As the saying goes, ‘there's no replacement for displacement’. The thing is, displacement has been effectively replaced by a little thing called turbocharging. Yes, turbocharging as been around for a long time, but it's practically the norm these days.
But aside from that, manufacturers have been squeezing out more power from smaller engines. Boosted or not, cars these days can pull higher numbers than before, even with similar hardware from before.
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Case in point, Toyota's 2.8-liter turbodiesel. It's been installed in the new Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series, and it's being made alongside the version fitted with a 4.5-liter V8 turbodiesel. Without digging deeper on the specs, you'd easily say that the V8 will eat the four-cylinder for breakfast.
Of course, the only way to find out the truth is by doing a real-world test. That's exactly what the guys from Fullboost in Australia did. They pitched a new 2.8-liter LC70 against a 4.5-liter version.
Both versions used were cab and chassis models, so there's no bed at the back to weigh things down. It's also worth pointing out that the V8 is a single cab version, so there's less mass to move around compared to the dual cab body in the 2.8-liter.
You'd think that the video will be a foregone conclusion, but we'll let you finish watching the vid first. The result may (or may not) be a shock for you.
Surprised? Well, we weren't. Here's why.
The 2.8-liter makes nearly as much power as the 4.5-liter, 201hp versus 202hp. But what might surprise you is the fact that the 2.8-liter packs more torque than the 4.5-liter V8. Believe it or not, the new turbo-four makes 50Nm more torque over the mightly eight-cylinder (450Nm vs. 500Nm). It also helped that that new LC70 has a six-speed automatic over a rather old-school five-speed manual.
Of course, we understand why some folks will still go for the V8. For those who do, they grew up with the mantra of bigger displacement is better. It'll likely be less 'stressed' than the 2.8-liter when worked hard, and, we'll admit, we'd live to have the V8 around just for its noise.
But times have, indeed changed. The thing is, Toyota could've easily killed off this model, but they're still not giving up on it despite its age. Still, it's great seeing Japan's largest brand still put some life into it. It would've been easier to discontinue it, but we're glad the Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series is hanging around for even longer.
