Toyota Australia says it’s happy with the shorter driving range of the new LandCruiser Prado 250 Series, and it doesn’t plan to extend it by offering a secondary ‘sub’ fuel tank like it did with the outgoing Prado 150 Series.
Speaking with CarExpert at the launch of the first all-new Prado in 15 years today, Toyota Australia vice president of sales, marketing and franchise operations Sean Hanley said that “without the sub tank [in the new Prado], we’re still getting significant mileage range”.
The fifth-generation (J250) Toyota Prado arrives in Australia powered exclusively by a slightly more efficient, electrified version of the 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel seen in its top-selling predecessor since 2015, but it’s fed by a smaller fuel tank.
Fitted with idle stop/start and the same 48-volt mild-hybrid ‘V-Active’ system as selected HiLux ute variants, in addition to being the first Toyota Australia model to require AdBlue exhaust fluid, the new Prado is claimed to consume 7.6L/100km of diesel on the ADR combined cycle.
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Combined with a 110-litre diesel fuel tank (alongside a 17.4-litre AdBlue tank), that means the 250 Series has a theoretical fuel range of almost 1450km.
In comparison, the old 150 Series Prado’s combined-cycle claim was 7.9L.100km and it had a fuel capacity of up to 150 litres (as per the 300 Series on which the new 250 Series is based), split between an 87-litre main tank and, in vehicles with a tailgate-mounted spare wheel, a 63-litre sub-tank.
That gave it a theoretical range of just under 1900km, or about 1500km in the real world, and much less while off-roading – but still enough to cross the legendary Simpson Desert the short way (about 500km over around 1200 sand dunes between Birdsville and Mt Dare) on a single tank of fuel.
Whether the 250 Series is able to do that remains to be seen.
The main reason Toyota hasn’t installed a sub fuel tank in the 250 Series is due to the location of the spare wheel under the rear of the vehicle and not on the tailgate.
That’s because it is the first Prado to come with a top-hinged rather than side-hinged tailgate, which makes it the first not to offer a sub-tank in almost 25 years.
However, while Toyota won’t sell you one, it’s likely that a sub-tank or bigger main tank – and perhaps a swing-out rear rack to accommodate a spare wheel or two – will be developed by Australia’s extensive aftermarket industry for those that want to take their new Prado on extended treks.
Either way, its shorter fuel range has not stopped Aussies flocking to the new Prado.
Toyota Australia has confirmed it has received over 17,000 orders for the new Prado, close to 27,000 examples of which are due to arrive here in the first 12 months of deliveries.
In response to high demand, and to avoid extreme wait times of up to three or four years as seen previously with RAV4 Hybrid and LandCruiser 70 Series, Toyota Australia has confirmed a new retailing policy.
The company will allocate each dealer a rolling 12-month supply of stock. Dealers won’t be able to take more Prado orders after they reach their stock threshold until more vehicles are allocated, and they will be discourage from taking deposits until then.
As a result of its revised order taking process, Toyota says the maximum wait time for a new Prado will be 12 months after an order is placed at a dealer.
From launch, there are five variants available in the 2025 Toyota LandCruiser Prado range – GX, GXL, VX, Altitude, and Kakadu. Pricing starts significantly higher than before at $72,500 plus on-road costs for the base GX, and extends to $99,990 before on-roads for the Kakadu flagship.
