment screens seemed a bit out of place too unless it was just to display the speed and G-forces you’re pulling while doing a wheelie down the strip!  All that nonsense aside, this was a good looking truck that I’m sure would be a really fun tire slayer.

Back in October Toyota pulled a bit of publicity stunt when it used a Tundra to pull the space shuttle Endeavor towards its retirement home at the California Science Center.  This towing feat was accomplished by an unmodified truck which is a pretty amazing achievement.  It did require a bit of preparation though.  1,700 lbs was loaded in the bed and the tires were aired down to help the truck get as much traction as possible.  I’m fairly certain that NASA or the California Science Center could have selected an American-made truck to pull this national icon but that’s not relevant here.  The very same truck that pulled the space shuttle was on display and was being used as target practice….by kids throwing paper airplanes.  Such a noble truck relegated to a kids toy.  It was fun to fold some paper space shuttles with my kids but getting those poorly balanced paper crafts to soar through the target set in the Tundra’s bed was not an easy task.

The most exciting things I got to crawl through was the 2013 Toyota Land Cruiser.  I have never owned a Land Cruiser myself but I’m always been fascinated with this offroading legend.  One of the things I love most about the Land Cruiser, I mean besides the 5.3L V8 that cranks out 381 HP and 401 lb-ft of torque, is the fold down tailgate.  The Land Cruiser (and of course its fancier sister, the Lexus LX570) is one of the only SUVs that you can still buy that has a drop down tailgate.  That seemingly unimportant feature is so full of utility that I feel that it should be standard on every offroad vehicle.  The third row seat in the Toyota Land Cruiser also performs a neat trick by folding up into the sides. This method performs the same basic thing as other SUVs, getting that extra seat out of the way when not in use, but the execution just makes more sense going up to the sides insead of folding farther into a vehicle which is harder to deploy or remove.

That V8 motor is extremely powerful and would make pulling a trailer an easy task.  The Toyota Land Cruiser is rated  at 8,200 lbs which should be plenty to pull a trailer loaded with your hardcore wheeler or other plaything to the trail head.  Of course that 13 city/18 highway MPG is not real great compared to even the full-size truck offerings at the show.  While the fullsize SUV field isn’t as cut-throat as the mid-size SUV/cross-over field, the drivetrain is due for refresh to keep it current and a valid contender in its market.  The biggest drawback, at least in my opinion, is the base price of $78,555

Be sure to let me know what you think of the Toyota vehicles in the comments below, through Facebook, Twitter or G+.