Save perhaps for the restricted seat count, the Gazoo flagship of the 300-Series family stands as the best kind of Cruiser.

Price: $144,990.

Powertrain and economy: 3.3-litre turbodiesel six-cylinder, 277kW/ 700Nm, 10-speed automatic, 4WD, claimed combined economy 8.9L/100km, 235g/km CO2.

Vital statistics: 4995mm long, 1945mm high, 1990mm wide, 2850mm wheelbase, 1131 litres luggage capacity, 18-inch wheels.

Like: Massive off-road ability, improved on-road ride and handling characteristic, engaging powertrain.

Don't like: Haphazard ergonomics, five seats might restrict interest.

THUMPING up some bloody big hills, picking over rocks, skimming along a sandy sea shore, mucking out in some seriously messy mud and smacking across a stream or three.

A highlight of the time spent with the Land Cruiser 300 was a sleeves-rolled-up, dawn to beyond-dusk dedication to determine if this one was any less robust in off-roading condition than its predecessors.

Short answer: No.

A brilliant no-holds-barred day failed to scratch, let alone undermine, that historically rock-solid credibility. The top dog GR Sport came through spirit unbroken and bodywork, thankfully, unblemished. As the video of our outing shows, this family-new adventure-trimmed edition just did as all Land Cruisers have always done. Powered or, when required, plodded though. Sized up the challenge. Conquered. Next please.

There were but two occasions when it seemed set to sweat.

One, an early morning pitch up a steep slope on dew-coated grass, which degenerated into a scrabbling heart-stopper sliding retreat. My rookie mistake, resolved by common sense.

I’d cockily headed onto Mark Warren’s Waipari Station, a home patch training venue for this well-known off-roading coach, with the tyres at road pressure, 34 PSI all round.

Dropping the fat 18-inch footwear to an even 20 Psi (without need of a handheld gauge, BTW, as there’s a very accurate dashboard readout), slotting into low ratio and locking the centre diff returned traction to the big Toyota. Onward and upward.

The other is captured on film. The stream bed looked firm, but appearance deceived. A surface you could walk across topped a horrible slurry, the look and consistency of fresh-mix concrete.

GR Sport stands above the VXs in configuring with front and rear lockers, a first as a factory-fit. It seemed the perfect opportunity to try these out. That, and some judicious throttle application, did the trick. The test machine was a majestic sight steaming through gloop that sucked in two Land Rovers.

From this experience, there’s nothing to undermine thought the 300 further raises a bar already set very high. But you’d need rocks in your head to imagine the first new Cruiser in more than 14 years, the one that lands in the nameplate’s 70th year, would do deliver anything less than off-road excellence.

That approach doesn’t inhibit improvement. As much as the Land Cruiser is, at heart, an old-school tool, it has also adopted more semiconductor-driven tech.

There’s much here to impress. The superbly calibrated traction control system; the cleverness of the cornering assist that has it crabbing around tight turns that might have otherwise thwarted. The smooth action of the Crawl Control system. Even though they’re not slightly delayed feeds, the implementation of camera views giving a clear picture of all the blind spots – most importantly, the terrain directly ahead of that bluff nose – is fantastic, too.

This was my first drive off-road in the new big rig, but my second time at the wheel. The first occasion was last June, when I and three other journalists were invited to spend this morning driving the VX Limited on the very day of its international unveiling.

That rural drive was a good first taster. Plenty of country roads, including in gravel. But heading off the beaten track was not allowed. At that time this was the sole 300 in NZ and TNZ couldn’t risk it being any way blemished.

From that experience, the new Cruiser imparted as new yet familiar. As much as everything had changed – not least under the bonnet (with goodbye 4.5-litre V8, hello 3.3-litre V6, also twin turboed) - there seemed nothing to tell that an enthusiast wouldn’t have expected to hear.

It still seems that way, by and large, with this new GR, which adds a sporty fresh angle. Not just in styling.

Turn back the clock: As much as it patently puts a foot into the future, in general feel and demeanour the VX Limited on its first drive didn’t feel THAT divorced from the outgoing 200-Series born in 2007 or even, for that matter, the 100-Series that emerged late last century.

Though the chassis is stronger and yet lighter, body roll and significant tyre squeal evidencing easily from the Dunlop Grand Treks on our debut day reminded this big fella still carries a lot of kilos.

