A lot of folks say old-school is better, but is that actually the case with these two Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs?
Throughout its astonishing 75-year history, the Toyota Land Cruiser has built one of the most legendary reputations for off-road capability, no matter its body style. Whether you’re talking about the big-and-bulky wagons like the 100 Series or the brand-new version we get here in the U.S., the 250 Series, folks expect that Land Cruiser name to convey a sense of go-anywhere adventure like few other vehicles on the road. Today, Roman and Tommy are putting a simple question to the test: Just how much has the four-wheel drive off-road worthiness (and all the systems that buttress the LC’s capability generally) evolved over the past 20 years?
To find out, the guys are pitching our recently purchased 2005 Toyota Land Cruiser 100 Series — a stalwart example of Toyota’s old-school, V8-powered approach to off-road competence with substantial luxury — and its brand-new counterpart. Our particular Land Cruiser 250 Series is a 2025 model, packing the automaker’s latest hybrid powertrain, four-wheel drive setup and advanced traction control systems.
The video comes together in two parts: the classic TFL Slip Test and a run through Andre’s Pit at Tumbleweed Ranch. The slip test comprises a different set of two-wheel slip test, aimed at testing how well vehicles shift power from one axle to another and diagonally to get unstuck from a set of industrial rollers. This is the controlled test where we can repeat conditions exactly for each vehicle, to get a sense of how Toyota’s 4WD approach, A-TRAC traction control system and various other features (particularly in the newer truck with varying drive modes) changes between vehicles.
Down in the Pit, the course is set up for extreme wheel articulation, getting various wheels hanging in the air altogether so the system has to shift power around to figure out the challenge. Even 20 years later, the old Land Cruiser 100 Series still exhibits a remarkable level of control, especially when it’s not on super aggressive all-terrain tires. For all its miles, the old-school LC may be a little clunky, but still proves itself when it comes to tackling tougher terrain.
But here’s the rub: Will the new Land Cruiser do even better, as you’d expect with two decades of engineering and technology behind it? By virtue of being smaller (versus the overseas 300 Series, which is more of a direct successor to the old-school trucks), it is a little more nimble from the start. Nevertheless, the new LC 250 still has to take on the same challenges at slow speeds. Find out below just how each model and its available off-road toys and features perform in both tests:
