Toyota unveils shorty (three-door) Prado

There is nothing wrong with a short wheel base vehicle for towing if it is set up properly with WDH. In fact if you go to the RACQ Vehicle towing Mass Guide http://tinyurl.com/l855pl you will see that Toyota require you to use WDH - "#1 load levelling hitch req." - for all the later model vehicles of all types.

PeterD

LOL! You could be right Russ, perhaps I misread the article on Toyota's website but I understood to imply that the 5-door wagon would still have only 2,500kg towing capacity, with the difference being due to the lower weight of the 3-door:

"Lower weight for the three-door versions is expected to translate into even better real-world acceleration - as well as a small improvement in fuel economy and emissions.

Another key benefit of the three-door is its strong towing capacity of three tonnes (braked) - 500kg more than the already-impressive five-door. "

BTW: Inclined to agree about the 90-Series - never quite took to the 2003-on models with the headlights stretching almost to the top of the bonnet (headlights should shine forwards, not upwards)! The looks of the new one don't excite me too much either - might just have to hope I can still find a good 90-Series!

why not just remove the back seats and lock up the rear doors-use them for handy access if needed but otherwise ignore them?

Probably not here Rocco.

As we now often sleep in our patrol , one might think a troppy 2 door would be a good option. But for a strange reason we found them not suitable.

We had friends with a troppy who sleep inside it and they found they have to crawl over the bed to get in , and while doable it makes it surprisingly more difficult to live with.

With our Patrol setup you still enter the double bed by opening either of the second row doors , sit on the bed edge and just swing around.

Simple thing really, but made a great difference to the practicality of camping arrangement.

I'm in the same situation - only two of us, so don't need 4 doors. So I got rid of a near new Prado and went for what I've got now because of "ACCESS" (and space and more payload).

My current canopy has two 1.8M wide side doors - equals 3.6 metres of access. The Prado you're suggesting would have 1 metre of access via the rear door. It means you don't have to move or unpack to get to stuff. Makes a huge difference on the desert trips. Pull into camp, lift up a side door and grab a chair and a drink and you're set.