Everything you need to know about the Toyota Fortuner
Everything you need to know about the Toyota Fortuner.
If ever there was a perfect vehicle for its era, it’s the Toyota Fortuner for sale. Arriving on local shores just as the SUV craze really started gaining momentum, it had the ideal combination of rugged design and practicality. And, thanks to its Hilux-derived platform, it ticked the boxes of those who needed the genuine off-road ability to complement its streetwise appeal. Now into its second generation, the Fortuner shows no sign of losing momentum, either.
Of course, the Fortuner wasn’t the first car of its type on our market — the Nissan Sani was conceptually similar, and pre-dated the Fortuner by almost two decades, and Isuzu had their KB-derived Frontier to vie for those same buyers long before the Fortuner arrived. But these older vehicles were perhaps a little ahead of their time, and while both of them sold quite strongly, they never approached the Fortuner’s tremendous success.
History has proven the Fortuner to be the ideal vehicle for its time, with a rugged ladder-frame chassis and the kind of military-grade durability you’d expect from a Toyota commercial vehicle. What many South Africans don’t realise is that Toyota had been doing this kind of thing overseas for decades, before finally releasing the Fortuner on local shores in 2006.
From Trekker to Fortuner
In reality, a commercial-based SUV has been part of Toyota’s international range since the Hilux first spawned a “Trekker” model in its third generation, back in 1981. Toyota took this design in-house in 1984, when the first 4Runner appeared, based on the fourth-generation Hilux. It’s actually quite amazing that it took Toyota SA so long to bring these versatile vehicles here, but when the Fortuner finally arrived, it made a big impression indeed.
Local fans fell in love with it right away, partly because of the Fortuner’s intrinsic qualities of practicality and ruggedness, but also because Toyota cleverly positioned it as quite distinct from the Hilux — giving it the imagine of a smaller, more affordable Land Cruiser-type family vehicle.
This strategy worked a charm, and the Fortuner immediately shot up our local sales charts, settling into a top-10 position almost right away. And it’s still working, because as of January 2019, the Fortuner was South Africa’s fourth-best selling passenger vehicle, racking up a round 1000 sales in a depressed market.
The current range
In contrast to the vast proliferation of Hilux models on our market, the Fortuner range is quite easy to understand. Most of the range is made up of diesel-powered variants, with only the entry-level and range-topping versions using petrol power. Two trim levels are available, and there’s a choice between 6-speed manual- or automatic gearboxes with either 4×2 or 4×4 drivetrains. All Fortuners feature 7 seats as standard, with the rearmost row folding to the side of the load bay when not in use.
All petrol-powered variants use an automatic gearbox, while diesels can be had with either a manual- or automatic transmission. The range opens with a 2.7-litre petrol-fueled engine, in the lower trim level. This engine produces 122 kW and 245 Nm and is only available in RWD (4×2) format.
It retails for a bit more but includes a reasonable specification for the money: 17-inch alloy wheels, 7 airbags, ABS with EBD, stability control, a rear differential lock, power steering and air-conditioning are all included, as are a rear-view camera, electric windows and mirrors and a touch-interface audio system with Bluetooth- and USB functionality and steering-wheel-mounted controls.
Diesels, diesels everywhere
Next up is a brace of lower-trim diesels with the same equipment level, using a 2.4GD-6 turbodiesel with 110 kW and 400 Nm. This engine can be mated to an RWD drivetrain in either manual- or automatic flavour, while the 2.4GD-6 4×4 comes exclusively with the automatic transmission.
Moving into the high-spec realm are the four 2.8GD-6 derivatives, producing 130 kW and either 420 Nm (when paired to a manual gearbox) or 450 Nm (with an automatic). Either transmission option can be mated with RWD or a 4×4 drivetrain. Added standard equipment over the 2.4GD-6 includes cruise control, a colour information display in the instrument cluster, 18-inch alloy wheels, navigation, leather upholstery, electric adjustment for the driver’s seat, and LED headlights.
The range-topping 4.0 V6 4×4 has peak outputs of 175 kW and 376 Nm. It features the same equipment as the 2.8GD-6, with the addition of an electric remote tailgate. Predictably, this variant isn’t a strong seller, with its combination of steep pricing and profligate thirst steering most customers in the direction of a 2.8 GD-6.
The Fortuner’s future
It’s unlikely that Toyota will tamper too much with their winning recipe, so it’s safe to say that the Fortuner will continue largely unchanged for a while yet. However, trim updates and possible mild facelifts should keep it relatively fresh in the marketplace, and we can expect Toyota’s usual stream of special editions to come along as the model range ages. Other than that, the Fortuner should remain basically as is, until its replacement eventually comes along — but that is still many years into the future.
Test drive a Fortuner for sale at Group 1 Cars today!
Article source: https://ultimateusedcars.wordpress.com/2020/02/28/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-toyota-fortuner/
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