Toyota Fortuner GR Sport Brings A Sportier Feel To The SUV

• Exterior enhancements include aggressive bumpers, new alloy wheels, dark accents and GR badging.

• Cabin remains similar to the standard model aside from the addition of adaptive dual-zone climate control, and a 360-degree camera.

• Is powered by diesel and petrol engines paired to a 6-speed automatic gearbox and a rear-wheel drivetrain in Indonesia.

The facelifted Toyota Fortuner already commands a strong presence, and now the Japanese carmaker has decided to give it the sportier Gazoo Racing (Toyota’s motorsport division) treatment in Indonesia with the new GR Sport trim. While it’s not the hadcore GR or GRMN, you could consider it like an Hyundai N-Line equivalent addition to the Fortuner. 

It replaces the old TRD Sportivo trim but gets a similar cosmetic makeover. The changes include brawnier front and rear bumpers, a tweaked front grille with restyled LED headlamps and DRLs, and sexy 18-inch alloy wheels. But compared to the TRD Sportivo, the GR Sport doesn’t get a red stripe on the front grille, with GR Sport branding replacing the TRD badging. 

The cabin is largely similar to the standard model, aside from a new rear-seat entertainment system with ambient lighting. Notable bits include a 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system, kick sensor for the powered tailgate, wireless charging and auto-dimming IRVM. Compared to the TRD Sprtivo, the GR Sport adds adaptive dual-zone automatic climate control,and a new surround monitor that helps prevent collisions when parking.

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Powering the Indoneasian-spec GR Sport are two engines unlike the TRD Sportivo. The first one is a 2.4-litre diesel engine that delivers 150PS and 400Nm, whereas the petrol option is a 2.7-litre engine making 163PS and 242Nm which isn’t available in the TRD Sportivo. For reference, the standard Fortuner in both Indonesia and India gets the more powerful 204PS 2.8-litre motor. A surprising difference between the TRD Sportivo and GR Sport trims is that the latter can only be specced with a 6-speed automatic transmission, and is only a rear-wheel drive trim similar to the standard Legender trim. The former gets the 6-speed manual gearbox and 4x4 drivetrain options.

Back home, Toyota currently retails the facelifted Fortuner at prices ranging from Rs 30.34 lakh to 38.30 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). We’re yet to know whether Toyota has any plans to bring over the GR Sport trim to the India-spec Fortuner, but since the company used to retail the TRD Sportivo brand in India, we can expect the carmaker to bring over the GR Sport nameplate too.  Once (or if) it gets here, it will take on the Ford Endeavour Sport. The standard model rivals the standard Ford Endeavour, the MG Gloster, and the Mahindra Alturas G4.