2026 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series Hybrid review: Australian first drive

Toyota launched the world’s first mass-produced hybrid passenger vehicle almost 30 years ago, but only now has the technology touched its most beloved nameplate.

Hybrid power coming to the LandCruiser 300 Series marks a significant step in the model’s history; one some may lament, since it hasn’t been all that long since it lost a V8.

Borrowing the petrol hybrid setup from the Tundra ute, this new LandCruiser is more powerful than ever before, but it does come at a price, in more ways than you might think.

The first hybrid LandCruiser is the most expensive ever sold in Australia, coming in at in excess of $160,000 drive-away.

You can only get Performance Hybrid power in the top two grades, the Sahara ZX and GR Sport, priced from $156,740 and $155,990, respectively, before on-road costs.

That’s around $9000 more than the equivalent diesel variants. At first, that can seem quite high, but if you’re already prepared to pay north of $150K for a LandCruiser 300 Series, perhaps it might not sting so much.

For fans, the important thing is that inside, outside and underneath, this vehicle very much retains the tried-and-tested formula that has made the LandCruiser so successful to this point.

Standard specification in both grades matches the diesel variants, which, for a quick refresher, include features such as heated and ventilated seats (front with eight-way electrical adjustment, lumbar and memory support), a heated steering wheel, a wireless charger, and a head-up display.

Both also feature a moonroof, rear privacy glass, four-zone climate control, and a four-camera multi-terrain monitor with a panoramic view. The GR Sport has a powered back door, as does the Sahara ZX, but with the addition of a kick sensor.

The two hybrid variants are only available with five seats, not seven, which may rule them out for some families.

Externally, the GR Sport is the same as its diesel sibling; however, the Sahara ZX gains a modified lower front bumper and an under guard on the lower portion of the rear bumper. Both come with rear mudguards as standard.

As before, the Sahara ZX is the flashier of the pair, with its premium grille, chrome door handles, window mouldings and mirrors, spoiler and illuminated side steps.

Meanwhile, the more sporty-leaning GR Sport has a plethora of black design elements, such as black wheel arch, window and lower door mouldings, black mirror covers and door handles, and a special gloss mesh grille with white Toyota lettering.

The latter can be further differentiated by the abundance of GR badges.

Inside the cabin, both the Sahara ZX and GR Sport hybrids mirror their diesel counterparts in spec, blending premium and rugged aesthetics in a way that shouldn’t really work, but somehow does.

The seats are leather-accented, plush and comfortable. There’s a lot of faux wood and gloss-black trim, and the headliner is soft and fleecy.

Contrasting those is a chunky gear shifter and tons of tough-looking switchgear.

The upholstery is all quite dark, and the pint-sized moonroof does little to help, but fortunately the vast amount of glass does the heavy lifting to dispel the gloom and offer excellent visibility.

In total, there are eight cupholders and plenty of space in the front and back. The glovebox is huge, as is the storage bin underneath the centre armrest, which houses a coolbox for stashing drinks on hot days.

The second row has map pockets on both sides and reasonable room in the doors for bottles, although the openings could be wider, and the rear bench splits 40/20/40 to open up space if you don’t need all of the seats.

As in the diesel, a high floor due to the transmission tunnel robs foot space for anyone in the middle seat, but otherwise leg and head room are more than adequate.

The back row can fit three child seats across. Only the two outboard positions have ISOFIX anchors, but all three rear seats have a top-tether point accessible from the boot.

With no third row, the boot is enormous, offering 910 litres with the seats up, swelling to 1842L with them folded. 

However, the eagle-eyed among you may realise this is actually less than you’d find in the equivalent diesel LandCruiser 300 Series grades, which offer a minimum of 1131L and a maximum of 2052L.

The hybrid Sahara ZX and GR Sport are slightly shorter in length and height than their diesel counterparts, only by 10mm, but weigh 115kg more due to the 288V nickel-metal hydride battery that is installed in a waterproof tray beneath the rear luggage space.

The hybrid battery is built into a deeper floor pan and is surrounded by high-strength steel to protect it from the impacts Toyota knows LandCruiser drivers are likely to subject it to while bush-bashing.

The infotainment system in the 300 Series is also unchanged, using the same dual 12.3-inch screens as before, with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus dual 11.6-inch displays for rear occupants in the Sahara ZX.

The rear screens use Miracast technology so viewers can stream multimedia content wirelessly, but it’s still a case of BYO headphones.

Both rows get USB-C ports, for a total of five, and the 300 Series now comes with not only a 12V socket but also a 220V one with a three-pin plug to power electrical devices.

I had no issues connecting to Apple CarPlay wirelessly during my short time with the vehicles.

Audio comes courtesy of a capable, but not mind-blowing, 14-speaker JBL sound system.

Thankfully, the climate controls are accessible via their own entirely separate panel. Information is displayed on a slim digital display, but all functions are activated by pushing actual buttons and toggles. 

And rear passengers aren’t at the mercy of those up front either. It’s a palace back there, with not only the aforementioned USB ports but also buttons for all their own climate controls, the heated and ventilated seats, and an additional HDMI slot to match the one in the front.

