The Toyota Land Cruiser is known for its capability off-road, but now it has a new title, “World’s Fastest SUV.” Toyota’s iconic SUV recently set a record speed over 230 mph.
Before you get too excited, the Land Cruiser or “Land Speed Cruiser” that set the record is heavily to give it a whopping 2,000 horsepower! To get that much power, Toyota’s engineers started with the Land Cruiser’s standard 5.7-liter V8 engine and added a pair of volleyball-sized Garrett turbochargers that are capable of producing up to 55 PSI of boost. To cope with extreme force induction the engine’s internals were upgraded with sturdier pistons and rods and a custom-made intake manifold. Lastly the V8 was mated to a custom racing transmission strong enough to withstand the stresses and abuses of high power and tremendous speeds.
“The World’s Fastest SUV record was at 211 mph. That’s extremely fast. Toyota thought, ‘Why don’t we make a really, ultra-powerful Land Cruiser, and let’s just see how fast we can make it go,’” said MTC Manager, Chuck Wade.
Related: Toyota FT-4X concept is a fun SUV for millennials
With former Toyota NASCAR driver Carl Edwards at the wheel, the modified Land Speed Cruiser crushed the previous “World’s Fastest SUV” record by more than 19 mph, reaching 230.02 mph before running out of usable pavement. Toyota expects that if there were more track available, the Land Speed Cruiser would have reached even higher speeds.
Source: Toyota