Get to know the Toyota Mega Cruiser; A fierce competitor of American Hummer from Japan

If you thought Humvee, the legendary American car, had no rivals, you were wrong. Toyota had launched a competitor for Humvee called Mega Cruiser.

The legendary Humvee military vehicle, which eventually led to the birth of the famous Hummer H1, is the symbol of a fiercely competitive American military vehicle. The Humvee even managed to make a place for itself in American popular culture and it is unlikely that you have not seen it in one of the top American war movies. Now, it is interesting to know that in the mid-90s, the large Japanese car manufacturer Toyota produced a car called “Mega Cruiser” that could be a worthy competitor to Humvee.

Toyota Mega Cruiser, Japanese example of American Hummer

Why Toyota made a car exactly like the Humvee is debatable. Just before we go through this discussion, it should be said that some of its fans believe that the Japanese military’s need for a versatile SUV inevitably led to the creation of this Humvee-like car, which was an exemplary example of its time. In other words, even if the Humvee didn’t exist, Toyota would still make a car for this purpose.

Of course, make no mistake; The Toyota Mega Cruiser is not just a weaker Japanese version of the Humvee, and it can even outperform the Humvee in some areas. For example, the Mega Cruiser is 609mm longer, up to 254mm taller depending on the roof design, and its floor is 12.7mm higher than the ground.

Even in addition to these, this Toyota SUV uses the ability to steer the rear axle, which allowed the wheels to rotate up to 12 degrees in each direction. Thanks to this feature, the turning radius of this Toyota car reaches 5.6 meters, which is less than the current Toyota Camry and more than 2.4 meters smaller than the Humvee, its well-known competitor.

Toyota Mega Cruiser, apart from its advantages over Humvee, was similar to it in many ways; From gantry axles to provide more ground clearance to full-time four-wheel drive and tire inflation system to match road conditions. Also, in order to achieve a greater distance from the ground, the engine of the Mega Cruiser was placed at a high height in the passenger area. Even the power transmission system of the Mega Cruiser was implemented in such a way that, unlike the Humvee, it did not occupy the rear space, and as a result, there was a 4-seater bench seat in the rear area.

The Mega Cruiser SUV was powered by a turbocharged 4.1-liter 4-cylinder diesel engine. Except that such volume seems too much for a 4-cylinder engine, its output is not impressive. This engine can produce only 153 horsepower and 382 Nm of torque, which is basically not enough for such a bulky and heavy car with such a special use.

In order to have a better view of the weakness of this car in terms of power and performance, it should be said that in the tests, the acceleration of this Toyota car from 0 to 100 is estimated at 20.6 seconds. Even in another test, this car could not reach a speed of about 100 km/h and at best reached a speed of 80 km/h. However, the Mega Cruiser consumed 18 liters per 100 km in a combined cycle; A number that is not inappropriate considering the size and weight of this Toyota car.

Similar to the Humvee, the Toyota Mega Cruiser was first released as a military vehicle, and some time later its road version was made available for use by citizens in Japan. The road version of this car was sold at a base price of $85,000, which is equivalent to $170,000 today. Even the Mega Cruiser was not exempt from Japan’s tax laws that affected heavy vehicles with high registration fees. Hence, only 149 of the road-going version were sold between 1995 and 2002, the last year of production.