Likes:
- Go anywhere rig
- Startling appearance
- Huge HVAC dash knobs
Dislikes:
- Droning exhaust note
- Cheesy emergency jack
- Impeded rear vision
Ten-hut you army wannabes! Fall in you Hummer chums! Toyota has a new dog tag for camouflaged ammo fans. It’s called the Trail Teams Special Edition Package (Upgrade Package 3 @ $3,650) on the $26,880 FJ Cruiser. Check the box for “Army Green Exterior Color” and Toyota will send you packing with an FJ that looks like a 5 gallon Jerry can. Instead of the usual white roof, yours will be olive drab, just like the rest of the body, the interior door trim, the seat fabric inserts, and the face of the dashboard. Items that would normally be silver or chrome, like bumpers, exterior mirrors, grill, door handles and even the TRD 6-spoke Special Edition alloy wheels, are all matte black on this special FJ. Only the six lug nuts holding each steel wheel in place are chrome. The subdued colorless combo transforms the FJ from a pastel Lego brick into an MP bulldog.
Although looks can be deceiving, the FJ’s military dress tells no lies. This Cruiser is fully capable of performing off- road maneuvers that would leave some tanks dead in their tracks. The makings of a ferocious outback attacker are apparent the moment you step tall into the FJ’s cab. Directly in front of the gated 5-speed automatic shift console is another stubby lever in charge of the FJ’s 2-speed transfer case. This mechanism allows you to select Low Range 4 wheel drive, or High Range 2 and 4 wheel drive. If you need special traction assistance in Low Range 4WD, you can lock the rear differential by simply depressing a button on the dash. Likewise, you can push the “A-Trac” button on the center console to activate traction control at creeper speeds. If you anticipate special circumstances which might tip the FJ over while crawling through rocks, you can even disable the side curtain airbags by depressing the RSCA (Roll Sensing Curtain Airbag) button to the left of the steering column. In other words, Toyota has covered all the angles in tailoring the FJ for wilderness travel.
Yet the camouflage Cruiser also works well as a means of everyday civilian transport. Its 260hp V6 is sophisticated enough to produce a welcome wallop of power when called on to dart through holes in traffic. Since it displaces a hefty 4 liters, the 24 valve engine also makes 271 lb.-ft. of torque, more than enough to tow 5,000 pounds of trailer. The optional, $349 tow hitch and wiring harness thus make good sense. The downside of asking a V6 to power a 4,350 pound SUV is middling fuel mileage of 17/21 MPG. The good news is that the FJ’s sizeable 20 gallon tank will take you 340-420 miles between refills.
In a pinch, the FJ will carry 4 adults, with decent access to the rear seats through a pair of small suicide back doors that swing out via fat latches located on the inside of the B pillars. If you flip the 60/40 fold down rear seats flat, you’ve got 34 cubic feet of storage space to fill. The thoughtful addition of no less than 7 tie-down eyelets allows you to secure any cargo with certainty.
The hatchback door opens to one side, so access to the cargo bed is unimpeded, although the bed floor itself is not flat. The FJ’s full size spare (265/70R17 Bridgestone Dueler) is appended to the swinging back door. The tire mount contains a waterproof back-up camera, so you’ll want to be careful to protect it when reversing. Provision of a bottle jack in a side panel near the tailgate is poorly thought out. I was unable to remove the jack or toolkit after several minutes of fiddling – not the experience you need when changing tires in an emergency. It’s a curious failing in a vehicle that is otherwise as practical as a GI-issue knife.
The FJ is an iconic vehicle that looks like nothing else on the road. Dressing it in military fatigues just heightens the visual drama. If you need practical, stable transport that seats four, the FJ fills the bill at a reasonable base price of $26,880. Add $3,650 for the Upgrade Package 3 and you’ve still got a bottom line that would make the Pentagon military green with envy. Unlike more pedestrian forms of daily transit, the Cruiser will take you into the harshest outback with nary a care. Please do not attempt such forays in your economy sedan.
2011 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER
- ENGINE: 4.0 Liter DOHC, 24 valve V-6 with VVT-i
- HORSEPOWER: 260 hp @ 5600 rpm
- TORQUE: 271 lb.-ft. @ 4400 rpm
- TRANSMISSION: 5-speed Electronically Controlled automatic Transmission (ECT)
- TOWING CAPACITY: 5,000 lbs
- FUEL CONSUMPTION: 17 City MPG/21 Highway MPG
- PRICE AS TESTED: $31,775
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