Up until now, not much of what I’ve told you, aside from a few mild exterior touches, sounds any different, right? 

Here come the headline differences.

Fuel consumption for the performance-hybrid 300 Series duo is rated at 10.0 litres per 100 kilometres.

Yet both the Sahara ZX and GR Sport diesels use less, at a claimed 8.9L/100km.

Yes, you heard that right. It uses more fuel than before, and even more than the 200 Series did when it last had a V8 (9.5L for those playing along at home).

Also, the fuel tank is smaller at 98L versus the diesel’s 110-litre tank.

There is a reason for that, though, this is a "performance hybrid" which means the electrical assistance prioritises improved performance on and off-road, rather than trying to save fuel.

Driving time on this launch in either grade was extremely limited, with more time spent off-road than on, resulting in an average fuel consumption between 13.1L/100km and 13.4L/100km.

We will get the hybrid 300 Series through the Drive garage to put the 10L/100km claim through more real-world testing in urban and highway environments.

For what it’s worth, previous tests with the same but less potent hybrid powertrain in the related Tundra revealed an average consumption of almost 14L/100km compared with a claim of 12.4L/100km.

The wider LandCruiser 300 Series line-up is covered by a five-star ANCAP rating, with the exception of the GR Sport.

In addition to Toyota’s Safety Sense technology covering the basics such as adaptive cruise control, AEB, and road sign recognition for speed limits, the 300 Series features a blind-spot monitor with safe exit assistance, front and rear parking sensors, 10 airbags and more.

It also comes with off-road-focused safety tech, including a multi-terrain panoramic-view monitor, and downhill assist control, crawl control, trailer sway control, and hill start assist control.

Powering this new Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series is a 'Performance Hybrid' 3.5-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 with a 36kW electric motor as its support act.

As mentioned, its powertrain is shared with the Tundra ute, but it produces 341kW and 790Nm, 15kW more than the Tundra and 114kW and 90Nm more than the 227kW/700Nm 3.3-litre turbo-diesel V6, making it the most powerful LandCruiser ever sold.

It retains the diesel’s 10-speed torque-converter automatic transmission, mechanical four-wheel drive and a low-range transfer case. 

Unlike the series-parallel hybrid system found in other Toyota models, such as the RAV4, where one motor is on the front axle for FWD versions and another on the rear for AWD grades (with a third used as a generator to keep the battery topped up), the performance hybrid setup is different.

It is a kind of parallel hybrid, but the single electric motor is placed between the petrol engine and the gearbox.

Like other hybrids, however, it can also operate on electric power, petrol power, or a mix of both. Driving on electric juice only suffers the same limitations as its fellow hybrids, restricted to low speeds and only moderate acceleration before the engine kicks in.

This incarnation of the 300 Series is swifter, but there’s still some lag from a standstill before it takes off. It’s more responsive once you’re rolling along. 

If you’re expecting that the almost 800Nm is going to make it bolt out the gate like a greyhound chasing a rabbit, you’re going to be disappointed because it also has the extra 115kg of weight to contend with.

Sport Plus mode gives it the most urgency, though the V6 will roar when put under pressure. Add in a fair bit of wind noise and suddenly that premium cabin doesn’t feel quite so serene.

In any setting, movement through the gears is slick and clean, although you’re unlikely to tap into all 10 while abiding by the speed limit.

Toyota has also further tapped into the electrics with these two variants by providing electric power assistance for the rack-and-pinion steering compared with hydraulic assistance for all turbo-diesel LandCruisers.

It’s well weighted, with just a touch of heaviness that is welcome for added confidence in corners into which the 300 Series likes to tip quite drastically.

As before, the Sahara ZX and GR Sport have five drive modes for added traction on a range of surfaces.

The former features a Torsen limited-slip differential on the rear axle, while the latter has front and rear locking diffs and upgrades from adaptive variable to electronically controlled suspension.

On the bitumen, the ride is a bit wobbly and spongy in Comfort, though the benefit is that it’s completely unfazed by pockmarks and even potholes, and you’ll be glad for the suspension’s ample travel when traversing rocks and the like off-road.

In Sport, it feels significantly more jittery.

The beefy Bridgestone Dueler all-terrain tyres, wrapped around 20-inch wheels on the Sahara ZX and 18s on the GR Sport, do a nice job of gripping the tarmac (even if they are quite noisy), but undoubtedly their best work is done on the tracks.

Even without the benefit of the extra diff lock the GR Sport gets, with the centre diff locked, low-range selected and knocked into M1, the Sahara is deft at navigating steep hills and limiting wheel spin when the going gets slippery.

I want to like the hybrid LandCruiser 300 Series, but I have to admit I’m not entirely convinced why you’d buy one over the diesel.

From an evolutionary standpoint, sure, some form of electrification could be seen as progression. And it is more powerful than ever, so it’s quicker.

But $9000 more, when so much is carried over from the existing variant? It has less boot space, and it will cost more in fuel in the long run, too. That doesn’t feel like great value for money.

All that made the LandCruiser great before, though, is still there.