[abhayshanu]

Originally Posted by Guderian

Ahhh...OK...that explains Abhay's post.
But the auto-leveler would mean that there would heck of a lot more of electronics - sensors.
Should I feel happy owning the old one or what ?
Though I am rather envious of the new Fortuner having the VSC.

No re. Don't feel that auto is bad. More sensors, ok. But you do have to remember that this still costs 25L, they even now over charge. Look at the competition with so many gadgetry.

[Ahmed]

People there was a typo in the pricing front - RTO Price is 288927 and not 88927 hence I hope the confusion of 2 lacs is taken care of. Apologies for the confusion.

Here are some more Pics from the Delivery Day











Best Practice sharing from Guderian

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by Ahmed

Best Practice sharing from Guderian

Wunderbar !
Amazing looking vehicle that and nice touch on gettting the name of the ship plated at the right spots.
Now that Megalodon is in your hands - congratulations once again.
Happy driving.

[columbus]

Congratulations Ahmed. Megalodon looks stunning. Excellent review.
Maximus wishes him many a safe miles on the road.

[GTO]

Congrats Ahmed! You sure waited a long time for your Fortuner, didn't you?! I am glad that you didn't end up with the suspicious example your dealer was trying to push on you.

Originally Posted by Ahmed

Engine and the way it moves from standstill to the RPM redline.

Truly a jewel of an engine. Just wish the gearbox was shorter...right now, the throw length is truck-like.

the first thing you will notice is that Toyota has also started the family face design theme.

I absolutely love the Fortuner's new Landcruiser'ish look.

I guess the suspension is designed to give a smooth ride

I completely disagree with you here. When I tested the facelift Fortuner, the first observation was "Uh oh, they've still not done anything about the bumpy, unsettled ride quality". Note : It was still bumpy with 5 onboard.

Maybe you'll notice this once you log on more kms.

Congrats again and do drive safe.

[Ahmed]

Originally Posted by GTO

I completely disagree with you here. When I tested the facelift Fortuner, the first observation was "Uh oh, they've still not done anything about the bumpy, unsettled ride quality". Note : It was still bumpy with 5 onboard.

Maybe you'll notice this once you log on more kms.

with you on this one. Felt this today when I was riding on a fairly new tarred road and suddenly went over a rough patch - I was with my family - I did not feel that I had lost traction however definitely it was bumpy.

Checked the tyre pressure and surprisingly it was at 47 something psi. Filled her up with Nitrogen till 32 psi. It was more comfortable (I'd say better by 30%) however still bumpy.

Forget bumpy, something unique happened today. Went on a road where there was some checking going on - Traffic Police chaps were stopping everyone and asking for registration papers. When my turn came - Viola ! - No questions asked, gates opened and was also saluted ! Talk about some respect you get when you drive a Fortuner !

Added Philips DRL8 to Megalodon


Next in pipeline is replacing the stock ICE with a better HU (Preferably Pioneer Double din with Mixtrax. was quoted 26300 for that...

[Ahmed]

Travelling to Mumbai after a few hours from now. Will make sure to note down the actual average V/S MID by the tank full method.

I am really unhappy with the shoddy cladding job on Megalodon. It is already loosing its pasting and is coming off from certain places. Will tackle that immediately once I am back from my trip.

ICE, Dual Horns ( I am planning to keep two sets of horns in M, differentiated through a two way switch. One set will be the Pony ones that came with M and the other set will be Roots Vibrosonic. Roots will be used on the Highways and Pony ones in Urban confines)

Thanks to Kedar for giving me the addresses of the people selling the respective adaptors that I need.

I prefer installing the ICE and other Accessories myself so that I can be extremely careful during the install and I love to do it myself. Will post the respective pics accordingly.

Things to be added are:
Pioneer AVH-P8490BT
Pioneer 4 CH AMP
JBL 1100W Sub
3 Farad Capacitor
Infinity 6x9 350W in the boot
Polk Audio Components in front and passenger stock locations

I don't prefer buying the wiring kits, rather use my own wires procured from the local electric supplies shop. I use 10sqmm wires for the power supply and 4sqmm wires for the speakers and 1.5 sqmm wire for ignition on the AMP. Its more cost effective and heavy duty.

