The Toyota Land Cruiser, a competitor of Jeeps and Range Rovers for offroad toughness until it was discontinued in 2021, is back – much trimmer and somewhat current in exterior styling. Built in Tokyo, it is of five-passenger design, with two rows of seats.

From its base price of $57,345, the addition of optional rock rails, roof rack and skid plates pushed sticker total just past $60,000. That price, believe it or not, is $30,000 below the sticker on the 2021 Land Cruiser I tested three years ago, just before the model was discontinued.

In preparing for the reintroduction of the Land Cruiser, Toyota replaced its big, old body-on-frame unit with the modern GA-F platform, still body-on-frame but narrower and shorter and lighter, using new techniques for saving weight while increasing rigidity. The new Land Cruiser, in the 5,000-pound curb weight, offers locking center and rear differentials. It rides on Yokohama Geolandar 18-inch tires. Regarding curb weight, the old one was closer to 6,000 pounds.

To counter performance from the previous 381-horsepower, 5.7-liter V-8 engine, Toyota has equipped the ’24 Land Cruiser with its “i-Force Max” hybrid drivetrain, a 2.4 turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, an electric motor, 8-speed automatic transmission, fulltime four-wheel drive. Its low-range torque, boosted by the electric motor, was noticeably quick; impressive, too, was the 4Lo Crawl Control tests in offroad mode in the sandhills. Ratings for the 2.4 engine are 326 horsepower, 465 lb.-ft. of torque.

Most of my driving miles with the ’24 model averaged 21 to 23 miles per gallon; EPA estimates are 22 mpg city/25 highway. That big one I drove in 2021 averaged 15.6. The overall length of the 2024 Land Cruiser at 193.8 inches is about an inch shorter than the ’21 model.

Land Rover 1958 is the base model which I tested; it reflects the year of the Land Cruiser’s unveiling in the U.S. The midlevel trim is simply the Land Cruiser and the top-of-the-line is the Land Cruiser First Edition.

The Lexus GX550 is built on the same platform as is the Land Cruiser, though the GX is powered by a twin-turbo, 3.4-liter V-6 and the Land Cruiser by the 4-cylinder hybrid package.

All 2024 Land Cruiser models come standard with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, the company’s suite of active safety and convenience systems. Including precollision system with pedestrian detection; lane-departure alert with steering assist; full-speed range dynamic radar cruise control; lane-tracing assist; road-sign assist; automatic high beams; proactive driving assist.

The pre-collision system with pedestrian detection has enhanced detection capabilities, thanks to new system sensors. In addition to pedestrian and bicyclist detection, the system also includes capability to detect a motorcyclist.