Toyota Land Cruiser V8 diesel safe! “No plan” to axe off-road icon’s eight-cylinder engine

The new 300 Series LandCruiser’s shift to a V6 engine family won’t spell the end of eight-cylinder power for the broader range, with Toyota confirming there is “no plan” to retire the eight-cylinder engine from the iconic 70 Series.

International reports have suggested Toyota is retiring its petrol V8 engine family to focus instead on six-cylinder engines – including the petrol and hybrid options to be offered in the 300 Series LandCruiser – but that won’t include the iconic V8 in the 70 Series, which has been given a stay of execution.

The 70 Series and current 200 Series share the 1VD-FTV diesel engine (though with different turbocharger configurations), sparking fears that, when the 200 Series was retired, the fall in demand for the eight-cylinder would make it unsustainable for a single LandCruiser model, and could even put the 70 Series itself at risk.  

But Toyota has extinguished those fears, saying there is no planned change for the 70 Series, with the only thing that will kill the 151kW, 430Nm engine off thought to be future emissions regulations.

It means that, while the bell will eventually toll for the diesel donk, it shows no sign of ringing anytime soon.

“There are currently no planned changes to the LandCruiser 70 series availability, or to its powertrain,” a Toyota spokesperson told CarsGuide.

“As far as future model plans on the replacement for the upcoming LandCruiser 200, we can’t confirm any powertrain details at this stage.”

The V8-powered 70 Series will be joined by a new 300 Series next year, expected to arrive packing an all-new V6 turbo-diesel, as well as the petrol and petrol hybrid options mentioned above. 

While outputs are yet to be confirmed, we would expect power to meet or exceed the 200kW and 650Nm on offer from the current V8 diesel.

“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.