2.5 sqmm for the vibrosonics wich will be powered from a 4 way heavy relay that they use in trucks. Pony ones will be working as usual.

Map My India BX200 compatible with Pioneer
Window Up module (Only if I can procure a socket to socket interface)

Whew ! Man that is almost a years' of my personal ICE budget and stuff that I am carrying forward from my earlier drives. ! God have mercy on me !

[Off Roadie]

Congrats on your vehicle Ahmed. Really well written review and Man do you know your ice.
I must say that you are the first guy who has highlighted the lack of underthigh support in the fortuner. Have not plonked my self in the new one as yet but the first row seat contours are intelligently shaped upwards to give underthigh support. It's the second row that suffers a bit, just a tiny bit. That said the rest of the car is so brilliant there is no way one can walk away from it.
Oh and you are doing no justice to it by taking her to Khardung la, Marismek should be on your radar now. I drove up with Mom and Dad as co-passengers and now I don't really know wether it was the track or my Mom that was a bigger challenge =)
Wish you miles of pleasant motoring.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Off Roadie

.
I must say that you are the first guy who has highlighted the lack of underthigh support in the fortuner
Wish you miles of pleasant motoring.

This is a good point if small. Thanks for highlighting it.My dad and I test drove the Fortuner in 2010 together just for fun. Sometime in 2011 I did consider it for a bit but backed off on account of its xx large super sized dimensions for daily use and price vs benefit ratio neither of which appealed to me.

When we tested it, both of us found the same problem with it in terms of lack of sufficient under thigh support - in the front driver and passenger seats as well as in the second row.
We are neither of us abnormally tall. Just a bit over 6 in my Dads case and 6.2 in mine.
Wonder why and how this is, because the Fortuner also sells in Australia and other places in slightly different avatars. Would they have a different seat spec for those countries while keeping the typical SE Asian spec for India?
Because Indians are more akin to West Asians and Europeans in build than SE Asian types. At least this would pertain to a substantial percentage of the urban and Northern mass at least.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Ahmed

Things to be added are:
Pioneer AVH-P8490BT
Pioneer 4 CH AMP
JBL 1100W Sub
3 Farad Capacitor
Infinity 6x9 350W in the boot
Polk Audio Components in front and passenger stock locations

You don't need a capacitor for such a small install . Also a 4 channel amp will be too little for the 3 sets of speakers and a subwoofer.

What I suggest is get 2 pairs of components in front and back doors, you will probably have to drill in the door panel for tweeters in the rear doors. Get one 4 channel amplifier for these, and one monoblock amp for the subwoofer. Also suggest you get some damping done, and use branded wires. Remember this is a 20l+ car, you want to be careful.

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by Ahmed

Window Up module (Only if I can procure a socket to socket interface)

Try XENOS. they have a window roll-up module kit and they have connectors for all vehicles, which means it can be installed without cutting or splicing wires, thereby keeping warranty intact.

(XENOS) and scroll to the last product on this page.

[Ahmed]

Originally Posted by Off Roadie

Oh and you are doing no justice to it by taking her to Khardung la, Marismek should be on your radar now. I drove up with Mom and Dad as co-passengers and now I don't really know wether it was the track or my Mom that was a bigger challenge =)

Wish you miles of pleasant motoring.

Thanks Off Roadie - I will definitely explore your option and am sure that it will not be a challenge for Megalodon and me either !

Originally Posted by akshay1234

You don't need a capacitor for such a small install . Also a 4 channel amp will be too little for the 3 sets of speakers and a subwoofer.

What I suggest is get 2 pairs of components in front and back doors, you will probably have to drill in the door panel for tweeters in the rear doors. Get one 4 channel amplifier for these, and one monoblock amp for the subwoofer. Also suggest you get some damping done, and use branded wires. Remember this is a 20l+ car, you want to be careful.

