Toyota Land Cruiser Prado to gain Hilux’s uprated engine – report

A fresh report out of Australia claims the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado will soon be handed the uprated 2,8-litre turbodiesel engine that debuted in the facelifted Hilux.

According to CarAdvice, the Prado will be fitted with the updated version of the Japanese firm’s 2,8-litre, four-cylinder oil-burner, with its outputs hiked to 150 kW and 500 N.m (it’s worth noting the Prado is already offered in some markets with the lower-powered version of this mill).

So, can we expect a similar move here in South Africa? Well, this latest report certainly lines up neatly with comments Toyota South Africa Motors made to CARmag.co.za back in August 2019. At the time, the Japanese company’s local arm confirmed to us it planned to offer the Prado with the 2,8-litre turbodiesel from its popular bakkie, but only at the end of 2020.

We’d speculate the 2,8-litre oil-burner will replace the 3,0-litre unit (worth 120 kW and 400 N.m) that currently powers three of the five variants in the local Prado line-up. The current range, which was last updated locally in November 2017, also includes Toyota’s 4,0-litre V6 petrol engine.

The CarAdvice report furthermore suggests the tweaked Land Cruiser Prado will gain Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality, along with “additional advanced safety aids”.