Closely related to the Tundra pickup truck, the Sequoia comes with hybrid assistance by default. With 437 horsepower and 583 pound-feet (790 Nm) at its disposal, the body-on-frame sport utility vehicle should be relatively fast over the quarter.
Pictured at the Dunnville Autodrome, the Sequoia has to prove itself against two polar opposites. Namely, a luxury-oriented unibody SUV with an inline-six engine and a body-on-frame SUV with half-ton pickup truck underpinnings and a small-block V8. The challengers in question are the Land Rover Defender 130 Outbound and the GMC Yukon Denali.
In stark comparison to the previous-gen Sequoia, the current model packs a twin-turbo V6, an electric drive unit built into the ten-speed automatic transmission, and a high-voltage battery with 1.87 kilowatt hours to its name. This, in turn, makes the Sequoia TRD Pro in the video below tremendously heavy. Think just around 6,150 pounds/2,790 kgs.
Equipped with road tires rather than off-road tires, the Yukon Denali also happens to be a heavy son of a gun at circa 6,000 lbs or 2,720 kilograms. Also connected to a ten-speed automatic, the free-breathing V8 hiding under the hood is the largest engine of the lot. But alas, 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet (624 Nm) don't really pose a threat to the Sequoia. How the tables would've turned had it been the supercharged V8 of the Cadillac Escalade-V…
For the final entry, the numbers are 395 horsepower, 406 pound-feet (550 Nm), eight speeds instead of ten, and something in the ballpark of 5,800 pounds (2,630 kilograms) for this configuration of the Defender 130. Electronically limited to 119 miles per hour (191 kilometers per hour) from the factory, the Land Rover is theoretically capable of 144 miles per hour (231 kilometers per hour) at full chatter.
Photo: Sam CarLegion on YouTube
The ZF-supplied transmission also happens to be pretty good from a standstill and from a rolling start. The white-painted Defender 130 squeezed out a best of 6.2 seconds from zero to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour), whereas the quarter mile was dealt with in 14.9 seconds. With Sam CarLegion driving, the Sequoia clocked 6.3 and 14.8 seconds.
As for the Goliath versus Goliath showdown, the Sequoia improves to 14.7 seconds in the quarter mile. GMC's luxury-oriented SUV couldn't do better than 14.9 seconds, with 60 miles per hour arriving in a respectable 6.4 seconds. It goes without saying that its top speed pales in comparison to that of the Defender 130, a sad reality that applies to the Sequoia as well. Then again, the Yukon and Sequoia were not designed for outright speed…
Toyota's large sport utility vehicle carries a starting price of $61,275 before destination, while a loaded TRD Pro can set you back over 80,000 freedom eagles. The Yukon isn’t exactly affordable either, with prices kicking off at $58,200 with 2WD and the standard wheelbase. A Denali Ultimate 4WD with the 6.2-liter V8 costs in excess of $100,000.
It gets even crazier at Land Rover: $56,400 for the short-wheelbase 90, $60,600 for the 110, and $69,100 for the 130. Prospective customers who prefer the V8 over the mild-hybrid I6 have to shell out at least $116,600, with said powertrain listed by Land Rover with limited availability for MY24.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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