Thanks Akshay ! I only want to play the 6x9 and the sub with the amp, the two components will be running on the stock wiring. Tweeters for the rear doors will be mounted on the roof just above the C Pillar thereby no need to drill the doors.

This is just a basic setup for the time being - will surely add another 4 channel amp to run the components in near future along with the damping.

I only use Finolex cables for the power supply and Audison for speakers. I am sure I cannot afford local wires for Megalodon and really appreciate your concern !

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Try XENOS. they have a window roll-up module kit and they have connectors for all vehicles, which means it can be installed without cutting or splicing wires, thereby keeping warranty intact.

(XENOS) and scroll to the last product on this page.

Thanks a lot I really wanted to get this thing closed at the earliest. Appreciate your help.

Megalodon visits a Beauty Parlor

Wanted to preserve the new vehicle gloss on M so decided to go in for a 3M UV Paint protection treatment from 3M on Palm Beach Road, Mumbai. It was a decent and an honest service by 3M. Karthik had a deep knowledge of the product he was offering me. All in all I came out as a happy customer. Now let the pictures do the talking.

On the way to Mumbai halted for some tea


This is how the Engine Bay looked like after 360 Km run


Wheel Arc


Under-body being washed


Foam wash


Rubbing Compound being applied. Paint surface was so rough after this for an instance I thought it was a bad idea and I should not have gone in for that.


Shower cap and all




Swirl marks emerged within four days ! Were all taken care of. Thanks Karthik for this snap.


Synthetic Wax applied for the UV treatment.


Finished wheel arc


All done and the gloss had improved a lot.


Finished engine compartment


All done and M is happy and shining.


It rained heavily on the way back to Aurangabad. As usual there was a traffic Jam over Lonavala. Once I crossed Khandala tunnel traffic had cleared and this was the time I could experience the VSC. Handling was amazing, I could manage high speed maneuvers which were definitely not possible in my Safari.

Is it because of the 265/65 Dunlops or the VSC, I am not the right person to comment, as I have never driven a vehicle with VSC or with such fat tyres. Needless to say that 140 was effortless in such a downpour.

When I reached Aurangabad, I was surprised to see that M was not dirty at all. Just the normal highway dirt was present only at the rear. It was difficult to believe that I was back from Mumbai and it was raining cats and dogs along the way back !

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Ahmed

Thanks Akshay ! I only want to play the 6x9 and the sub with the amp, the two components will be running on the stock wiring. Tweeters for the rear doors will be mounted on the roof just above the C Pillar thereby no need to drill the doors.

But if you do not have people sitting in the third row all the time then why even put speakers there. Its not needed. Rather you drive the front components and the sub with the amp. In that case then get co-axials for the rear door. Even a setup like this can sound very good.

[princey]

Congrats on the 'Megalodon'. It looks amazing after the sprucing up at the parlour. Wish you many happy motoring miles on the beast. It is the best SUV at this price point available in the country. Keep the updates coming. Do post some interior pice including the high end ICE. Sounds interesting combination of devices....

[Ahmed]

Sunday Danday (Cane therapy for the stubborn dirt and grime over a week's time) on Megalodon - woke up early and decided to get things straight. After the UV and paint protect treatment, there is no need to scrub so much, just pour some water and the muck from the rains just slips away. I was told this will hold true for the next 6 months or so - however I will try and not get carried away with this and will abide by the fixed Sunday Waxing Schedule.

Then thought of utilizing the time for installing the dual horn system. I really felt that there was a need for bigger horns on the highway as the stock ones were not audible enough. Here is the pictoral explanation of the DIY dual horn install for the 2012 Toyota Fortuner.

Before I proceed, I would like to inform you to be extremely careful as you are handling the electrical system of your vehicle. Do not splice or cut any wires before checking it with a test lamp. Cutting wires might also void warranty. I have done this install on my own risk having faith on Toyota that they have done a through QC on Megalodon.

Tools required:
+ point screwdriver
Size 10 T Spanner
Size 12 T Spanner
Wire cutter and stripper
12V Line tester
Topaz (or similar) shaving blade
A butterknife. This will be used to remove the trim panels.

