Toyota FJ Cruiser conquering steep hill in 4-foot deep rut proves it’s a car designed for gods
- The Toyota FJ Cruiser is an icon we sometimes forget about
- It’s powered by a 4.0-liter V6
- Due to its highly efficient limited-slip diff and low weight, it is a very competent off-roader
Published on May 15, 2024 at 2:22 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on May 17, 2024 at 6:19 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
No one does off-roading quite like Toyota.
The latest testament to that comes from a video showcasing what the Toyota FJ Cruiser, an icon from the past, can do in the mud.
Very few vehicles in the world could pull that off.
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In the clip – shared on YouTube by user @dataviews4363 – you can see the Toyota FJ Cruiser at the foot of a steep hill covered in mud, and the truck looks stuck.
Except the truck isn’t stuck at all and, just seconds later, it climbs up the hill like it’s nothing.
By the way – fun fact – the driver actually keeps the window open the whole time.
We can only imagine what the interior must look like at this point.
We’ve seen Toyota vehicles do this sort of thing before, but generally not involving an FJ Cruiser, chiefly because this truck has unfortunately never been that popular.
Through the years, the FJ Cruiser, which was discontinued globally in 2022, gained a cult-like following, but it never really performed that well in the market.
It was first introduced in 2006 but Toyota decided to discontinue it in the US less than 10 years later, in 2014.
Sales were strong in the first two years, with around 120,000 units sold in North America, but they nosedived in the following years.
By 2014, when they decided to retire it, Toyota North America had only sold around 200,000 FJ Cruisers in total.
That’s not a great number, especially if your name is Toyota.
To put that into perspective, Toyota sells 200,000 Rav4 SUVs…. every two months.
Each and every single one of those vehicles was powered by a 4.0-liter V6, putting out between 239 and 259 hp depending on the model.
Toyota made both all-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive models, but both were fitted with a limited-slip rear differential for improved torque distribution.
And the truck was relatively lightweight, tipping the scales at less than 2 tons, which is not bad for a vehicle of this size.
It’s such a shame it never really caught on.
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