[pman68]

Looks pretty cool to me. I don't even mind the smurf blue.



More pics here:
linky

[Rolling Bones]

Looks like a dinky toy.

[Ratm]

[Eug Wanker]

Fugly

[teknopimp]

not a bad execution of the quasi-classic FJ40. not sure i like the white top, given it is not removable afaik. protruding fenders and signal lights too easily prone to damage.

[EnemyTerritoryish]

That's what the world needs. Another SUV.

[pman68]

It would make a good looking hybrid. Wonder why they didn't go that route?

[nredman]

i'll pay $1 for it

[Dark Helmet]

I really like it. Apparently it will have some sort of flat speakers in it also.

[::maroma::]

The white top reminds me of the Mini. And like Enemy said, just what we need, another SUV.

And I'll tell ya why they didn't go the hybrid route.. no one's buying them. Money talks.

[mindwaves]

Ugly.

[Doofy]

Have they stopped making vehicles for heterosexual males now or what?

[rjenkinson]

-r.

[euchomai]

I agree, a mini cooper suv type thingy. Ugly.

[Jens Peter]

[nredman]

Originally Posted by rjenkinson

-r.

i'll pay $2 for that

[His Dudeness]

Originally Posted by EnemyTerritoryish

That's what the world needs. Another SUV.

As well as another tree hugger SUV hater.

[RAILhead]

I'll be buying one.

[Maflynn]

I really have to question the move of some of these auto execs, they see SUV sales are dropping and with the gas prices not really coming down that trend is only going to continue yet I see toyota, and saab have introduced new ones. Subaru did a new one recently.

Capitalism will certainly weed out the week and the consumer will vote with their dollars.

by the way that is just ugly and looks like a toy.

[His Dudeness]

These vehicles aren't truly SUV's. SUV's are built off of actual truck frames, not car frames. The Saab's and Subaru's and the new FJ aren't built off of truck frames, and besides they only have V-6's. Most cars have V-6's in them, and I don't see all you ****ing liberal tree huggers lashing out at them.

[Kevin]

"Freedom Truck"



And I see it comes with a MTX option.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by His Dudeness

These vehicles aren't truly SUV's. SUV's are built off of actual truck frames, not car frames. The Saab's and Subaru's and the new FJ aren't built off of truck frames, and besides they only have V-6's. Most cars have V-6's in them, and I don't see all you ****ing liberal tree huggers lashing out at them.

Uh oh. Someone is seriously badly informed.

1) SUVs don't have to be built on truck frames. The first SUV, the Range Rover, isn't built on a truck frame - because we don't actually have "trucks" over here.

2) You don't need a V8 to make something an SUV.

3) Most cars do not have V6 engines in them.

4) Subarus tend to use a flat four config, not a V6. Although I don't know which model you're talking about in particular.

5) If you stick a 4x4 badge on the back of a Ford Fiesta, the hippies will start whining at you around here. Literally. Since most hippies know absolutely nothing about cars, the only signifier that it's "evil" and "tree killing" is that 4x4 badge - not the engine config. Hippies wouldn't know a W12 from a boxer if their lives depended on it.

[Maflynn]

Originally Posted by His Dudeness

These vehicles aren't truly SUV's. SUV's are built off of actual truck frames, not car frames. The Saab's and Subaru's and the new FJ aren't built off of truck frames, and besides they only have V-6's. Most cars have V-6's in them, and I don't see all you ****ing liberal tree huggers lashing out at them.

That's not my point about SUVs besides what is a true SUV anyways the majority of them are not built on truck frames but are still called SUVs what does a truck frame have to do with the discussion anyways.

It doesn't matter what frame the body sits on, it matter how much gas milage you get. Add on 4 wheel drive (or all wheel drive), and other things and the mileage plummets. Consumers are starting to vote on that with buying other types of cars and SUV inventory climbs.

I was talking about gas mileage. I had a jeep wrangler with a 6 cylander enging. It had horrible gas milage, why because it was a box on wheels,, a 6 cylender car got a lot better mileage then that beast.

While I'm not a **** liberal tree hugger, you have a point and as people start paying more at the pump they're going to be more inclined to find a more effecient car. Your starting to see that now as car companies tout fuel effeciency.

[rambo47]

I recall the concept version from one of the recent auto shows as being much better. This thing looks like they compromised away a lot of the design I liked. Oh, well.......

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by ::maroma::

And I'll tell ya why they didn't go the hybrid route.. no one's buying them. Money talks.

I thought hybrid cars sales skyrocketed when the gas rose a few months ago.

[mindwaves]

Let's focus on the topic of how ugly it is please!

[scottiB]

Another article.

From it: The new Toyota SUV rides on a fully boxed frame that is a modified version of the Land Cruiser Prado model sold overseas (and marketed in the U.S. as the Lexus GX 470), which should give it a truck-like ride. But since it is equipped with rack-and-pinion steering and an independent front suspension, it should have decent road manners.

...

The manual transmission model has a clutch-start cancel switch on the dash that allows the vehicle to be started in gear without depressing the clutch. Serious off-roaders will appreciate this, since it allows you to restart the engine without rolling backwards if the FJ stalls on a hill.

[Fred_Cokebottle]

http://www.landrovernorway.com/2005/theo/4t.jpg

Forever!

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by scottiB

Another article.

From it: The new Toyota SUV rides on a fully boxed frame that is a modified version of the Land Cruiser Prado model sold overseas (and marketed in the U.S. as the Lexus GX 470), which should give it a truck-like ride. But since it is equipped with rack-and-pinion steering and an independent front suspension, it should have decent road manners.

...

