Update, August 14, 2023: Toyota has gotten back to us, saying that official figures will be revealed closer to the Land Cruiser’s on-sale date.
Although the last one was powered by a V8, the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser will be propelled by a 2.4-liter four-cylinder hybrid powertrain. An impressive fuel economy rating that was briefly posted to its customer-facing website might explain why the Japanese automaker didn’t opt for a larger engine.
In a section of Toyota’s website laying out the “Performance” attributes of the new model (first discovered by TFL Trucks), the automaker laid out how much power and torque the i-Force Max powertrain will make as well as, for the first time, its estimated fuel economy: 27 MPG combined. For its part, Toyota says that figure is not official.
“The Land Cruiser’s EPA-estimated MPG will be released closer to vehicle on-sale early next year,” Toyota told Carscoops in a statement. “Any fuel economy ratings published prior to the release of the EPA numbers are only estimates and should not be considered official.”
The estimate now appears to have been removed from the site, and even when it was up did not amount to an official fuel economy rating from the Environmental Protection Agency. Still, if accurate, the figure is impressive.
Read: New Toyota Land Cruiser Could Get PHEV, Hydrogen, And EV Options In The Future
The rating of 27 MPG combined is more than twice as efficient as the last Land Cruiser sold in America. Its V8 could only drive it 14 miles for every gallon of fuel it consumed. The figure would also make the new model stack up well against the competition.
By comparison, the four-cylinder Ford Bronco gets just 20 MPG combined, and the four-cylinder (non-PHEV) Jeep Wrangler can only go 22 MPG. And the number would also bode well for the Tacoma, which shares the same powertrain as the Land Cruiser.
Mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission, the i-Force Max hybrid powertrain does not require recharging, and makes 326 hp (243 kW/330 PS) and an impressive 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) of torque. Taken together, and this would be an impressive combination for the upcoming 2024 Land Cruiser.
