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-   -   Toyota Fortuner : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/183668-toyota-fortuner-official-review-4.html)

Yes you are correct. I am corrected :)

The best & safest place for the child seat is the back seat. It should NEVER be placed on the front passenger seat. There is lots of authoritative research conducted which has proven that the back seat is the safer option.

Agree.
Unless it is a person /parent driving with 3 kids, all of who are within the age bracket of Child Seat requirement.

Finally finished reading the review completely. Phew ! What a car/truck ! And what a review clap:

The car does look imposing on road and commands respect. But I personally did not like the dashboard design much. I am more inclined towards European car's dashboards which are cleaner.

If road-trips is someone's integral part of lifestyle, he should definitely buy this car and forget about maintenance costs or niggles as such. The way Toyota builds their cars, they must be owned until the government or NGT orders you to disown them ! This car is already in my wishlist :)

Agree ! The safest place is the rear seat. The document also mentions that as a rare case where you have to place the baby that way.

Superior review! A well-illustrated practical manual for the truck catering to drivers right from newbie to enthusiasts. One read of this review before and after a test-drive and decision for potential buyers is sorted! Rating this thread a well deserved 5-stars.

I did not like the design of this truck initially when I saw it only in pictures and videos. Now that I have felt this beast's presence on-road, I am a changed man. The design definitely grows on you. Acquired taste I say.

I can see why many BHPians upgraded from old Fortuner to the new one. I might be on the same boat soon! stupid:

Amazing review!
The new fortuner is indeed two generations ahead of the previous one. The exteriors fit the beast perfectly. However, if I ever get a chance to buy an SUV,it's going to be the ford endeavour for sure. It offers a bigger engine, a better ICE and you also get a better 4WD system when compared to the fortuner. Also,the endeavour,even with better features when compared to the fortuner,is in the same price range as the fortuner!!
Even after many complaints were made regarding the poor sound quality of the ICE in the innova crysta, Toyota has not improved the sound quality in the fortuner. I don't understand why doesn't Toyota upgrade it even after so many complaints were made! Toyota hasn't learnt anything from the complaints from the crysta owners.:Frustrati
Not good Toyota!!!

Boy Oh Boy!! what a stunning review. Absolute 5 Star material. The eye for detail makes me think, you guys secretly strip the vehicle apart and re-assemble it again to come up with this level of a review. Stupendous.

No doubts the new Fortuner has taken a huge step forward but the Endeavour in its new guise cannot be (and should not be) ignored by anyone in the market currently.

The new Fortuner has been a runaway hit once again and though the Endeavour is a very competent vehicle it is let down by the Ford management in India. This is where the Toyota scores heavily and small wonder it has a cult following.

My friend was yet to decide on the replacement to his Innova and he being an avidly loyal Toyota user, Test Driving the Beast was just a matter of time and was planned for a Sunday.

I would like to say that the Team-BHP Review is Superb and covers most aspects of the New Toyota Fortuner from all dimensions. To add to it, can't thank Karan enough for the wonderful ownership review. I would like to share some bits from my Test Drive Experience of the Fortuner as under :

Date of Test Drive : 29th of January 2017, Sunday
Test Drive was provided by : Saini Toyota
Vehicle Variant : Toyota Fortuner 2.8L 4x4 MT
Colour of Vehicle : Super White
No. of heads in the Vehicle while Test Driving : 5 Adults (including Dealership Personnel)
Kilometers traveled while Test Driving : Approximately 15 Kms with some Soft Offroading as well
Note : Test Drive was done with the windows rolled up and the Climate Control On and the Infotainment Off (for most of the time)

My Take on the New Toyota Fortuner 2.8L MT 4x4:

Designing : Excellent stance and a very commanding Road Presence. Looks modern and muscular.





