The Legend Of The Fortuner
Next in the series of ‘Automobiles that drove India’ is the infamous Toyota Fortuner.
Within a stretch of its launch, Toyota Fortuner has garnered such a cult among Indian consumers that only a few other cars have managed. In the last decade, India has become a haven for SUVs, CUVs, and anything that pretends to be one. And it may not be so out of order for me to say that Fortuner has been at the zenith of this for a long while.
Despite being late to the party of the mid-size SUVs beaten by Ford Endeavor by almost six years, Fortuner Still managed to reach the top of its segment in a trice. From only managing to sell 300 of its CKD units in its first month of sale in 2009 to moving more than 3000 units in January 2023, almost 80%more than its nearest competitor in MG Gloster.
Now, that was about the current model Fortuner, but How did it manage to garner such a cult despite honing a less impressive brochure than its competitors?
To find that, I got behind the steering wheel of a 2014 Toyota Fortuner to understand it and its followers – so to speak.
Getting to drive this was pretty much impromptu I didn’t do any prior planning or research before getting behind the car.
One day I received a call from one of my good friends that he has the keys to a 2014 model Fortuner and would I like to drive it and write an article on it, naturally, I wouldn’t let this opportunity get away so responded to him positively and got on with driving this SUV soon after.
Now, I did sit in The Toyota Fortuner as a passenger a lot before getting to ever drive one I must confess I didn’t cater many expectations from this SUV.
Before I bore you with my irrelevant Review/opinion on this SUV, I’d like to discuss the consequences of this SUV on the Indian Market.
As I’ve mentioned earlier Fortuner was late to the party and unlike the heroes of my previous articles in this series Toyota Fortuner wasn’t a first-in-segment product like Maruti Suzuki Esteem was or nor did it create a new segment.
Because Indians weren’t oblivious to the term SUV or big cars, SUVs like Ford’s Endeavor existed in the market well before Fortuner arrived the on the Indian land that it was about to rule on, and SUVs like Mahindra Scorpio, Tata sumo, and even Toyota’s very own Qualis was a trusted big boxy – people mover in the country.
Despite not being the first of its kind or having any immediate or apparent USP over its competitors and existing players in the segment, it still managed to cater such a reputation for itself that it was impossible for me to not include an article in my series ‘Automobiles that Drove India’.
A little history lesson
Toyota Fortuner came into existence in 2004 based on a legendary Toyota Hilux pickup truck’s body on the frame platform, engineered by Thai and Japanese engineers for both emerging and existing markets.
Toyota launched in India in 2009 as a CKD unit assembled at Kirloskar Toyota’s Karnataka plants. Originally Fortuner was offered only one engine option and a drivetrain option 3.0 1KD-FTV Common rail diesel engine with 4×4 configuration only.
Later on, Toyota introduced a second engine option and 2 different drivetrain configurations. In 2012 Toyota offered a 2.5 1KD-FTV common rail diesel engine with a 4×2 configuration and a 4×4 and 4×2 configuration with an existing 3.0 diesel motor.
Now, let me bore you with my inconsequential Opinion
The one I got to drive was a 2014 model, with a 3.0 D-4D full-time AWD variant, with a 5-speed Manual producing 170hp and 360 nm of torque, these numbers influence in reaching 0-100kph in 11 seconds.
It was a bit disappointing for me when I put the pedal to the floor and even though the power delivery was linear, touching triple digits is effortless. I felt the engine lacked the character and oomph that many other types of diesel motors have, and when the turbo spools it does sound quite satisfying but the sounds correlate with the punch one expects from a diesel motor of this capacity.
But, I suppose that is quite understandable considering this vehicle is a 2-tonne behemoth powered by an Inline 4 Diesel only producing 360 nm of torque. The gearbox was slick, rowing through gears was an easy task, clutch surprisingly was on the lighter side finding the biting point was not at all difficult.
Even though I have ranted about the lack of punch from the engine, I was genuinely content to find out it was not an arduous task for the engine to pick up the pace while in a higher gear.
I am trying to say that the in-gear acceleration of this engine and gearbox combo is pretty commendable and also results in less frequency of changing gears while in traffic.
Vehicle Dynamics
One word, Body roll on steroids- but on a more serious note, I would be doing injustice to this vehicle or any other SUV if I just said it has a tremendous amount of body roll or it lacks handling characteristics of my favourite sedan.
So, I wouldn’t be very critical of its dynamics and tried to be as objective as possible while analyzing its road capabilities.
Immediately when I got on with the driving, I noticed that the steering is very direct with very little play at the centre. SUV responds well to knee-jerk inputs quite well front tires held pretty well even at high speeds on sudden changes of direction.
I took a brave pill and tried taking this 2-tonne SUV around a few sets of corners as fast as I could dare, despite the behemoth amount of body roll the SUV held its line pretty well at speeds around 80kph beyond that I felt a slight understeer and as I was mostly driving on the public roads I wasn’t planning to put my luck to test. Especially with a vehicle that can’t communicate through the steering and chassis while being put through certain stress. Yes, the steering lacks feedback and the front wheels are as disconnected as a teenager is from reality.
But from what I’ve gathered in this short drive, by no means, Toyota Fortuner is a corner carver but then a car of this size and capabilities was never intended to be one.
Sadly, in my brief meeting with the Toyota Fortuner, I never got to test its true capabilities – its off-roading prowess, and I am in no position to comment anything on that particular subject. But if the internet is anything to go by then it is a pretty capable off-roader.
The conclusion I came to –
After handing over the keys back to the owner, and on my way back home I still struggled to contemplate why a car like this has garnered such an extremist cult-like following.
And after a long session of procrastination and analyzing, I just couldn’t come to a conclusion that made any sense from a practical standpoint.
This SUV has become synonymous with the likes of Politicians, power brokers, business tycoons, and wealthy collegegoers. And none of them is willing to listen to any negative talk about the car and more often than not most of them get passionate while defending their favourite set of wheels.Â
But, certainly, its road presence and aura are unmatched by any, even though it can’t match its competition on brochures and power. It isn’t either the most comfortable mode of transport let alone in the SUV segment.Â
Ride quality is harsh, downright bouncy, immeasurable amount of horizontal movement with slight change in the road surface. Going over speed bumps, bad patches of road or any undulations is a simple task for the fortuner but it doesn’t do that gracefully – especially if your a passenger in the middle row your just going to knock around like a ‘Dhongi baba’ and if you’re sharing the middle row with two other passengers you’re sure to bump heads.
I have motion sickness and in last 10 years I haven’t sat in a car who’s back seat has made my motion sickness go bezerk like the fortuner did.
And the biggest factor has to be The Toyota badge that oozes confidence, reliability, and dependability across the globe. We get to hear so many stories on multiple forums on Fortuner that have done over a lakh kilometre and still going strong with very inconsequential repairs.
Fortuner in just shy over a decade since its launch claimed the throne of ‘King of The Indian Roads’ by offering an unmatched level of reliability, and I was genuinely amazed to learn , after eight years since it left the showroom floor, interior quality, fit and finish held their own even better than any modern car I have sat in from the recent years-Truly incredible.
No, wonder it enjoys a fanbase at such a level and has translated into its next Generation Model that despite demanding nearly half a crore rupees it still managed to sell over three thousand units in a month. and in all honesty, it does make you feel special on the road due to its height over other vehicles.
