Cruiser is in control; Toyota's rugged 4x4 is well equipped to tackle the toughest off-road terrain while longdistance on-road motoring is a pleasure, reports STEWART SMITH.

Byline: STEWART SMITH 

TOYOTA'S iconic Land Cruiser has been around for 60 years and more than five million customers in 176 countries have opted for the rugged 4x4.

It is often seen in war zones, the UN picking the Japanese off-roader as its preferred mode of transport when faced with rugged terrains and difficult driving conditions. There's no doubt that the Land Cruiser's reputation as a go-anywhere vehicle is well deserved and the latest version, which goes on sale in the UK in December, has been kitted out with even more classleading technology to keep it up with the competition.

Most people who drive big 4x4s very rarely take their expensive motors off-road, but Toyota claim that 23 per cent of Land Cruiser owners regularly leave the tarmac to test their vehicles on rugged offroad courses.

To assist them, Toyota have come up with a system called Multi-Terrain Select that, at the push of a button, allows the driver to select from four settings for better off-road control.

MTS automatically modifies vehicle acceleration, braking and traction control to suit the off-road conditions, providing the driver with optimum traction and vehicle control. The new seven-seater Land Cruiser also comes with a full range of braking, traction control and stability systems: ABS and Brake Assist; Traction Control and Vehicle Stability Control.

Also fitted to the new model are four cameras which provide the driver with images from around the vehicle.

A further driver's aid is a display on the dashboard which shows the position of the Land Cruiser's wheels and its predicted path on tough off-road courses.

The big Toyota also has a new Crawl Control which has five speed settings. When engaged, the Land Cruiser will crawl on the extremist terrain without any acceleration input from the driver. All you have to do is steer the motor, it will not stall.

Of course, this vehicle will spend most of its time on-road and the latest Land Cruiser offers a smooth drive with stacks of room and a plethora of comfort features to make long-distance motoring a pleasure.

As far as exterior styling goes, the new Land Cruiser has not undergone a dramatic transformation.

At the front, there is a new over-size bumper design with integral fog lamps, the new front grille has vertical bars, highlighted in chrome and silver finishes on higher grade versions, framed by headlamp clusters with cylindrical high