Light on its wheels

By Ewan Kennedy
THE 2010 Toyota Prado is being imported not only with the usual five-door station wagon body, but also in three-door sporty format.
That’s an interesting move considering that arch-rival Mitsubishi has just discontinued imports of its three-door Pajero.
We road tested both the three and five-door Prado models extensively during the press launch from Sydney to Orange in western NSW – and most admit that we fell in love with the three-door.
We found the three-door Prado to be nimbler, lighter and more enjoyable to drive than its larger brother, and really like its styling – it’s always easier to make a three-door look better than a five.
But we must admit that the extra seats and added practicality of the big wagon do make it a horses-for-courses decision.
It’s never easy to get into the back seats of any 4WD by way of the front doors, a problem that’s exacerbated by the additional height of the floor off the ground.
But once you are in the back of the Prado three-door it has good leg and head space for adults.
Prado in five-door wagon format is larger and heavier than ever before.
The new cabin has excellent room and that can be shared among the occupants because of the centre row seats can slide back and forward.
The back seats now fold flat when they are not required to increase the already-good load area.
This is a big improvement on the previous model which had its rearmost seats folding up against the side of the vehicle and robbing the boot of some volume.
The downside is that the Prado wagon is now a seven-seater instead of an eight-seater, because the rearmost seat only has space for two.
We found the five-door Prado wagon to be rather too soft in the suspension for our liking, but it holds the road well enough thanks to a clever new suspension design and the average owner of a vehicle like this isn’t looking for sporting dynamics.
Off-road the new suspension works brilliantly, virtually switching to a different mechanical mode to give much greater wheel travel.
Complement that with advanced traction electronics, that are more and more complex as you pay extra for the high-end models, and the Prado upholds its reputation as being a real 4WD in a vehicle class that’s mainly occupied by pretenders.
We drove several Toyota Prados up and down extremely steep slopes, through slimy waterholes, on slippery gravel, over rocky ledges – and they just kept going and going and … brilliant and certainly the vehicle for someone who wants to do some real off-road work.
Styling of the new for 2010 Toyota Prado is chunky and modern, yet the designers have done an excellent job in also making it look like a solid evolution of the previous model.
Note, in particular, the kickup of the rearmost side windows and the angle of the D-pillar this creates. Everyone immediately knows this new fourth-gen could be nothing other than a Prado.
Power comes from revised versions of the engines used in the outgoing model. Drive is permanently to all four wheels with, of course, a two-speed transfer box. The latter is controlled by a dash mounted switch.
The Toyota range is available for test drive at Harris Freer Toyota, 751 Princes Highway, Berwick. Phone 9707 4455.