The manual transmission model has a clutch-start cancel switch on the dash that allows the vehicle to be started in gear without depressing the clutch. Serious off-roaders will appreciate this, since it allows you to restart the engine without rolling backwards if the FJ stalls on a hill.

So essentially they haven't got a clue what they're on about. Serious off-road folks are into solid live axles. And the starting in gear thing is because the starter motor generally has more torque than the engine - good for getting out of tricky situations.

[Nexus5]

Originally Posted by euchomai

I agree, a mini cooper suv type thingy. Ugly.

"mini cooper suv type thingy" - because it has a white top? This is bullshit.

nexus5.

[Rolling Bones]

Originally Posted by RAILhead

I'll be buying one.

You'd take that thing out in public?

You probably bought the first Aztek.

[greenamp]

Meh, I really like it. True it has IFS, but what off road style vehicle doesn't need serious modification before it's trail worthy? Sure, you can get a Jeep with a solid axle stock, but that dana 30 POS they slap in the front of those things sure as hell isn't my idea of hardcore trail worthy. When it was stock, my 2001 Tacoma std cab 4x4 on IFS had more articulation than the run of the mill stock Jeep Wranglers with SFA. Sure I've broken dozens of cv-axles but hell you can change those in like 5 minutes on a Tacoma, while on the stock Jeeps if you break an axle up front you're SOL.

Out of the box I think it's great, and it looks to be ready to be modified out the wazoo. I give it 1 month after official release and ppl with have them on the trails sporting dana44's front and rear with 38" tires.

ps: you can see more about the FJ at Toyotas website. A couple movies of it in action at Big Bear and Rubicon as well.
http://toyota.com/vehicles/future/in...n=GM_TN_FUTURE

[Dark Helmet]

The name of Freedom Truck will appeal to the same idiotic rednecks that call them freedom fries.

[Rolling Bones]

Remember Pearl Harbour.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

The name of Freedom Truck will appeal to the same idiotic rednecks that call them freedom fries.

I don't think the bait car stealers will care. But if you say so, I will take your word for it

[greenamp]

A few pics of it in action:
One thing I find interesting is that the final version is almost 100% identical to the concept version they showed off a couple years ago. The design is in fact identical, but the concept sported things like front&rear stock winches, 36" tires, etc.




A few things to note: it's not very big at all. I don't remember the exact dimensions but it's shorter than the previous generation Tacoma Std. cab but about 5" wider. It will also sport a 240 hp V6.

[wdlove]

Not bad looking, love the blue.

[ajprice]

Just posting these for comparison between the concept and production car. Looks pretty similar to the concept to me, except for the concept bling headlights and chunky tyres. Its even got the flush windscreen and rear glass.

Concept FJ



Production FJ

[greenamp]

Available colors:

Titanium Metallic (gorgeous)

Voodoo Blue

Sun Fushion

Black Cherry (lol)

Black Diamond

[von Wrangell]

meh...

give me one of these instead:

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by von Wrangell

meh...

give me one of these instead

Correct. Answer.

[euchomai]

Originally Posted by Nexus5

"mini cooper suv type thingy" - because it has a white top? This is bullshit.

nexus5.

Wow, such prickish animosity. In my opinion, in the first shot, it has similar lines to the mini. I'm sorry that you can't change my mind. Oh, well... I thought we could be friends.

[Paco500]

It's defiantly not a main-stream truck. I'm what Doofy would call a tree-hugging, SUV-Hating hippy and I want one. But I've always been fixated on the FJ-40's. The lease is up on my Civic this summer and I'm conflicted- I'm going with either this beast or a Prius.

What's wrong with me?

[Cubeoid]

Da yellow one looks "coo" .

[von Wrangell]

Originally Posted by Doofy

Correct. Answer.

I knew you'd like that one.

But that's just it. I don't understand the people who buy these SUV's and keep them in their original state. They are completely useless like that. You could just as well buy a Subaru Legacy (4x4 standard around here). You get the same ability to go off road with those. If people are buying an SUV to drive around the city and some "country"-roads they're idiots. Buy an SUV, modify it to use the power and off-road ability it comes with and drive it in the real terrain (off-road, glaciers, deserts etc etc) and it makes sense.

[Kerrigan]

Thumbsup to that, VonDubya

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

Thumbsup to that, VonDubya

[Kerrigan]

I meant the picture, not whatever else he is talking about.

[Cubeoid]

heh... Lolz. <--- me Yous guys make me laugh so much. I love yous guys.

[MacTiger2006]

These vehicles aren't truly SUV's. SUV's are built off of actual truck frames, not car frames. The Saab's and Subaru's and the new FJ aren't built off of truck frames, and besides they only have V-6's. Most cars have V-6's in them, and I don't see all you ****ing liberal tree huggers lashing out at them.

This FJ cruiser is build off of a 4Runner frame which is a TRUCK frame.
Most cars have I-4 cyl. engines. The cars that have V-6's usually don't have 250 hp, and the toruqe that the FJC has.
I'm a liberal tree hugger and generally don't get bent unless I see an F-350 that gets maybe 10 a gal. that is totally clean and the person is just driving it as a status symbol. I think its tacky.
That said I want an FJ like no one's business. I'm a big Yota fan.

So essentially they haven't got a clue what they're on about. Serious off-road folks are into solid live axles.

Depends on the situation... if you like to ride on fast fire-roads and hit trails without huge-giant boulders (and I mean BIG) you can get by just fine with IFS (IFS will do on most rocks with a good enough lift, also without a good enough lift SA won't help either). Also IFS is A LOT better on pavement. Even still there are no too few rigs that make the Rubicon with IFS. IFS vs. SA is more like a debate in the hobby. Serious offroaders would ask you what kind of off roading do you plan on doing? than recomend SA or IFS.