Discovering the other SUVs to be Hatch Like (No Offenses) :


Ingress and Egress : Well it's a SUV and one should be prepared for the climb up :D

Instrumentation & Infotainment : The Touchscreen Infotainment System provides very good sound quality all around the Cabin and responses well to touch. The touch screen is also very responsive. Did not listen to much music though as the focus was on the vehicle. The Speedo & Tacho Dials are pretty snazzy to look at with the Blue effect.





Cabin, Comfort & Seating : Leather written all over in the inside of the vehicle which gives it a very premium feel indeed. The dashes of Rosewood just add to the grandeur. The All three rows of seat offer phenomenal comfort. The under thigh support on the driver's seat is also good and offer a very commanding driving position.

Impressive 2nd row legroom with the seats pushed front and the driver's seat in my driving position :


Boot Space : Pretty Average like all it's rivals in this segment.

Notice the solid hydraulic bars on the Boot which open and close with the press of a button :


NVH Levels : NVH Levels are minimal while on the move and extremely minimal while idling. The idling sound is pretty sweet instead.

Handling : The Steering is very responsive and efficient. The turning radius for a SUV of this size is indeed impressive. The vehicle overall handles pretty well.

Body Roll : Well the body roll is pretty evidently there but much lesser than the previous generation Fortuner. The Ford Endevour feels better in this regard.

Suspension & Ride Quality : The suspension is remarkable. It gulps in most of the undulated roads without passing on anything to the passengers inside. The overall ride quality is very smooth.

The Ground Clearance checked with a 1L Bottle :


H/T Tires on the 4x4 Variant; the wheels wells should have been covered :


Air Conditioning : It was fading winter time. We set the Climate Control @ 23 degrees and it was very comfortable within a few seconds.

Braking : Overall very good. However, hard braking with a nose down position invites a lot of body roll.

Driving Experience : The 2.8L Engine is indeed very smooth yet powerful to drive in the stock mode. What lies under the hood is very uncomplicated from Toyota which is usually the practice from their end. I would say that it is the Simplicity that Delivers



There 3 Drive Mode Options which Toyota provides - ECO, POWER & STOCK :


The ECO Mode is the easy crawling mode which is good for crawling within city limits where traffic is high. This will deliver better fuel efficiency as well.

The POWER Mode delivered the real power and this SUV has no dearth of it to exhibit. I put in on this mode and let the Fortuner do the talking on Red Road which is apparently the provisional runway for the Army Fighter Jets in SOS War Situations. The rear wheel screeched and set of to touch the 3 figure mark in no time.

The (Soft) Off Roading Experience : Wanted to do some Off Roading but neither were my Team-BHP friends around nor was there any such place nearby to try our wits. However, I remembered a patch opposite the Eden Gardens Cricket Statium which is under the army's jurisdiction and was dug up for some work. I took due permission from the army guys and went Off The Road with the Fortuner. I engaged 4H and drove through the sandy terrain over some rocks, bricks, light slush, through puddles of water, a couple of steep inclines and on undulated grasslands and the passengers did not feel any discomfort as the Fortuner just crawled through all of it with ease and grace. It was indeed pleasurable for me but unfortunately could not capture the moment in videos as we was too engrossed in enjoying the outing with the beast.

The 4x4 Shift on the Fly knob :

Note : To engage 4L, one has to push the knob inwards and twist it to the right. We engaged and disengaged it just to check and for the fun of it but did not put it to use as it was not required. My Bad !!

What more could Toyota had offered ?

• It goes without saying that it definitely misses the Sunroof/ Moonroof in comparison to the Ford Endevour
• Needs a louder and a bolder set of horns for a vehicle of this size
• Considering the fact that there are never any discounts on Toyota products, some basic accessories which are a must at this price point should be included - Fender Mirror, Rear Bumper Step Guard, Mud Flaps, Leg Room Lamp to name a few

What I feel should be the buying option in this segment with a 4x4 :
If going in for an AT - Go for the Ford Endevour 3.2AT 4x4
If going in for a MT - Go for the Toyota Fortuner 2.8MT 4x4

The On Road Prices for Kolkata :

Note : The Crystal Pearl White commands a (premium) price if I may call it of Rs.15,000.00 over any other colour

Features and Specifications as provided in the Booklet given by them :
































A pdf version of the Brochure which can be downloaded : TFort Brochure.pdf

That's all from me and hope that I have done justice to the Test Drive of the Toyota Fortuner :)

Most awesome review guys.
Deserves to be called as the best review ever.
Should be rated 7 stars

I have attached a comparison chart between the cost of ownership of both the Endeavour and Fortuner.
Can anyone here confirm if it is correct.


