TOKYO: The latest details and images of Toyota’s 2016 Prado SUV have been disclosed online. Although still to be confirmed by Toyota, these images and details surfaced on the Department of Transport’s vehicle compliance website this week ahead of what is expected to be a late 2015 launch.
Headlining the new model-year changes is a new 2.8 litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine in place of the 3.0 litre unit that has served the Prado since a diesel option was first offered in Australia.
Power is up slightly with the new engine, with 130kW on tap compared to the old 3.0 litre’s 127kW output.
Fuel figures for the new diesel are unclear, but a smaller capacity could lead to an improvement from the current 8.5 l/100km (8.8 with manual transmission) listing for diesel Prados.
Further aiding fuel consumption for automatic buyers is a new six-speed unit replacing the outgoing five-speed. The existing six-speed manual option remains for both diesel and petrol engines.
The 4.0 litre V6 petrol engine also remains in the line-up, but now produces 207kW (up 5kW).
Toyota has added new features to various models in the 2016 Prado range, including satellite navigation in the GXL variant and rear cross-traffic alert on the range-topping Kakadu.
Towing capacity remains unchanged at 2500kg braked and 750kg un-braked.
The 2016 Toyota HiLux is due to be officially unveiled in the coming days, and could share the same 2.8 litre diesel with the 2016 Prado.
A spied spec sheet predicted a power output of 132kW in the HiLux 2.8 litre diesel however, meaning the pickup either gets a slight boost in power over the Prado or the 132kW figure will revised down for the Australian market.
The new HiLux is not expected to offer the 4.0 litre V6 petrol engine or indeed any six-cylinder petrol engine in Australia from release, but Toyota is yet to confirm this. An entry-level 2.4 litre four-cylinder engine is set to be the only petrol option powering the new model.
The 2016 Toyota Prado is expected to arrive in local showroom from the third quarter of this year – stay tuned to TMR for more.
