Toyota Fortuner : Big Torqueing Genius!

First things first, and it is not about how late Toyota was to usher its Fortuner in India but the fact that this is an SUV which has the making of another big winner for the Japanese numero uno. In essence it is almost the anti-thesis of a Japanese SUV of the sort we have seen in the country to date, notably the likes of the ultra-refined Honda CR-V, which has dominated the senses of those in the market for an SUV-ish vehicle with about Rs 20 to 22 lakhs to splurge.

The Fortuner turns this line of thought on its head and what was earlier the preserve of soft-roaders in either all wheel drive or front wheel drive form is now set to give in to a butch diesel-propelled 'proper' all-wheel drive SUV which not only sports the don't-mess-with-me cred but is also outfitted in strong measure to dance dirty without its occupants getting stuffed under their collars!

What truly is mighty impressive, and that is the right operating word here, is its sheer presence thanks to its mighty proportions. However, unlike in the truck-like Ford Endeavour which is huge but misses a trick or two in the packaging stakes, especially in the cabin space and ergonomics, this big Toyota delights and delivers. Again confounding many is the fact that this big like able hulk is based on the very same platform which is also common to the best selling Indian MPV, the Toyota Innova. Toyota's IMV programme (Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicle) got going in the early years of this decade but while it spawned both the Fortuner and the Innova in south east Asian markets, it was only the latter which hit Indian roads as a replacement for the Qualis. Thought about broadening the product range was never considered either due to sheer conservative attitudes or skewed market projections and so while the world and his sister cried hoarse about the Fortuner it is only now, some five years later that Indians finally get to buy and revel with, the second iteration of what is essentially the best selling SUV in the Asean region.

And here's our story, the first exclusive road test of the Toyota Fortuner here in India.

MAKE-UP - Traditional yet contemporary

A friend of mine came up to me when I was out in the hills near Mahabaleshwar, putting the Fortuner through its paces and he asked me whether this was the vehicle to replace his seven year old Toyota Prado. I asked him what he liked as well as didn't like about the Prado and he said that he was just plain bored with it and needed something more modern and involving without losing any of the legendary Toyota reliability. And this is where the madness associated with the method comes to the fore. Toyota has come up with a vehicle which is pleasing and undaunting despite its sheer size, almost aping the latest generation mega Land Cruiser. I think just as Honda works on its pleasing bike shapes to give a humanoid look to its two-wheeled projectiles, Toyota's exterior stylists seemed to do just that with the Fortuner.

Keeping the IMV programme firmly in focus, what I can safely suggest is that Toyota used the basis of its best-selling Hilux pick-up to telling effect and gave it a shape and a style which many would be hard pressed to think is based on a platform which also underpins the Innova MPV! Viewed with style in mind it has the Land Cruiser's aura writ large all over it but there is also a hint of the Mercedes-Benz M-class in its visage, especially when you take in the angled C-pillars on the glazed rear end. And speaking of which the rear end theme is virtually previous generation Land Cruiser though very well sculpted given that it had to be scaled down to the Fortuner's relative proportions!

The front end of the Fortuner is more Yankee-Japanese handsome than Euro-chic but it works just as superbly in the real world of Bharat while effectively stamping its presence on India. This ability to work the rural-urban shift seamlessly with character and aplomb is key to this vehicle's appeal the very first time you set eyes on it. The new-age twin headlamps housed in a rectangular pod on either side of the thin twin slat grille work well with the large wrap around bumper into which are housed the auxiliary lights and that well crafted sump shield skid plate on the lower lip of the bumper (so prevalent in many off-roaders as well as soft roaders these days) makes its appearance to pleasing effect on the Fortuner. And while the bonnet line might be high and imposing, what truly makes the front end imposing is the bulging scoop on the bonnet which is both for form and function (it actually works as a ram aid to channel air to the intercooler).

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The sides clearly denote a high waistline and optically it seems as if the glazed area isn't proportional to the huge mass of sheet metal, giving it that chopped roof look reminiscent of custom hot rods but when you see begin using it and experience it from within its spacious cabin, that is what it really is - an optical illusion but an illusion nevertheless. The wheel well surrounds are large and in keeping with the bulk of the superstructure but then they are also well filled in courtesy the stylish six-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels which come wrapped with 265/65-R17 radials. Rounding off the style accents are the ski rails on the roof, which further amplify the sporty thrust of the vehicle when viewed in profile. In short, this is an SUV that looks stupendous and means the business even when standing still.