Agree with you on the cleaning part and they must have omitted it on purpose but if someone who wants the autoclosing feature anyway it is available as an accessory for INR 5700

Yes 5000 kilometre service interval is too short.

Number of airbags are 7.

Can we install some TPMS system which works with a phone app

The service cost of Endeavor(2.2L atleast) seem to be correct based on what i was told by Ford Service Center. It would be interesting to know the charges of parts such as headlamps,doors, bumpers etc. for the Fortuner as I found the cost of these parts in Endeavour is little on the higher side.

Such parts would be required majorly in cases of any accidental damage only. Considering the fact that everyone these days goes with the Bumper to Bumper (0% Depreciation) Insurance Policy, the relevant costs would hardly be of any consequence and should not be a factor effecting the decision of buying either of the SUVs !! What actually would matter is the periodical maintenance cost. Well that's how I would look at it, though opinions may vary.

Agree that most have Zero dep insurance but take my example. I have 50% NCB which translates to at least 30-40K savings on insurance yearly. Now if I have to replace side mirrors and if they cost 25K, my losses in insurance would be higher than what is actually spent. If I opt out of insurance, 25K for ORVM's is pretty steep.

Great review of the new Fortuner. What a handsome SUV. The shoulder line is strong. That "lifted up" look fits the SUV credentials well.
The chrome trim going all the way from the window sill till the rear tail gate is classy. The Hexa has a similar design but in the tail gate, this chrome strip bends and meets the large chrome block near the boot lid which looks very gaudy unlike the Fortuner where it continues to be classy.

While this is a big improvement over the earlier generation, I wonder how one of the largest car maker like Toyota still misses some very simple points.


1. Middle row comfort still doesn't seem to be best in class - with not so optimal seat base height or contouring. Those visible hard plastic covers that house the seat folding mechanism is so ugly. The humble Safari Storme from the "un-reliable Indian" manufacturer had nice soft pads that cover that mechanism.

2. Despite the height of the floor board, I wonder why the transmission tunnel still is high. The Storme ( another tall SUV ) has a FLAT ( yes you heard me right ) - absolutely flat middle row floor. Now with a high tunnel and that hard back rest for the middle row passenger, wouldn't a captain seat option have made so much more sense ? I often see many owners being driven around by drivers in a Fortuner. A captain seat would have been ideal for them ( like in the Hexa ).

3. Front glove box is small with poor plastic quality ( as rightly pointed out in the review )

4. I actually don't get the point of those middle row back rests folding back all the way ? How can one sit comfortably in such a position when your lower back also gets pushed forward in the seat base resulting in a smaller contact patch between your butt and seat base ? Would work well only if the seat base also slides forward when the seat back goes back ( like in some airline seats )

5. How much would it have cost to add a rubberised noise reduction coating in the wheel wells ?

Fortuner's bi LED head lamps are around INR 85000 each,yes you heard me right.
Not sure about the bumper and doors.


4.You can recline the front seat and stretch your legs from the middle row on to them.Business class experience

5.Atleast an aftermarket addition would have been nice.
Toyota shouldn't have omitted giving a coating in the wheel well.

My 2015 Fortuner 4x4 AT underwent accidental repairs in November 2016. Here are some parts costs from the repair bill:

• Headlamp - Rs. 46,654
• Mirror with cover LH - Rs. 19,354
• Various Panels - Rs. 15,000 - 35,000
• Front Bumper - ~Rs. 25,000