Is 2023 Toyota Kluger Hybrid Butch Enough for Gadget-Loving Gays?

As happens after buckets of restorative beverages, camp (no pun intended) fire chats are inevitable, emerging from their dusty depths after many hours on the road. This weekend, the 2023 Toyota Kluger Hybrid Grande wafted regally along the freeway and into the rural wilderness, carrying Nico, Casper, Raffy, and I, quite firmly out of town – destination: glamping pods on a friend’s farm in the Southern Highlands of NSW.

There is not a lot to do, it is, after all, a farm. If you’re not the kinda guy who is into squeezing the odd udder, a farm stay is purgatory, but we had an idea: doin’ fishin’n’stuff,

Nothing says bucolic beauty like dangling a line in a babbling brook. Most of us hadn’t fished for anything more than mid-year bargains, so the challenge was laid, drinks packed, and navigation set.

Before we move on, it’s true, Toyotas can be a bit vanilla, “a weakness” say some. But, isn’t that also a strength? The fact that it offends no one means a wider appeal without scaring small children.

Sadly, the Kluger is the first choice of SUV of none-of-we-four, some preferring 2-wheels worth of on-road fun. Raffy like trucks, and Casper is into his EVs, making us the perfect choice to objectively Kluger ourselves into a frenzy.

Toyota reached into its parts bin to shoehorn everything they can into the Grande. It gets a killer sound system, and buttons and switches for everything. The rear seat screens (that may as well not have been there) have been tossed out, with a couple of 12.3 inchers up front instead. It is set off by a decent head-up display, which once experienced, is difficult to live without. It is nice to see those horrible, cheap driver dials gone, with one of those 12.3” screen filling the driver’s binnacle to perfection.

Check out the Brochure HERE: Kluger_Online_Brochure_20230321

Video Review: 2023 Toyota GR 86 GTS plus CPLAY2air and Journey Phone Mount – GayCarBoys review – Alan Zurvas GAYCARBOYS

Video Review: Toyota GR SUPRA GTS Mini Review #toyotagr86 #gaycarboys Alan Zurvas GAYCARBOYS #shorts

Top GayCarBoys Stories:

ABOVE: Toyota Kluger Grande Hybrid (note: interior shows analogue driver dials. New pics to follow)

The trip:

Enroute to our scene of rural sedation, we all commented on how light and nimble 2023 Toyota Kluger Hybrid feels under your bum. Raffy is used to trucks that feel like trucks, and the feather-light steering, nippy-ish acceleration, and thrifty drinking habits, made the soft-roader easy really get into, literally. After a couple of kilometres, you ease into a situation that is lofty without being aloof. On a hot day, the vented front seats waft breaths of cool, fresh air up your Khyber. Wireless CarPlay connects faultlessly without needing big hugs at every start.

The Kluger steers gently between the lines, and is always ready to connect you to emergency services if things go tits-up.

7 seats are standard, but ours stayed firmly stowed for the duration. A gaggle of gays, their gear, and fishing sundry accoutrements, were swallowed by the rear entry with oodles of room to spare. A 3^rd row just gets in the way. Why is there no option to leave them out and have more boot space?

Download your copy of 2023 Toyota Kluger Range specifications HERE: Kluger_Spec Sheet_20230308

We got to our digs, nestled cosily at the end of a pebbled lane. In the manicured compound, a collective noun of yurts circled a small rotunda where a dozen campers could eat, drink, and be merry. The mini kitchen had a BBQ, fridge and sink, the perfect place to fry scads of fish and drink beer Niagrishly.

Takin’ the 2023 Toyota Kluger Hybrid Grande Fishin’

The reasonably priced eco lodge uses electric carts to get around, but we kicked up the most frightful fuss, saying that our hybrid was “eco” enough for our purposes. We tossed our bags into the tents and headed to the water. A kilometre later, we were dangling our bits, sorry, baits.

Nico took his shirt off, mentioned for no other reason than…. WOOF!

Although we may have put a worm on a hook before, it had been a while. In an unexpectedly short interlude, 3 cod had been scaled and gutted, ready for the flames. It turns our Casper picked up a few tricks. He also learnt a thing or two from his mum, a chef. HUZZAH.

Washed, cleaned, preened, and pressed, we jumped back into the Kluger for the short drive back. No nasty fish smell inside thanks.

Bigger Fish to Fry

Casper foiled the fish, herbs, and butter for the cosy spot above the coals. We cracked the beverages, and as the sun went down, the cold set in. It might be spring, but the Southern Highlands didn’t get the memo.