Here is the set of Roots vibrosonic that I have to install.


This is the place from where I have chosen to get the wires in from the cabin to the engine bay. There is a small grommet near the ECU that gives a direct access to the cabin behind the glove box. There are 3 wires running in from here. There is a red 10sqmm wire for powering the amp (Next Sunday's plan), there is a yellow wire 2.5 sqmm which carries the trigger from the 3 point horn relay to the horns. There is a red 2.5sqmm supply wire (10A fused) for supplying the +ve from battery to the horn relay. I have laid additional wiring for the additional horns and am not disturbing the stock wiring. The only wire that needs to be cut is a horn pad trigger wire. This is a supply wire to the relay and not the load (horns).


Spliced the grommet from the center of about 1mm (size) triangle. It will be a task to insert wires form this, but it is necessary as you dont want water to enter the cabin from here. There is a heat sheild fabric right behind the grommet and if that will get wet - there will be a foul smell in the cabin and you might not recollect where this is coming from. It is important to use the grommet, if you dont use it, there is a possibility over a period of time and constant contact with steel body the wires may cut and will come in contact with the body which is 'earthed' and your wires are carrying +ve supply.


Place where the 2 way switch will be located.


Place where the new relay will be placed. Its inside the cabin so no bother of the relay not working due to water spalsh of any kind. Located behind the glove box compartment. Will use the size 10 nut welded to the body to fix the relay.


It is better if you remove the USB trim as well as the wires will be running behind it. You need to be sure that the wires are not coming in contact with any movable parts.


Three screws need to be removed, two on the either side of the steering wheel and one below the steering adjust lever. Carefully remove the key fob cover and all the steering wheel wires will be exposed.

Left one near the wiper stalk.


Right one near the headlight stalk.


Third one below the steering adjustment lever.


Once the wires are exposed - you will observe that there are many sockets. There are many white ones, only one yellow and only one black. White ones are for the stalks and the steering wheel control buttons. Do not touch the yellow socket as it is for the SRS airbag. We will only use the black socket as it is the power supply socket to the steering wheel. How do I know that this is power supply socket? Simple, remove the socket and press horn. Nothing happens - problem solved. Usually, there is a horn pad and there are some contact points from the wheel that touch this pad. These contact point terminals are supplied from the battery (through the fuse box) and this charges the horn pad. there is a wire from the horn pad which carries the contact point trigger and goes to a relay which will convert the negative trigger to a +ve trigget. Logic remains the same its just that different manufacturers use different types of charges (+ve supply or earth) and relays.

On the black socket, there is a white wire with a red stripe. This is the wire which carries the trigger from the horn pad to the horn relay. I had checked it with the test lamp method. Its like this - connect one end of the test lamp to battery and the other end is connected to a shaving blade. Now touch the wires with the blade. If there is a 'like' charge, the bulb will not glow. If the bulb glows it means that this wire carries an earth charge. So for all the wires that did not glow, I pressed the horn pad on the steering wheel and on this white and red stripe wire, the bulb only glowed when the horn was pressed. Mission Accomplished. (For other vehicles, if you dont still get the trigger wire, change the polarity of the test lamp and repeat the process). This wire needs to be cut and the wire coming in from the socket end goes to the 'LOAD' of the 2 way switch. Other end of the striped wire goes to either +ve or -ve end of the 2 way switch. Supply to the new horn relay goes from the remaining +ve or -ve of the 2 way switch. You will need additional wires to connect the striped wire to the 2 way switch.


Grill was removed so that there was a decent access to the member area. Also better to remove it so as to avoid accidental scratches on the chrome grill. This is how the horns were placed without disturbing the stock horns.


Grommet back in place. Took a little effort but then its in shape. All wires are travelling to the battery and horns from behind the fender.


My local jugad of a test lamp ! Very Very handy in such types of installs.


3 Point relay in its final position. 10 sqmm red wire is bundled and will be used in the next week when I will install the ICE.


2 Way switch in its place.


Everything is working hunky dory

After this install, which took almost an hour, washed and waxed Megalodon and end of it all - me happy happy !