Toyota Land Cruiser VS Ram 2500

The GR Sport is a massive car but it doesn’t handle like one. That's not to say it handles like a small car but it doesn't feel like a truck to drive.

The power is effortlessly gutsy and there's no issue keeping your speed consistent on hills. The 10-speed auto transmission manages its gear changes and power hits smoothly. The rumble of the V6 engine is also quite therapeutic when it comes time to tackle an overflowing causeway or muddy road.

The GR Sport feels solidly grounded and even on winding roads, the roll in corners isn’t bad at all. Less so than a Prado, actually. 

The ride comfort is very good in the GR Sport grade as it has special adaptive suspension and that means that you really aren’t bothered by the road surface. Besides some whistling from the roof racks, there’s also little outside noise and it feels refined in the cabin because of it.

The wide windows and high seating position offers great visibility all around but I'm very aware of how large the car is as I can't see my son when he walks around it. The sensors alert you but make sure all kids are accounted for before you start moving.

Despite its size, the GR Sport is very nimble to manoeuvre with a small 11.8m turning circle and steering that is responsive.

Parking has been no issue for me this week and while the 360-degree view camera is a bit too fish-eye lense for me, its clear and you get used to it pretty quickly.

The strong whiff of leather is a nice way to start each journey. The full-length side steps and grab handles are required for every climb in and out of the elevated cabin which provides a commanding view of the world, even though the outer edges of its vast bonnet and front mudguards disappear from view.

The front seats are wide and comfortable with good lateral support and rear seat passengers have generous head, shoulder and legroom as you would expect. Although it feels huge when you first climb aboard, the RAM starts to shrink around you the more you drive it, aided by front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera for tight parking situations (which is most of the time).

Its height of 1974mm (Ranger 1848mm) will still clear most undercover car parks (usually 2100mm limit) and its 2009mm width is only 150mm wider than a Ranger, so it will also fit within most car parking spaces. The biggest parking handicap is its oil tanker-like 6030mm length which is 675mm longer than the Ranger, so you need plenty of room for reversing.

Ride quality when empty is generally good, although you do notice the firmness of the heavy duty spring rates over larger bumps. Acceleration is spirited, too, with an unbridled 1084Nm shoving you in the back and the steering is nicely weighted and relatively direct for an old-school steering box set-up.

The quartet of disc brakes, though, do not have the bite relative to pedal effort one might expect. ASV engineers claim it's the result of pad compounds which have to withstand the heat of up to 7.0 tonne towing loads, so they tend to be relatively hard.

On the highway it has a remarkably quiet cabin environment thanks to substantial ASV-added sound insulation, low wind noise and minimal tyre roar. At 100km/h with no payload, the 6.7 litre Cummins barely ticked over at 1400rpm and that hardly changed when we hooked up a dual axle New Age Caravan with a 3270kg tare weight.

Given that was less than half of its peak towing capacity, the big RAM barely noticed it was there. The engine's massive 1084Nm of torque at only 1600rpm was most impressive on long gradual climbs, allowing the truck and caravan combo to squash each hill in top gear with minimal throttle.

Each time you ease off the accelerator, too, the exhaust brake provides more than enough retardation (and Kenworth sound effects) to ensure you rarely need to push the brake pedal. And when you do, the electric trailer brake control provides powerful and sure-footed stopping power. The door mirrors were also wide enough to see along each side of the van and approaching rear traffic.