CHASSIS & SUSPENSION - Blend of the proven and the refined

Make no mistake about it, Toyota is known for being totally fixated about keeping a lid not just on manufacturing costs and processes but also how to generate massive economies of scale so that it can deliver products of outstanding quality to as wide a consumer base as possible. The IMV programme was initiated with this thought foremost in mind and all of Toyota's efforts dovetailed perfectly to come up with winners like the Innova, the Hilux pick-up and the Fortuner. All three share the same body-on-chassis construction, this being a unitary job rather than a pukka monocoque but this isn't to be sneered at because the markets in which it was intended to operate needed something of this type. Not overly sophisticated yet perfectly adapted to the situation to get the job done effectively and also at a very appealing price point which shames many rivals.

The Fortuner comes with double wishbone front suspension similar in layout to the Innova but beefy in build and revised to take in the all wheel drive capability plus also the larger wheels dictated by its SUV application. At the rear is a four-link set-up with coil springs and gas-charged shock absorbers with an additional lateral control rod incorporated to counter pitching. The Fortuner is built on a 2760mm wheelbase but critically has a 1540mm wide track front and rear and when you factor these dimensions along with the spring and damper rates plus the overall configuration of the suspension, you begin to understand how effectively the whole ride and handling package has been tuned to deliver both an involved drive to the man behind the wheel yet comfortable enough for the other six occupants. Supply and supplementation with great tyres only helps the Fortuner's on and off-road manners.

The Fortuner comes with hydraulically assisted rack and pinion steering gear and while this is par for the course, I think that many a times most Japanese car makers cut to the close in terms of delivering adequate equipment on their vehicles. What has got my goat here is the fitment of drum brakes on the rear wheels. The Fortuner makes do with ventilated discs up front and while the vehicle does come with ABS and EBD as standard equipment, disc brakes all around could have been so very welcome and even more effective for in the course of our testing we did find the brakes lose their bite and get spongy under repeated heavy hitting of the pedal.

DRIVETRAIN - The power to move mountains

Any SUV if it has to remain faithful to the first alphabet in its acronym needs to have good seamless torque first and then back this up with enough power to demolish any and everything that comes in its way. I use the term demolish to only graphically illustrate an SUV's core character and on this critical count the Fortuner is not just flabby muscle but a lithe performer who is also well toned and built. Credit this to the use of a large 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged and intercooled engine equipped with Toyota's famed D-4D common rail injection system. This 16-valve twin overhead cam engine has an excellent torque spread and the variable geometry turbo aids in this smooth flow of power to all the wheels whenever one calls for it.

This 3.0-litre D-4D unit makes 343Nm of torque in the 1400-3400rpm rev band while putting out 171PS at 3600rpm. At times the engine might sound noisy but there is no denying its might and willingness to whatever be the terrain you want tamed or conquered.

The Fortuner makes do with a 5-speed manual gearbox and this would be the only transmission to be offered at the time of launch though a 4-speed automatic could make an appearance within the next year or so. The vehicle has full time all wheel drive and what should be music to the diehard SUVistas ears, it comes with lockable diffs in addition to a two-speed low ratio transfer case for engaging high and low ranges.

PERFORMANCE - Terrain tamer and gentleman rolled into one!

What truly got us raving mad about the Fortuner after almost a 1000km in under three days of driving on tarmac, hills, slushy sections and gravel was the fact that the vehicle has terrific poise and you need to be doing something truly stupid or way over your capability to get it to bite back. The sheer neutrality of its ride and handling package and also its poise on any sort of surface was the defining aspect of the Fortuner all throughout our test. But then it had to be so, considering it is a Toyota and having used various Toyotas over the last ten years I could clearly see how refined the vehicle was without in any way cutting out the fun or the effectiveness of its intended application.

For a large SUV with huge proportions the handling of the Fortuner is to be experienced to be believed. It is agile like no other large vehicle and in fact its sheer brilliance while hustled on tarmac seems to put it close in the league of some of the best present ay European SUVs. It does exhibit just a lil' hint of roll but within the occupants do not feel it a wee bit. In fact the large footprint accorded by those large 17-inch radials and the near perfect wheelbase to track ratio helps in smooth yet fast motion on most types of surface. The stability of the Fortuner is impeccable and it is both stable and perfectly capable diving into and out of corners. This exceptional handling isn't at the cost of ride quality and this is something which many close rivals would be hard pressed to natch, let alone beat.

