depechek

I live in NOLA and the streets here flood pretty easily even after a mild rain. The city drainage system is not good. Sometimes these rains catch you off guard aka already on the road. Considering the '10-13 GX, '14+ Highlander, and maybe the 4Runner. The info online only address ground clearance and I am most likely never going to take it off road. Hence considering the Highlander. My question is how much water (street flooding) can I drive through before water enters the cabin or stalls me out?

Acrad

To be honest the Highlander is probably the least capable from a water fording perspective. In many ways that capability is more off-road than you think. IMO... of the vehicles you list I would scratch the Highlander off the list.

depechek

Pretty awesome vid, I wouldn't have the ***** to do that. The water current looked like it could have washed the Prado down river at anytime. I have a Sienna (latest gen) currently and I really like it. Can't beat the space, gas mileage, and the handling (relative to SUV's). Probably not the forum to brag about a mini van lol. Only thing is won't make it past 2 feet plus of standing water. Almost lost it to flooding in two down pours. Really don't feel too comfortable with my 1 year old in the car. I want to be able to just drive through it and get home. I know the GX cabin is higher than the Highlander but it doesn't look more that a 3-4 inches higher. Can someone measure their GX and see how high it is off the ground to the bottom opening of the door?

User21c

That video was nuts!!!
As a kayaker, I understand the force of moving water, and that was insane... But he made it, so what do I know?

Acrad

Looks like around 22-23" from ground to bottom of floor on passenger door. I measured with door open. Surely door seals would give you some additional depth as well. Any time you drive in deeper water you also want to consider that differentials may need to be serviced. I would stay below the electrical motors in doors though.

EDIT: I think Tecman first posted that video.. that is crazy and I better have a lot of zombies chasing me to put my GX through something similar. :-)

It seems the Highlander AWD system could you some extra programming as well. Surely tires would help but just an example.


Previously posted comparison to GX 460.

tecman

I will throw this one in that I have posted a couple of times as well

Dallasguy1

I would definitely do something like this when I'm planning to claim the insurance as a flood damage haha 😂 This was insane I'm sure the engine was done too even though I could the wheels rolling but I'm sure some damage must have been done.

NewB2Lexus

Unfortunately there is no magic recipe. A few years ago our area got 8'' of rain one morning. The cars you see on the pics were stranded and abandoned. This road now is completely torn and they are putting large (probably 10'x10') concrete blocks under the surface to keep it from flooding. Also people drown every year in completely submerged cars when they try to make it through underpasses.

Be careful, just because you have a larger truck it does not make you immune to the laws of physics .

Acrad

I can't even imagine the amount of electrical gremlins one must see over the long term doing this. I wonder how often one takes a fully loaded Prado Kakadu with further electronics and swamps it. I see they now have one trim above that is called the "Altitude Special Edition". Engine-wise probably fine since it has a diesel with a snorkel.

EDIT: I guess I never thought about the Prados with rear spares not having the flip up rear glass. These Altitude editions over the years have the same setup as GX.

http://www.toyota.com.au/prado/range

Skip to about the 1 minute mark.

Dallasguy1

Donno why but the ride reminded me of Flintstones lol.

I think they do make a line of special editions for people who take the trucks under the water.

Acrad

I think I saw a trim line of LC presented on one of the Australian car review sites that looked fairly spartan. It may have been model you listed above.