Fast forward to the GR, confirmed but not even in production at that time. The detail Toyota shared then, and since, affirmed this derivative would be different to the others. It alone has an electronic version of the previous mechanical Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System to abet the adaptive variable suspension now figuring in the whole range.

But how different, how much more deft, could it be? Semi-conductor shortages that delayed production and limited Land Cruiser supply have meant we’re only now finding out.

My time with the model clocked up around 400 kilometres’ on-road driving. Of that, around five hours’ solid running across a variety of routes occurred on the excursion day itself.

That latter experience, especially, really reinforced that the GR is the best version to exemplify the dynamic improvement Toyota says it chased. To be fair, it’s all about context.

The construction style delivers something that’s lighter and stiffer than it might otherwise be – but, for obvious reasons, it’s still anything but light.

Accordingly, in as much as the ‘Gazoo Racing’ ethos relates a sporting pedigree, there are no outright performance car pretensions here. It’s no super-scaled Yaris GR.

Yet even though E-KDSS doesn’t transform it into a mega-sized hot hatch, it does make it less wallowy. To the point where I’d call it as a big contributor to impression of the GR having the goods to drive more with accuracy than any other Land Cruiser I’ve experienced. Given it retains a body-on-frame design and the suspension is the same format from previous models - so, a double wishbone, coil sprung independent set-up at the front and live rear axle at the back, located by multi-links and riding on coils – that’s no small feat.

For the most pleasing dexterity, the primary Sport Plus is most spot-on for twisting coarse chip; you can snick into a firmer setting but the ride is just a touch too unremitting for our coarse chip. The next step would require Toyota to u-turn on its steadfast aversion to going to fancy height adjustment. But as is E-KDSS makes the 300 a tighter, more nimble and more settled Land Cruiser through the bends than I’ve previously experienced.

Snicking back into Normal (or Eco) is an immediate fall back to the more typical Land Cruiser feel, where absolute softness and suppleness delivers a smooth and comfortable ride, but also re-introduces lateral body movement. Sport Plus, I’d suggest, will become second nature for drivers whenever tight roads are tackled.

In overall ambience, the Cruiser’s imperiousness remains intact. You sit high in a big, comfy chair set within a wide cabin, overlooking an aircraft carrier deck-sized bonnet, now with a pronounced valley down the middle. The model’s shaping having become blockier – but no bigger, every external proportion being identical save length (down 5mm) – seems to be more about design whim and making a ‘power statement’ than improving aero function.

On any other GR, specific styling embellishments would be all about improving lap times. Here, thankfully, designers haven’t fallen for anything so daft; the enhancements embolden, particularly around the nose, but there’s nothing so low as to risk being snagged.

The push to bring the Land Cruiser back to modernity is realised strongly with a swisher cabin design, with more electronic involvements; notably the head-up display and also a large central touch screen.

Ergonomic strength is a bit uneven, sad to say. The switchgear, layout, design, controls, and interfaces are all vastly newer, and yet I’d safely bet that even those who think they know this type well will be reverting to the handbook. We certainly took time out from mud-plugging to do so.

I’m hardly a child of the modern age, yet Toyota still insisting on using buttons for functions that others in this specialist game (okay, Land Rover) now feel confident about making touch screen prompts is an error, I feel. Not only are there still many buttons, but it some placements seem illogical. It irks that instead of bunching ALL those dedicated to off-roading in one area, they’re still sited in several.

As an example of the slightly quirky approach, the one function that could’ve benefited from a single button on-the-move action, disabling the park sensors when off-roading, resolves only from taking a series of sub-menu tick-offs enabled only when the vehicle is at a standstill. I found that in some light the silver buttons glare back in to the drivers or passengers face when you look at them.

Graphically sharp and quick to respond to inputs, the central touch screen delivers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability, but though devices can be wirelessly recharged, the infotainment integration itself requires cable-tethering. If device is put where it should be, on the charging pad on a shelf underneath the screen, there’s risk of fouling the gear lever with a standard cable, which requires the adjacent USB port for operability, BTW, not the USB-C alongside. Regardless the latter is designed for faster data relay, here it’s for power only.

