Toyota Land Cruiser GR Sport Gains Ultra-Limited ‘Rally Raid’ Special

Team Land Cruiser (TLC) charted an unprecedented 12th consecutive victory in the production class of the gruelling annual Dakar Rally.

The current generation Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series is, without doubts, an undisputedly capable off-road 4x4 SUV – even in sporty GR Sport guise. Now the latter has gained an even more rugged special.

Announced for the Japanese market only is the new Toyota Land Cruiser GR Sport Rally Raid special edition pictured. As its name aptly suggests, this special celebrates Team Land Cruiser’s epic 12th consecutive production vehicle class win in the Dakar Rally.

This special was created by the Japanese global automaking giant’s Toyota Auto Body subsidiary. Said arm is responsible for developing SUVs, vans, as well as special-use vehicles, and this special is the very latest birthed by said arm.

Commemorating this feat is the new ultra-limited Toyota Land Cruiser GR Sport Rally Raid edition pictured.

Key exterior upgrades primed include 18-inch Enkei PDT1 wheels wrapped in Toyo Open Country all-terrain tyres, red-painted brake calipers and tow hooks, as well as newly added mud flaps that bear special ‘TLC’ (Team Land Cruiser) graphics.

Underneath, this special gains new suspension and cab mounts, with both adding further to the existing GR Sport suspension setup. Moving to the interior and this special is retrofitted with special seats wrapped in leather and ultra suede, and it gains a Rally Raid plaque too.

Key upgrades include exclusive wheels and tyres, beefed up suspension and cab mounts, special seats, as well as an exclusive mudflaps set, amongst other things.

Additionally, all these accessories mentioned are also available as an optional accessory package for existing Toyota Land Cruiser GR Sport owners. The only caveat is that this kit is compatible only with the diesel-powered Land Cruiser GR Sport variant specifically.

Take note that some of these components will also be offered individually at selected Toyota dealers across Japan.

Mechanically, this special remains unchanged from the base Land Cruiser GR Sport variant, so it boasts a peppy 3.3-litre twin-turbo diesel mill.

Typical of the GR Sport treatment, there are no changes to the powertrain. In other words, this special retains the Land Cruiser GR Sport base car’s 3.3-litre twin-turbo diesel V6 heart. On its own, this mill already puts out punchy figures of 304 hp and 700 Nm.

Power is transmitted via a 10-speed automatic box plus a full-blown 4x4 driveline that boasts both a front and rear electronic differential.

Toyota will offer just 12 factory-built Rally Raid units, whilst the full accessories package is also limited to just 12 sets, all destined for the Japanese market only.

So what makes this special ultra-limited? For starters, Toyota reportedly planned just 12 factory-built units. Secondly, Toyota also plans to offer just 12 sets of the accessories package for existing Land Cruise GR Sport owners convert theirs with.

All are destined for the Japanese market only, with each factory-built unit tagged at ¥9,380,800 (approx. RM267,645) whilst the full accessories package is priced at ¥1,511,400 (approx. RM43,122) per set.

Adding to which is the fact that buyers must enter a lottery at dealers between now and Sept 28. Winners will only be notified on Oct 17, whilst deliveries will only commence starting Dec onwards.