Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series 2021 to get diesel engine! New off-road icon to get 2.8-litre unit – reports

The incoming Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series will get a diesel engine option, with reports out of Japan today confirming the updated icon will be offered with a 2.8-litre diesel power plant as well as petrol and petrol-hybrid motors. 

The reports today also suggest the launch of the 300 Series has been pushed back, with Toyota now planning to release the much-hyped LandCruiser around June of 2021.

The three new engine options replace the 200 Series’ petrol V8, which produced 234kW and 460Nm, and the current 4.5-litre twin-turbo-diesel, which makes 250kW and 650Nm.

The engine isn’t exactly new, with the power plant currently at work in the Toyota LandCruiser Prado, where it produces 140kW and 450Nm. In that car, it delivers a braked towing capacity of 3000kg, and sips a claimed 8.0 litres per hundred kilometres. Engine output specifics aren’t yet available for the 300 Series, but it’s hard to imagine them being much higher.

Like in the Prado, international reports suggest the engine will be paired with a six-speed automatic gearbox in the 300 Series. 

The news follows earlier reports that the next LandCruiser engine options will also include twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 engine from the Lexus LS500. In Lexus guise, that engine produces some 310kW and 600Nm, though outputs for the 300 are yet to be confirmed.

Option two would then appear to be an electrified version of that same engine, which – though the numbers haven’t been announced – would clearly increase the outputs, with Japanese media promising more power, with a focus on torque.

Both petrol engines will be paired with an eight-speed automatic, and all LandCruiser variants will be 4WD only.

As previously reported, the new LandCruiser will adopt a ladder-frame TNGA platform, and will arrive in 4WD guise only. Japanese media has also reported the new vehicle’s dimensions as 4950mm in length, 1980mm in width, and 1870mm in height, and claimed the exterior design won’t stray too far from the current vehicle, only with a bolder front end more in keeping with Toyota’s modern line-up.

Critically, Toyota is yet to comment on the new LandCruiser, and CarsGuide hasn’t independently verified these reports.

“That vehicle is under development, and whatever powertrain it comes with will be suited to the Australian marketplace. Apart from that, we have nothing we can confirm at this point,” Toyota Australia has told us in the past.