Toyota Fortuner 4,0 V6 4X4 Automatic Transmission Road Test PDF Report

You have to hand it to the folks at Toyota. Not only do Ythey build good, high quality vehicles, but they’re astute marketers, too. The competition must be absolutely shell-shocked at the pricing of the new locally built Fortuner SUV, which has the looks, equipment and capability of vehicles costing much more. And by all accounts the market has been just as impressed, taking every one of the 500 or so units a month that the Prospecton plant is currently able to make. By our reckoning, that already makes the Fortuner South Africa’s best-selling SUV…Of course, as the Special Report in this issue points out, the competitive pricing comes from the fact that Fortuner forms part of

Toyota’s IMV programme, beneiting from the economies of scale that this international project brings to parts-sourcing and manufacturing. But what is the SUV model like to live with, and to drive? Looks-wise, it’s the kind of vehicle that any sport utility fan would be proud of. The family resemblance to the Hilux is strong, but he transformation to wagon form has been handled brilliantly. As one of our testers remarked, “This vehi-
cle looks as though it costs quite a bit more than it does”. t has a kind of Mercedes-Benz M-Class air about, probably because of the rearward-sloping C-pillars and wraparound rear window. Blister fenders add to the purposefulness of the design, and the front end has a Toyota family look, with something of the air of the iconic

Landcruiser wagon. Some tester had their doubts about the bright work “moustache” atop the grille, but others thought this feature
served as a brilliantly subtle way of distinguishing the SUV from its bakkie siblings. Beneath the skin, it rides on the Hilux ladder chassis, and shares the pick-up’s double wishbone front suspension. But at the rear it’s all change, with a shorter body overhang, and a completely
revised suspension set-up. Gone are the bakkie’s leaf springs, replaced by a four-link set-up with coil springs, with a lateral control rod added to counter pitching.

Brakes are by a similar disc/drum combination to the pick-up’s, and ABS is standard. Our top-of-the range test vehicle, the 4,0 V6 4×4 automatic, came with 16-inch alloywheels wrapped in 265/70 General Grabber rubber.Under the bonnet, the top-linerfeatures the same 1GR-FE V6 as lagship Hiluxes. While peak power remains the same, at 175 kW at 5 200 r/min, torque delivery is tweaked on automatic transmission versions, increasing peak output from 343 N.m to 376 N.m at 3 800 r/min. The ive-speed auto transfers drive to the four wheels, with a lockable Torsen diff apportioning the split between front and rear. There’s also a locking facility for the rear diff, engaged by a button on the facia, and a two-speed low ratio transfer case.

The cabin is light and airy, thanks to a large glass area and the use of light colours. The test vehicle featured a light brown facia, neatly upholstered beige leather seats, and durable, rather than plush, ibre-punch carpeting under (optional) loose mats. The front seats are excellent, proving both comfortable and supportive, with a range of adjustment that suited the shortest and tallest test team members. Second-row seating is in the form of two folding “chairs” split 40:60. And behind this is another split bench, whose two halves collapse, and then fold up
against the left and right bulkheads to free up extra luggage space. The rear seat is adequately comfortable, and there’s enough legroom for adults in the back row provided middle-row passengers are prepared to give up some of theirs.

With the centre bench in its rear-most position, there is plenty of legroom for middle-row passengers. Our luggage capacity test using ISO blocks came up with a basic luggage capacity in seven-3 seater form of 168 dm , increasing 3 to 296 dm in ive-seater coniguration, with total utility space (with only the front pair of seats in use) 3 at 1 360 dm . The hard plastic facia is pure Hilux, and minor controls are well placed. The MP3-compatible radio/tape system is located high up at the centre of the dash, and the buttons and knobs are within easy reach – just as well as, unlike some other comparable SUVs, Toyota doesn’t offer remote controls on the steering wheel boss. Easy-to-use rotary switch-es for the ventilation system are positioned on the central hang-down section.

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