Latest big off-road rig is seen as a preview of next year’s entry Landcruiser.

HERE’S our first look at the new Toyota Prado - though styling will of course alter, the Lexus GX just unveiled is essentially the replacement for a long-toothed Landcruiser Kiwis have largely lost interest in.

Big question: What chance of both the glam bent-L and more gumboot-set equivalent being sold here?

Toyota New Zealand, into which Lexus NZ is intermeshed, has yet to offer comment about the GX, revealed in North America last last week.

It might yet feel compelled, given Australia has effectively signalled intent to adopt it.

That doesn’t, of course, mean what they see is what we might also get. 

The conjoined brands’ commitment to Clean Car emissions average targets have made them cautious about their model choices, to point where volume of the LandCruiser 300-Series and Lexus LX500 has been significantly pinned back. 

However, life could be easier for the GX/Prado, which while drawing heavy off those biggest-type representations - to point all of adopting the biggies’ TNGA-F body-on-frame platform - is also the first on that underpinning to run with a drivetrain giving a Green edge. 

While full details are yet to be confirmed, Lexus has vowed the GX will be fitted with a 2.4-litre turbo-petrol with essentially the same kind of electric assistance kicked off in Prius way back when and now proliferates a multitude of Lexus and Toyota passenger and car-based  recreational models.

It’s expected this powertrain is also set to show in the new Prado, which is set to be unveiled around August, with full scale production under way by 2024.

The powertrain is the same unit already undertaking duty in the Lexus RX500h, however overseas’ reports say the set-up for GX/Prado will likely be more akin to that in the Tacoma, a big utility designed primarily for North America. In Tacoma, the drivetrain features a single electric motor, sandwiched between the engine and transmission, and a 1.87kWh lithium-ion battery.

It has a 243kW and 630Nm total system output and an eight-speed automatic transmission in the Tacoma.

As expected, the GX is also powered by a 3.4-litre twin-turbo petrol V6, taken from the larger LX, delivering 649Nm torque but with power reduced by 45kW to make 260kW. That engine is married to a 10-speed automatic.

All GXs, including the hybrid, have a full-time all-wheel drive with a low-range transfer case and a locking Torsen limited-slip centre differential.

Size-wise, GX is still a lane and parking space filler; 4949mm long, 1980mm wide and 1920mm wide in standard guise. The 2850mm wheelbase is identical to that of the LX and LandCruiser 300 and a 600mm increase on the current Prado. 

The model seen today is a specific off-road-focused variant, with beefier looks and talent.  A Prado GR Sport, then? That descriptive would maintain continuity with its big brother here. In North America, it is labelled the Overtrail.

The fit out 33-inch all-terrain tyres, 18-inch alloy wheels, black extended wheel arches, an aluminium skid plate, an electronic locking rear differential and raises ride height by 15mm, to 1935mm overall.

The Overtrail also has the same E-KDSS system that goes on Landcruiser 300 GR Sport - this tightens the front and rear sway bars on road, to improve handling (sounds far-fetched but it truly works) and disconnects them completely for off-seal fun. Overtrail also has additional off-road functions, including multi-terrain select, crawl control, downhill assist, and a 3D multi-terrain camera system.

GX has high-mount double-wishbone front suspension, with Lexus’s engineers employing a ‘finetuned’ coil spring rate, and at rear a four-link rigid axle with lateral control arms. With a 3000kg limit, current Prado has been left behind the likes of the Ford Everest and Isuzu M-UX, but the new seems to have reconciled that. The GX is rated for hauling 3628kgs.

The LX without a 'spindle' grille and L-hooked headlights is basically indistinguishable from a Landcruiser 300. Will it be the same for the GX in comparison with the Prado?

Hopefully so. The new styling direction of a more-rugged body, similar to a certain Land Rover, with a squared-off rear end, a boxier front end with an upright A-pillar and high bonnet line, and an available two-tone roof appears to have high kerbside and high country trail value.

The tailgate design is one point of big difference. The current car’s awkward side-hinged barn door is replaced by a lift-up hands-free electric tailgate, with an opening upper glass compartment.

The interior is also a massive leap forward, technology-wise, with the main feature being  14-inch central touch screen, primarily for infotainment  ut also - if it’s configured as the LX/300 one is - set to be  portal to various functions specific to the vehicle’s actual operability. The GX also has a 12.3 inch digital screen ahead of the driver; no more analogue dials.

GX Overtrail is a five-seater, but the other editions have room for seven over three rows seating. The mid row can either be 60:40 split-folding bench or deliver with two captain’s chairs.

Available features include heated and ventilated front seats, heated second-row seats, a power-folding third-row, six illuminated USB-C charge ports, a 21-speaker Mark Levinson surround-sound audio system, a digital key, and a head-up display.

Even though all heavy duty sports utility wagons are notoriously long-lived, current Prado has been around for an exceptional period. The type is one of the Japan Inc’s longest-lived models. 

The current editions  - in $76,390 GX, $85,390 VX and $97,390 VX Limited variants - are second facelifts of a fourth generation whose DNA traces to a model that came out in 1985.