The 2010 Toyota FJ Cruiser: Tough Truck or Tonka Toy?

There are, in this country, many people that discount the practicality of the modern SUV. Pointing out their apparently unnecessary size and oftentimes relatively exorbitant fuel economy, these pious Prius proponents too easily turn their noses up at anything possessing of a tall ride height and off-road tires. And they’re right. Within the bowels of the urban sprawls in which most Canadians dwell, anything endowed with a transfer case is completely useless. Nicely paved roads and a decent municipal maintenance crew make sending the power to any more than two wheels a completely superfluous process.

But, that argument discounts the fact that our nation boasts the lowest population density of any country in existence. Step outside your city’s limits, and you’ll rapidly discoverer that the best places Canada has to offer are often the most difficult to get to. Enter the SUV. From the first days of the battle proven Willys CJ to the tradition of exploration defined by Land Rover’s basic early offerings to the indomitable attitude personified by the Toyota Land Cruiser, 4x4s have had a far better effect on our planet than pious Prius owners could ever hope to achieve with their chosen steeds. Trucks like the Land Rover Series/Defender and Toyota’s Land Cruiser have literally opened the world up to mankind; exploring, mapping, supplying and surveying areas previously inaccessible to mankind. While it was canoes and horses that brought civilization to our country, it was the 4x4 that brought our country to civilization.

• Also: Toyota FJ Cruiser on the Chopping Block

And yet, we are currently denied what many would consider the crème de la crème of four wheel drive utility vehicles: the Toyota Land Cruiser 70. The progenitor of the ageless FJ40, the Land Cruiser 70 boasts familiar live axles front and rear, a burly chassis, and a minimum of complex onboard accoutrements. But instead, we get this: the FJ Cruiser. Obviously styled to recall that diminutive 4x4 that bore out the current overseas-only Land Cruiser 70, the FJ Cruiser is, without a doubt, fantastic looking. From the familiar grill to the squat, nouveau-box profile, it looks every bit the icon. With a faux air inlet in the hood’s forward edge and black plastic fender flares aping the outline of the FJ40’s flat steel fenders, the FJ Cruiser lifts all of the most memorable FJ40 styling cues without looking trite or contrived. Although boasting no updates for the 2010 model year, the newest hue, Army Green, joins Sandstorm as yet another shade from the old FJ40’s palette. My tester paired this new non-metallic shade with the traditional silver trim, but flat black grilles, wheels, mirror covers and door handles can all be had at your local Toyota dealer, and would undoubtedly give the FJ Cruiser a more rugged appearance.

Swing open the FJ’s huge front door, and you’re greeted with a similarly styled interior. Boasting a minimum of controls, whatever switches and buttons there are have been enlarged to almost cartoonish proportions. Huge HVAC control knobs twirl easily with good feedback, and the relatively large fabric covered chairs offer plenty of comfort. Housing a large transmission and transfer case, the center console is expectedly wide, but the space is put to good use with a pair of great cupholders that swallow and support everything from a bottle of Gatorade to an extra large double double from Timmies (current Roll Up The Rim to Win score from 21 coffees: two doughnuts, one coffee). Flip open the suicide-style rear doors, though, and any illusion of space dissipates quickly. For a vehicle that demands a relatively large parking space, there’s a surprising lack of head, leg, and elbow room in the aft seating position due to the forward positioning of the rear axle. As a relatively normal sized individual, my driving position left just a few inches of open air between the driver’s seatback and the rear seat cushion. Moreover, the pair of tiny, tinted fixed windows in the rear doors don’t permit much light to enter the rear seat space, which makes it feel far more claustrophobic than need be. However, should you carry more cargo than passengers, the large cargo area and folding rear seat should be more than adequate, and if they’re not, the roof rack that comes standard on Off Road and Adventure models can carry the balance.

