Toyota bZ4X - long-term review

It's very unlikely there's a Toyota bZ4X living a more varied or intense life than the current TG incumbent. Probably because very few are likely to have been fitted with semi-serious off-road tyres and then mercilessly submitted to green lanes, mud bogs and ridiculous amounts of bad weather.

And yet the Scrabble-themed 'Yota has shrugged off all the slings and arrows of outrageous meteorology and stomped happily through everything that's been thrown at it - including some proper wading. And yes, even two-foot deep crossings haven't phased it at all.

The thicker sidewalls of the BF Goodrich Trail terrains - on the smaller 18-inch wheels - are much more suited to dealing with the crumbled edges of Lincolnshire backroads, and potholes and ruts are smothered with far less wincing. They also disperse surface water much more effectively, so there's absolutely no float or aquaplaning when you hit deep runoff. Heavy car, big tread and lots of sipes.

Obviously there's a subsequent loss of fine control, so the car turns with a tiny bit less authority, but it's only really noticeable if you've driven the other version recently. It's a bit like wearing a thin set of gloves - there's a tiny bit less delicacy, but the trade-off is eminently worth it.

On the other hand, there's been movement in the art department. Having been long obsessed with 1980s Toyota livery, we've been in touch with the fabulous Mission Motorsport Livery Bay about sorting out some little vinyls for the 4X. Now you may have heard of the wonderful Mission Motorsport charity that helps rehabilitate and retrain military bods via automotive avenues (motto: Race, Retrain, Recover), and the Livery Bay is an extension of that network. They do good work. I've had three cars improved by the 'Bay, and the Toyota is heading on in.

The only problem is that I can't decide what to have done. Plenty of inspiration from various Toyota builds from different timeframes, but all need a spin on the classic red/orange/yellow and the bZ4x has some interesting and sharp body creases to either include or ignore. There's also the issue that I can neither draw or use Photoshop properly, so my woeful attempts to get across what might be needed probably hinder more than help.

Still, some of the influences are wonderful, and we'll get there in the end. Next up are designs by Lee Winstone so that we can try and get something that everyone agrees on, at which point I'll probably choose something different. Roof bars have been ordered, and you can probably guess what's coming next. Oh, and I briefly toyed with lowering it - see pic - but it's the wrong direction for this car, not least because it's easy usefulness would be knackered in one tweak.

Bad stuff? Well, overall it's a useful machine, but the detail is irritating. I can't find any way to change the stereo settings (it's a bit bass-heavy). There's not enough information about charging available anywhere on the screens (just a time-to-full - no other displays, or encouragement). You have to wait for the electric boot to fully-FULLY close before you lock the car or it squeals. It also squeals when you open or close the boot for that matter, but they all do that, Sir.

The HVAC also seems to be exceptionally power hungry; everything off means best range but steamy windows and frozen extremities in this weather, and who wants that in a 50k+ car? But stick on the heater even a little and you'll lose nearly 40 miles from the overall total. Which is too much of a chunk. Knocking around with the heater on? That's less than 170 miles of real-world range, which is - for an SUV of this size - not good enough. The range is pretty good off-road though. Weird.