IF THE going gets tough – you will usually see a Land Cruiser in the shot.

From the Australian Outback to the plains of Africa, and even to the UN teams in Iraq, the mode of transport is TOYOTA's rugged 4×4.

Tough, reliable, dependable and practically unstoppable, the Land Cruiser is a legend in certain parts of the world.

So TOYOTA faced a tough decision when they started to design this new model.

Should they change their off-road king to compete with the smoother boys like the BMW X5 or the Mercedes M-Class, or should they retain the Land Cruiser's off-road abilities and settle for being second best on smooth tarmac.

Thankfully TOYOTA opted for keeping the Land Cruiser tough, although they have managed to improve the car's normal road manners as well.

Now in its 51st year, the remarkable Land Cruiser is sold in every continent and in 127 countries.

It is built in eleven plants in nine different countries and this tenth generation model will go on sale on January 2, replacing the Colorado model. The even larger Amazon has already been improved.

Some four million have already been sold worldwide and prices of the new car will range from £23,995 to £36,795.

Designed by British designer Lance Scott, the car's styling takes on a large Rav 4 look in an effort to develop a family look.

Swept back headlamps give it a softer look, but don't be fooled, this is one tough customer.

The Rav 4 touches also feature at the sides and the rear, making it more handsome and less rugged looking than before.

Inside the cabin is exactly what you would expect from TOYOTA and there is enough gadgets to please techno fans.

It is powered by the same 161bhp common rail turbo diesel engine carried over from the present car, and a new four-litre petrol engine will be available from March.

TOYOTA reckon that only two per cent of buyers will opt for the petrol version, so you wonder why they have bothered with it.

The diesel is an honest performer that has a solid feel about it, and although the performance was hardly blistering, you just knew that it would take you anywhere.

I only drove it coupled to an automatic box and it worked very well, but some of my esteemed colleagues complained that the manual was a trifle lumpy.

The sturdy ladder chassis sits beneath a steel body and the suspension is rather strange, with standard springs at the front and optional air struts at the rear.

The new Land Cruiser weighs over two tonnes, so as you can imagine, it is a very large vehicle, but I enjoyed driving it.

I drove it over a range of roads, from motorways to twisting mountain roads, and on part of the Paris to Dakar rally route and it behaved well.

Ride on normal roads was just what you would expect from this type of vehicle, with the usual degree of body roll on corners if you pushed it hard.

Off-road it really came in to its own and has few if any equals.

The trim packages mean you can spec this vehicle up to real luxury levels with leather, heated seats etc, but that would seem to detract from the whole point of the Land Cruiser.

No doubt, the vast majority of the 2500 that TOYOTA expect to sell in the UK next year will never be used for their purpose anyway, so most of them will be confined to the school run or supermarket car parks.

But as they can take up to eight passengers, they will be popular.

The Land Cruiser is an exceptional package on and off-road, and TOYOTA claim they offer better value than their main competitors, the Land Rover Discovery, Mitsubishi Shogun or the Nissan Patrol.

This new Land Cruiser will tackle anything and I would feel safe going anywhere in it!

More Toyota Landcruiser Information

More Toyota Landcruiser Information

More Toyota Landcruiser Information

Tags: