Toyota Fortuner Petrol AT Driven

[CorsaVeloce]

Got few days to spend with the Big, Bad, Petrol SUV from Toyota In my earlier encounter with the Toyota Fortuner, I had the chance to drive the top spec 4x4 diesel version at the Bombay Toyota Experiential Drive Camp for over 7 days and almost 600 kilometres. It left me impressed with its off-road capabilities, but in the forever debate of the 'Fortuner vs Endeavour', I felt the Fortuner lacked a little something. Having said that, it is a great step ahead from its predecessor. It boasts of amazing ride quality and durability and also comes with the peace of mind of being a Toyota.

To satisfy my curiosity on how the petrol variant would drive, we planned to take this particular vehicle on the Zigdrive to Lucknow. Unfortunately, due to my health issues that didn't happen and I ended up driving this car for almost 500 kilometres within Delhi. Not so surprisingly, I was unable to do that much in one full tank of fuel. Pfft. Before I talk about the good things on this car, lemme just tell you that it is one of the serious gas guzzlers out there. Not that I expected much of it, but 5.7 kmpl on normal driving is just ridiculous! It has got the same 2.7-litre VVT-i petrol as the Innova Crysta that packs a decent punch.

The Good 1. Cabin Comfort - the ride is quite good on this one and it feels planted at all speeds and the seats are also well shaped 2. Engine Noise - being a petrol, the engine is not audible below 3000 rpm 3. Driving Dynamic - although it's a big, bulky car, it's size is manageable even in traffic thanks to the light steering and good brakes 4. Great seating position and big ORVMs help tremendously in tight spots and while parking 5. Bi-Beam LED Headlamps - one of the best projectors that I have come across. Brilliant for foggy conditions and low visibility situations as well The Not So Good 1. Efficiency - in this petrol variant, I managed 5.7 kmpl in the city and 8.8 kmpl on a short 50 kilometre highway run. 2. Cabin Rattles - the car we were testing had 1500 kilometres on the odometer and it had already got minor squeaks from the dash and front passenger seat 3. 2nd Row Space - compared to the previous-gen Fortuner, the usable leg and knee room seems to be lower, owing to the larger lumbar support on the seat 4. No Sunroof - not like its mandatory but come on, there should be one for an SUV if you're paying so much moolah for it Design The exterior of the Fortuner is in line with the evolving Toyota design language and I personally quite like it. The front is sleek and the lines are neatly carried on from the side to the back. Looks nice and aggressive. The rear doors are quite large and so is the overall glass area, it gives a more open feeling inside the cabin and make it seem more roomier than it actually is. The 18 inch alloys on this car looks better than the 17s that come in the lower spec manual versions.

I am a fan of the way those headlamps look and function. I feel that this is one of the big things that the Fortuner has over the Endy. The fog lamps are also placed high enough to provide added visibility. The rear is another story - the tail lamps have 2 prominent LED strips running through them that look very nice when lit during the night, although some would say they are a complete copy off a particular Audi

Interior Toyota seems to not be giving too much of a thought to the interiors it seems. Even when the last model was out, my biggest complaint was about how the interiors were identical to some of the cars from Toyota that cost half as much. In this one, they are far more upmarket than the previous generation for sure, but it has too many bits from the Altis and Crysta - a deal breaker for me. The small soft touch faux leather bits around the instrument cluster and dash look nice and go well with the tone of the seats. The A/C vents look slightly funny and are not very aesthetic

Although I liked some bits, like the faux wood around gear lever and the nicely stitched steering wheel, it did not excite me much. The cool box is also a welcome addition and works well too.

Drive and Dynamics The overall drive and dynamics of this car are great and is now in the Prado league of things. The torque vectoring system along with the pitch and bounce management system work flawlessly to provide a smooth ride regardless of the surface that you are on. Also, the large A/T tires that come standard have barely any road noise which further adds to the refined drive of the petrol beast. There are not going to be many that consider the Fortuner petrol as an option, but for those of you out there in the market for a Honda CR-V or a Mitsubishi Outlander, this would make for a great alternative.

[Roshun]

CorsaVeloce
Nice write up on the drive experience. Like you said, I don't see many takers for the petrol Fortuner, unless someone just wants to buy it for its looks. In that price bracket, if one were shopping for a petrol vehicle, there are plenty of other choices available. In fact, the Innova Crysta petrol that has the same engine, would probably be a more practical alternative, considering you are anyway buying a 4x2 vehicle. The Innova would have more space and probably even better ride comfort compared to the Fortuner.