He was one of the stars of the last SEMA Show, the American event entirely dedicated to the most exotic and radical preparations. Now, this Toyota Land Speed Cruiser is back in the news for another reason.
Toyota wanted to make this Land Cruiser the fastest SUV in the world, so they took it to the 4km track at the Mojave Air & Space Port test center in the California desert, where former NASCAR driver Carl Edwards once I was waiting for you.
370 km/h!? But how?
Although it keeps the 5.7 liter V8 engine as standard, this Toyota Land Speed Cruiser has little or nothing to do with the production version. Among the list of changes are the pair of Garrett turbo-compressors and transmission developed from the ground up to handle the 2,000 hp of maximum power. Yes, you read well...
But according to the Toyota Technical Center, this wasn't even the tricky part. Maintaining the stability of a 3-tonne «animal» with a somewhat precarious aerodynamics at more than 300 km/h, that was a difficult challenge for the engineers of the Japanese brand. The solution was a suspension specially tuned by ex-driver Craig Stanton, which reduces ground clearance by accommodating Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires.
In the first attempt, Carl Edwards reached 340 km/h, equaling the previous record of the Mercedes GLK V12 tuned by Brabus. But it didn't stop there:
“After 360 km/h the thing started to get a little shaky. All I could think about was what Craig told me – "Whatever happens, don't take your foot off the gas." And so we got the 370 km/h. It's safe to say this is the fastest SUV on the planet.”
