The new Land Cruiser manages to make a non-event of the even most technical terrain, and it's able to take the same command on blacktop. Like the Cadillac Escalade or Land Rover's Range Rover, it feels heavy and planted, and one off-road innovation actually provides sharper handling. The KDSS system's ability to disconnect the anti-roll bars means that Toyota engineers didn't need to compromise on their thickness. The bars, both front and rear, are girthier than would be allowed with fixed bars - the result is that the wheel articulation required for off-roading and the heavy-duty sway bars that help on-road handling can live together happily underneath the Land Cruiser. Body control in corners is more precise than one would find in a Hummer H2 or even a Land Rover LR3, and the steering feels more direct, too. Four-wheel vented rotors - 13.4 inches in front and 13.6 in the rear - made me confident that I'd be able to stop were a moose to stumble out of the Montana forest, and a new multi-terrain ABS system senses different weather conditions and automatically alters the braking profile.
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