Toyota beefs up its ‘get out there and do stuff’ Woodland range with this SEMA-bound quintet.
We’ve seen a few names that Toyota has cycled through over the past few years in pursuit of more rugged crossovers. Adventure. TRD Off-Road. “Woodland” is the one that has really stuck in the current generation as you can get it on the RAV4, bZ and Sienna, but can we see it go even farther? Why yes, thanks to the folks at CALTY Design, we certainly can — and these five blue-hued builds will be part of the automaker’s SEMA presence in Las Vegas next week.
Are these SUVs (and one minivan, obviously) ready to rock the Rubicon with some extreme off-road mods? Well, no, you can temper your expectations a little bit there. These are still family-minded models, and the Woodland in itself is definitely fighting for that outdoorsy adventure lifestyle sort of person than hardcore off-roaders.
The list of modifications for these Woodland models does include a modest lift kit, that said, as well as a set of Yokohama Geolandar X-AT tires on gloss black wheels. You also get Horizon Blue paint, which you might recognize if you’re a fan of old-school ’60s Toyotas. A two-tone roof and wide hood stripe creates some visual contrast, and of course you have to have the Yakima roof rack if you’re going to, well, head out into the woods with your Sienna, your RAV4, your Grand Highlander, your Crown Signia or your bZ Woodland.
Here’s the thing…
You may see this Woodland quintet and think Toyota is being a little too conservative here. After all, we’ve seen more over-the-top builds in the past like the Tacoma TRD Surf concept, or how about that slammed twin-turbo V6 X-Runner concept?
The thing about how Toyota approached these Woodland builds is that you could actually make this happen. Maybe it won’t be an official expansion of the Woodland lineup (though you never know…Toyota made ‘Nightshade’ pretty universal across its portfolio), but it’s pretty easy to imagine a modest lift, all-terrains and a roof rack are something its dealers can pitch to buyers if they do want to get out there and do stuff.
And really, as we said when Chrysler rolled out the Grizzly Peak Concept: Who doesn’t want a lifted, more rugged minivan?
