Denza B8 vs Toyota Prado

Neither is good with all three rows up. The B8 leaves 147 litres behind its third row and the Prado 182, and both describe a space that will not take a weekly shop for a full car. The Prado wins on the way out of the problem, not the problem itself. Toyota sells five-seat GX and Altitude grades that delete the third row and restore a deep, flat 954-litre boot, and Denza builds no equivalent B8. Folded flat the gap widens again, to 1,829 litres against 920. Read the Prado as the pick if the third row is occasional. Read the B8 as the one that seats six in comfort and travels light.

The ratings tie at 3,500kg braked and 750kg unbraked, so the brochures look identical. The arithmetic underneath does not. Gross combination mass caps the whole rig: the Prado's is 6,600kg on every grade, the B8's is 7,174kg. Subtract each car's kerb weight and a 3,500kg trailer and you get what is left for people, gear and tow ball download. A Prado GX leaves 605kg, its entire payload rating intact. The B8 leaves 384kg, from a rating of 702kg. The Denza's payload advantage on the spec sheet reverses precisely when it matters, and the heavier grades of each narrow it further. For a family towing near the limit, the Prado takes it.

Only with nightly charging, and the published figures make the condition unusually explicit. Denza quotes the B8 at 3.9L/100km on the WLTC cycle with the battery between 25 and 100 per cent charge, against the Prado's 7.6L/100km combined under ADR 81/02 testing. That comparison flatters the Denza because it assumes a charged pack. Denza also publishes the other end: below 25 per cent charge the B8 is quoted at 9.89L/100km on NEDC and 11.36 on WLTC, both above the Prado. With a 36.8kWh battery and a claimed 100km of electric range, a plugged-in commute burns almost no fuel. Run it flat on a touring leg and the diesel wins, with 110 litres of tank to the Denza's 91.

Both hold five ANCAP stars and neither rating is stale. The Prado's applies to the 250 Series built from August 2024, the B8's to all variants built from October 2025, and both run to December 2031. The provenance differs. ANCAP states the B8's rating is based on testing its partner model, the B5, with Denza supplying technical evidence that the B5's results also apply. The Prado was crash-tested as a Prado. On the pillars they split: the B8 leads adult occupant 86 to 85 and child occupant 95 to 89, the Prado leads vulnerable road user 84 to 75 and safety assist 82 to 78. Read the B8 as the better bet inside, the Prado for everyone outside.

Published counts for the B8 run from nine to fourteen depending where you look, and ANCAP does not publish a total. Any single figure is a guess wearing a fact's clothes, so read the coverage instead. Both cars run dual frontal airbags, chest-protecting side airbags in the front, a centre airbag between the front occupants, and head-protecting curtains reaching all three rows. From there they diverge: the B8 extends chest protection to the second row, which the Prado does not, and the Prado fits driver and passenger knee airbags, which the B8 does not. Neither is a weak link, and neither wins on a count. Treat any quoted airbag tally for this car with caution.

On paper it is the Denza. It claims 310mm of ground clearance to the Prado's 210 to 221mm, 890mm of wading to 700mm, and 34 degrees of approach to 32. Its 35-degree departure angle looks like a rout next to the Prado's 17, though Toyota measures that with the Australian tow bar fitted, which is how most leave the dealer. Every B8 gets a locking rear differential and the six-seater adds a front one. The Prado's case is different: full-time 4WD with low range from the GX up, a swaybar disconnect and all-terrain tyres on the Altitude, and roughly 795kg less mass to move. Read the B8 as the better specified, the Prado as the one with the record.

On what you can count, the B8 wins comfortably. It opens at $99,518 driveaway for the seven-seater and $106,980 for the six, and that buys 425kW, a 17.3-inch touchscreen, Nappa leather, six years or 150,000km of warranty and eight years or 160,000km on the battery. The Prado starts lower at $79,369 driveaway and climbs past the B8 at the top, with five years and unlimited kilometres, extended to seven on the engine and driveline when servicing stays on schedule. The uncountable part decides it for many buyers: the Prado's resale record is why people accept its premium, and a marque that arrived in January 2026 has no record at all. Only you can price that.

The five-seat Prado GXL is the value pick; the B8 6S, with six seats and a locking front differential, is the hardware pick. At this money the ranges properly overlap, so the question is real. The GXL carries the comfort kit, dodges the seven-seat boot compromise, and leaves the Altitude and Kakadu money for buyers who need the swaybar disconnect or the luxury. Take the 6S over the 7S because it is the only B8 with that front differential to pair with the rear one, so the upgrade is mechanical rather than cosmetic, and the night vision camera and head-up display come with it. The 7S adds a seat behind a 147-litre boot, which buys less than it appears to.