Which brings us to the drive. Based on a shortened version of the chassis that underpins the Tacoma, 4Runner, and Lexus GX460 (known overseas as a Land Cruiser Prado), the FJ Cruiser’s ride and handling will be most familiar to those acquainted with its Toyota stablemates. The independent front suspension system offers excellent road feel and manners, with great precision and unmatched smoothness. The rear axle, although being of the solid variety, is slightly less forgiving but improves upon the Tacoma’s ride by virtue of the additional weight placed over the rear axle. Of course, all that weight does have a downside, and the FJ Cruiser pitches and rolls through corners with reckless aplomb as the Bilstein dampers struggle to cajole the 4,295 pounds of Hino Motors-assembled Japanese steel into cooperation. The venerable 4.0L V6 provides a great soundtrack, and it’s evident that Toyota’s engineers put a lot of effort into the acoustic tuning of the engine so as to provide the occupants with the best possible engine note. However, it’s also getting a little long in the tooth, as the GR family of engines that birthed the 1GR-FE under the FJ’s hood debuted back in 2002. As such, it possesses a relatively lazy power curve that afflicted so many engines of that era and returns middling fuel economy at best.

But perhaps the biggest surprise is the FJ Cruiser’s off-road performance. Compromising its on-road performance, I expected the soft suspension and squishy A/T tires to be a boon once I hit the dirt, and I wasn’t disappointed as I traversed rough and rutted dirt roads at speed. With large contact patches and soft suspension, it floated over irregularities with the greatest of ease with just slight tugs coming from the overzealous traction and stability control programs. Once switched off, the truck responded in a much more progressive and meaningful manner, although doing so exaggerates the truck’s top-heavy attitude somewhat, exposing delightful (as long as its expected) lifting-throttle oversteer through moderate to fast corners.

However, once it came time to engage low range, it didn’t take long for the FJ Cruiser to start showing some weaknesses. Here in the wet pacific northwest, two things are ever-present when you’re off the beaten track: tight confines and mud. Less than eager to adorn the FJ’s flanks with some British Columbia pinstriping, I found the sight lines to be only slightly better than atrocious. With a hood that slopes away almost immediately, and a long bumper preceding it, I was never quite sure where the FJ’s prow was. Exacerbating this condition was the mail slot that Toyota’s passing off as a windshield. Mounted about four feet away from my face, it provided absolutely no view of anything that was more than four feet off the hood, which essentially restricts your view on steep descents to the four foot square of dirt which you’re about to plant to the FJ’s nose into because you can’t tell where the damn bumper is. Furthermore, although the rear differential lock may be a nifty little gizmo, I’d happily trade it for a few more inches of suspension travel and slightly more aggressive tires, as the Off Road package’s BFGoodrich A/Ts quickly clogged with mud and provided little in the way of directional authority on all but the driest of surfaces. Finally, as with any independently suspended front end, one can’t expect much in the way of durability from the FJ Cruiser’s front end, and there are numerous reports of broken halfshafts and the like after just a few thousand kilometres’ worth of hard use. After getting the truck home for a thorough cleaning, I found a couple pockets in the rear wheelwells retaining about four pounds of mud that required digging in by hand to clear out; a definite rust-prone area in the future.
Likewise, the wheelwells are protected by a spray-on material that had already begun to wear away and expose bare metal after just 8,000 kilometers, leading me to the conclusion that FJ Cruisers will soon be carrying on the proud tradition of corrosion Toyota 4x4s currently possess.

To consider the FJ Cruiser alongside Jeep’s rugged Rubicon product line would be a disservice to both vehicles. With stout solid axles at both ends, four real doors, and vastly superior off-road capability, there is no denying that the Jeep serves the outdoorsmen (or women) of this country in a manner the FJ Cruiser can only dream of. Conversely, with a soft, supple ride, arguably more attractive looks, and a cabin that looks downright luxurious by comparison, those looking for something substantially more capable than the average vehicle but unwilling to sacrifice on-road comfort will find solace in the FJ’s well styled sheetmetal.