In which your Race Organizer uses about 0.001% of the Land Cruiser's off-road capabilities during Thunderhill RacewaySometimes this Race Organizer selects vehicles to review since the roads around the lane are potholed nightmares, alternative times since the 24 Hours of LeMons judge is the baller, as well as still alternative times since it's fun to fire photos of glossy brand new cars alongsidetheir fully hooptie-ized crapcan-racing counterparts.For the 2016 Vodden the Hell Are We Doing 24 Hours of LeMons, held during Thunderhill Raceway Park in Northern California, we decided which we indispensable the capability to expostulate upon the circuitous dirt paths surrounding the lane in order to get to better photographic vantage points. Any car with halfway decent ground clearance could have finished this, though the LeMons Supreme Court believes in swatting flies with sledgehammers. Hence, the stately overkill of the 2016 Toyota Land Cruiser. To get to Thunderhill Raceway from the San Francisco Bay Area, most pushing in wholesome-looking parts of the California Central Valley contingency take place. Photo by Murilee Martin I flew in to Oakland Airport, which meant the 150-mile expostulate to the track. The Land Cruiser is maybe the car which initial put Toyota upon the global map, as well as the resounding face of Eiji Toyoda himself glowers sternly over those who design as well as set up this lorry today. A Land Cruiser contingency be capable of withstanding most hundreds of thousands of miles of abuse during the hands of warlords in the most inaccessible jungles, deserts, as well as plateau in the world, as well as we're flattering certain Mr. Toyoda would climb out of his grave as well as personally fire any Toyota worker who did not put reliability as well as off-road capability as the tip two equipment upon the Land Cruiser to-do list. For this reason, this lorry does not yield the main road ride utterly as cushy as other, some-more compromised SUVs. If you're the UN general upon the peacekeeping mission in the Sahara, we want this interior. Photo by Murilee Martin Still, we have circumnavigated the United States in 22 days in the zero-option '88 Hilux as well as taken all manner of godawful beaters upon prolonged main road drives, as well as so the couple of not-so-harsh bumps upon the deferred-maintenance California main road do not ruffle me. The '16 Land Cruiser is copiousness gentle as well as equipped with the brain-rattling sound complement (if we get the discretionary Entune Premium JBL system), energy from the 381-horse V8 is sufficient to pierce the truck's bulk nicely, as well as we kept hoping which the party of Tusken Raiders would burst out of the wild-blackberry bushes along Interstate 5 as well as give me an forgive to take the Land Cruiser crashing through the little irrigation canals as well as over the little steep, rocky hills. Land Cruisers have always looked businesslike. Photo by Murilee Martin The greeting to the Land Cruiser from the racers during the '16 Vodden the Hell Are We Doing competition was as resigned as the outmost coming of this truck. A couple of stopped to admire it, as well as they whistled admiringly when they learned of the $84,820 price tag. Worth it, though maybe not the sensible squeeze if we do not devise upon serious off-roading, preferably in the "failed state." If we really caring which the third-row seat in the Land Cruiser is the bit cramped which it is then maybe we are better-suited for an SUV which wouldn't last fifteen mins in the Khyber Pass. The Land Cruiser took me to parts of the Thunderhill trickery we had never visited in 9 years of shooting competition photos there. Photo by Murilee Martin Thunderhill is the big, sprawling facility, as well as the Land Cruiser did the excellent pursuit of taking me upon paths meant for ATVs as well as reaching photography shots we had never before used. None of this "off-road" pushing was particularly challenging, though removing stranded would have been the medium-grade disaster, what with the competition to organize. Toyota Land CruiserMSRP $83,825 BaseMPG thirteen / eighteen City / HWYResearch Toyota Land Cruiser >
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