Interior space for seated occupants seems much the same, and everyone sits quite high, with tonnes of head and legroom. The GR is a five-seater experience. Why Toyota exempts the third row bench that goes into the VX and VX Limited is not quite obvious. Maybe ‘sportiness’ is best experienced by five occupants at most. With the GR you get a huge boot, but that’s also the case with the others as their third row no longer stows into the cabin sides but folds flat into the floor.

New V6 versus V8? Chatroom debate is pointless; Toyota needed a cleaner and more efficient engine and this all-new 3.3-litre is a winner, not only because it ticks those vital touch points but also in how it delivers. That it makes more power and torque than the old 4.5-litre bent eight is easily felt; the oomph propels the big Cruiser along swiftly when you put your foot down, but just as impressive – and this goes for even when it is muscling down in off-road conditions – is the smoothness.

Scanning the engine bay raises some considerations. The ‘Hot-V’ means that the exhaust manifolds and the turbochargers are mounted in the V between the cylinder heads and the intake manifolds are on the outside of the engine. This helps to make the engine more compact and puts the turbochargers closer to the exhausts ports to reduce lag and enhance efficiency. Clever.

With all that heat now at the top of the engine, Toyota has had to do away with a top-mounted intercooler; there are now two, each behind the grilles, under the headlights. The fluid-to-air design should raise efficiency, but are they are more vulnerable to damage?

The engine is backed by a 10-speed automatic transmission and before you ask; no, it does not automatically shift through to top gear under normal highway cruising conditions. From dabbling with the manual mode, there’s senses it’s more likely to settle into eighth for easy cruising. A problem? The transmission is patently programmed to keep the engine in its optimum rev range for the speed, load and conditions the GR is operating under.

If Toyota imagined it would be more efficient in top at 100kmh it would have been programmed accordingly. As is, it doesn’t seem to want to gobble fuel; the test delivering an average of 11.7 litres per 100km seemed fair, given what it had been asked of it. Also, there’s rarely any time when the engines feels as though it is being stressed. At low pace – particularly when driving around town – the vehicle is much quieter and more refined than its predecessor.

The Cruiser’s adeptness off seal is the core ability; the video really relates how well it manages to find grip; the drivetrain’s ability to sense slip and meter out power to each wheel (18 inch on 265/65s here, as opposed to 20s in VX and VXR) as needed is also mighty impressive.

Ground clearance over particularly severe obstacles could well become a limitation but only due to those side steps. The 700mm wading depth, 235mm ground clearance and respective 32 and 25 degree approach and departure angles as speak loudly to its potentials as knowing that maximum torque is generating at only 1600rpm and that the permanent four-wheel-drive now allows selection of any driving condition mode at any speed.

Other technical revisions also tend to play positively. The speed sensitive cruise control used to cut out at 30kmh on the 200 Series; now it not only runs down to zero but, when the vehicle is at a standstill, it has facility to move off again either on its own accord if the delay is less than three seconds or with a mere button prompt if the dwell time is longer.

The Toyota Safety Sense package now including cyclist detection and also a intersection turn assistance, with ability to intercede if a potential collision is detected.

For all its mod cons, the 300 still delivers an interesting ambience overall; saying – as some might – that it feels like a new kind of old-style vehicle is too harsh. But it is fair to observe that it delivers a high level of familiarity.

Does it feel modern enough? Compare it to the Land Rover Defender and you might have cause to wonder; the Brit model is surely a generation ahead in respect to its electronic cleverness. Every other SUV of this size or price level is based on a car platform, an approach city-based buyers consider to be more amenable.

There has been ongoing speculation about the 300 Series achieving a hybrid drivetrain, which if Toyota tradition is continued would mean a marriage between a petrol engine, presumably of modest capacity, with a battery-fed electric motor. You’d have to imagine that is going to happen.

The day of this becoming a wholly electric choice seems hugely unlikely, however. The challenge of re-engineering it for that ideal seems all but impossible. Surely Toyota would have to take a whole new approach and bring nothing across from what we have now but the nameplate?

Depending on how the winds of automotive change blow, it is possible that the 300 Series might not sustain the same extra-long life-cycle that have been a commonality of previous Land Cruisers. In there here and now, though, it is a fascinating, failsafe choice; not built or intended for a general audience but very well-tailored for those who understand its relevance goes well being image-building and ego-polishing. It’s a serious tool designed for serious use.

Thanks to Callum Crawley, Alan Passchier for additional off-road day images/ video.