Toyota has announced that its Japanese domestic market (JDM for short) Land Cruiser V8 has received a new engine and transmission transplant. Beginning from May 6, 2009, the Land Cruiser will be offered with a newly-developed 4.6-liter V8 Dual VVT-i gasoline engine that produces 318-horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 460Nm or 339.3-lbs/ft of maximum torque at 3,400 rpm versus the previous 4.7-liter V8's 288HP and 445Nm or 328-lb/ft respectively. The 4.6L V8 is mated to an also new 6-speed automatic transmission that replaces the previous 5-speed auto.
Since Europe, Australia and several other markets around the world get the same 4.7-liter V8 engine as the Japanese-spec model, we suspect that it's only a matter of time before Toyota announces the change to the 318HP 4.6-liter V8 and the six-speed auto transmission.
New powerplant aside, the JDM Land Cruiser's range is also enhanced with the addition of a new trim level called ZX.