The evening dipped into single digits so we huddled under cosy blankets at the picnic benches. Cod, buttered asparagus, and jacket potatoes dolloped with Crème fraîche and dill was served. Beer, wine flowed like rivers of nectar.

And there you have it, we got it. The Kluger Hybrid Grande was there in the background, a constant companion, one that went on the adventure with us. It is what people buy these cars for, but never actually venture further than outer suburbs.

We poured a 5^th round and we recorded our thoughts:

Nico:

The 2023 Toyota Kluger Hybrid Grande is not my one true love. The looks are a bit too restrained, but the cabin is comfy, and it has genuine fake wood (I think), a great audio setup, and a mountain of space, even in the back.

FYI, the 3^rd row was unfurled for a moment, but none of us could see a use for them beyond small earth beings. None of us like small earth beings.

Is the Kluger Hybrid Grande butch enough for me? Nah, nah, nah mate, this is a mum’s taxi.

Casper:

My fish was most excellent. Pudding was some of my date loaf with lashed with butter, washed down with a couple of bottles of M.Chapoutier Muscat De Beaumes De Venise. It is my favourite dessert wine.

The car? Kluger Hybrid Grande is a just a touch under 80grand, a princely sum. You get a cosy-if-conservative SUV that will stash a gaggle of gays and their stuff confortably. It is thrifty around town, and runs in EV mode often.

Althoughb Toyota hasn’t mucked about with the formula, the V6 is finally in the bin where it belongs. Non hybrids get a 2.4 turbo and an 8-speed automatic. I love the 2.5L hybrid, but not more than my fully electric EV6.

I haven’t driven a Kluger of any kind, ever, but I liked it.

Is it butch? Imagine a bearded drag queen in boots and sequins, then you have my take on Kluger Hybrid Grande. It is neither butch nor bitch. It is built for a family, but did a decent job of conveying queens without it all ending in a hideous catfight.

Raffy:

My gran had a Kluger. She was an emergency foster carer so always had a baby seat on board just in case. It had a rough life but never complained.

Our 2023 Kluger Hybrid Grande, is the latest thing to take the “random gay onboard” test. It was comfortable, surprisingly capable, quiet, and cosy. Our weekend temperatures ranged from high 30’s, to a frisky little 8c, and the Kluger just got on and did its thing while we did ours.

We chowed down on fresh fish, and in the selfie backgrounds was the Kluger Hybrid Grande, and the posh yurts, in a postcard of pleasure. If Toyota was running an ad campaign appeal to the same-sex-attracted, it would have this scene in it.

The question of butchness is an anathema. It needs not the burden of butchness, but bathes in the bountiful bosom of the suburbanly horny. There is no other need for 7 seats, after all this is not the 1950’s!

I’d rather lose the 3^rd row and fill it with grab-bags of my own choosing instead.

Alan:

The glossary of goodies is impressive, and at a smidgen over $78,000 I expect nothing less. There are helpful drive modes, but no one expects the AWD Kluger to tackle troublesome tracks. Toyota already has a bevy of buxom beauties that can climb mountains, it doesn’t need another.

I’d like a few more kilowatts, but 184 of them does the trick without needing to satisfy the neck-snapping needs of the becapped bogan set. Although a fairly new model, Kluger Hybrid Grande conservative looks feel very familiar.

It has all the gear, feels beautifully neutral on the road, and has a great driving position. If there is one thing that gets on my goat, it is Toyota’s cheap-feeling gear selectors. GET.IN.THE.BIN.

In short, Kluger Hybrid Grande was a pleasure to drive, did nothing wrong, had a lot of room, and was well equipped, but was it butch?

A Jeep Wrangler is butch. A Landcruiser is butch. A Chrysler 300 is butch. A Toyota Kluger is many things, but butch is not one of them.

Full Review to Follow

Engine: 2.5L hybrid

Trans: CVT

Econ: 5.6L/100km

Our car: 2023 Toyota Kluger AWD Hybrid $80,230

Engine: 2.5L hybrid 142kw/242NmEcon: 5.6L/100km

2023 Toyota Kluger Range

Grande Hybrid AWD 2.5L, Premium Unleaded/Electric, CVT $80,230

Grande AWD 2.4L, Unleaded Petrol, 8 SPEED AUTO $75,650

Grande 2.4L, Unleaded Petrol, 8 SPEED auto $73,257