The steering is spot on and is well weighted and precise. Even though it is huge and rides high with a 221mm ground clearance, the Fortuner never ever wallowed through bends or even gave a hint of slipping away on rain infested roads in the Sahyadri range. I did however feel that the brakes while up to the task on most occasions, did show a tendency to lose their bite under sustained heavy braking in the course of our test. However this was an extreme issue which is part of our normal test routine but in the real world the Fortuner just breezed through on its own, the engine braking itself being a mighty big ally to its pilot.

Getting to strut its stuff off the road is where the Fortuner is happiest and the overall make-up of the vehicle is also both form and function working hand in hand. The overall approach and departure angles makes it capable of tackling the worst boulder strewn roads or wading deep streams without in the least bit getting flustered. In fact it will make an ordinary driver feel like a Paris-Dakar pilot should he or she ever need to use the vehicle's impressive go-anywhere ability to get out of tricky situations or terrain.

A vehicle which weighs close to two tones and with a girth as much as a battle tank, it would seem superfluous to speak about speed, acceleration times andfuel efficiency but this is another area where the Fortuner destroys established mindsets. Moving the hulk off the starting blocks does take some doing, it nevertheless did zero to 100km/h in 16.02 seconds and went on to max out at 171.83km/h in our top speed test. Given the fact that its mid-range thrust is where it would be operating most of the time, the Fortuner impressed in its roll-ons in fourth and fifth gears, seamlessly whipping up the torque to push forth with a delightfully pleasing feel.

And speaking of the standard "what will she do mister" million dollar fuel efficiency question, let us state first that the car we had got was spanking new with barely 90 km on the clock. We had to both run in the vehicle and also test it at the same time. In our in-town runs the Fortuner delivered 6.31kmpl while on the highway this virtually doubled up to 12.36kmpl! Not surprising given that its gearing can help it deliver even under high speed cruising. In our off-road tests, we did put it through a few tough sections including running over unheard of trails marked as roads on Maharashtra state maps and the Fortuner managed to deliver 7.9kmpl but this was all in low speed runs. With that overall figure and a fuel tank capacity of 80 litres, the Fortuner promises a good functional range of 630 kms. We never got to use it in slush infested terrain as much as we would have loved to but given that this is a vehicle which would operate for the most on tarmac and not off it, the overall performance and fuel efficiency deliverables meet most expectations.

INTERIOR - Genuine seven seater capability

The fact that the Fortuner is a genuinely competent drivers car from the outside is clear by now, but then the 'hardcore' appeal of most affordable 4x4 vehicles also hand them slightly agricultural traits on the inside. The Fortuner, fortunately, is anything but that. To begin with, its stance has occupants climbing ON into the vehicle as opposed to sinking into it, but niftily crafted side steps are more than helpful in this respect. The Fortuner is also a genuine 7-seater, with great space even in the third row. Passenger comfort is fabulous as well and the SUVs well-mannered ride quality only supplements this fact. Air conditioning is very competent and even the most remotely seated passengers are far from feeling the weather at any point of the drive.

Being a thorough driver's vehicle means that the view and feel from the driver's seat is just as good. The new dashboard is very ergonomic and probably one of the best in the business. Functionality has been taken care of well with a great seating position, which is further adjustable in just the right ways. The multi-function switches on the steering wheel are very intuitively placed and have probably the best setup amongst competitors.

The Fortuner comes with very high levels of safety as well. Apart from airbags for the driver and passengers, driving aids like ABS and EBD add to safety factor. Setting the Fortuner apart from its competition is Toyota's acclaimed GOA design which has been implemented on the Fortuner, which stands for Global Outstanding Assessment. The design follows fundamental strengthening and body shell designing for maximum crash impact distribution, making the Fortuner one of the safest large vehicles out there in the market.

VERDICT: Competition, watch out!

The Fortuner is here and it has been launched at an exceedingly competitive price point. At Rs 18.45 lakh ex-showroom Delhi, Toyota has really gone to town with its intentions of throwing down the gauntlet at the competition. Think about its great diesel engine, genuine and well-engineered 4x4 capabilities, contemporary interiors and huge practicality, and you should see why the rest of the petrol softroaders that cost almost Rs 3 lakh more on an average have a problem on their hands.

The Fortuner delivers that iron fist in a velvet glove almost effortlessly. It is now up to the competition to decide whether it wants to fortify itself by taking the punches squarely on the chin or build up their own capabilities to counter the Fortuner's attack. The game, for their information and yours, has just changed.