Test drive Toyota Fortuner
Test Drive

Test drive Toyota Fortuner

In the era of universal fashion for crossovers, Toyota brought another honest frame SUV to Russia. Experiencing fate or hitting the target again?

Thin ice crunched under the toothed wheels, from under which muddy water began to rise. For a second there was a desire to stick "R" in and back. Who knows how deep it is here and what is there at the bottom? However, curiosity prevailed. I added gas, leaving the "automatic" lever in the "Drive", and began to storm the pond. In the end, I should have been lucky, because I was driving an SUV with the self-explanatory name Fortuner. Moreover, even half an hour ago, he easily crossed the channels of small steppe rivers. The main thing is that the depth of this pond, lost in a small Bashkir forest, does not exceed 70 cm.

By the way, the considerable value of the maximum fordable depth is not the only indicator of the Fortuner's serious off-road capabilities. Toyota has a good geometric cross-country ability. So, the clearance here reaches 225 mm, the entry angle is 29 degrees, and the exit angle is 25 degrees.

But on serious off-road, geometry alone is not enough. What else does Fortuner offer? In fact, there are quite a few things. The fact is that this Toyota is built on the IMW platform. The one that underlies the Hilux pickup. This means that the Fortuner has the strongest and most durable frame from the Toyota range, which the Japanese themselves call Heavy duty, as well as incredibly energy-intensive suspensions. The SUV shares with "Haylax" not only the chassis architecture, but also the line of power units, as well as the transmission.

The Fortuner has a 2,8-liter turbo diesel with 177 hp, which works in tandem exclusively with the “automatic”. After the New Year, the Japanese promise to bring to us a car with a petrol "four" (2,7 liters, 163 hp), which, in addition to a six-speed automatic transmission, can be combined with "mechanics". However, after familiarizing yourself with the current version, you begin to doubt the advisability of withdrawing such a modification.

And do not be fooled by the not very high power of the diesel engine - this is not the main thing here. First of all, you need to look at the characteristic of the moment, the peak value of which reaches 450 Nm. It is he who playfully picks up a weighty SUV and easily pushes it forward.

But the enthusiasm for the motor does not last long, and it begins to sour as soon as the crankshaft spins over 2500 rpm. But here an adequate "automatic" comes to the rescue, which, with its thoughtful switching, allows the tachometer needle to almost constantly remain in the active working area.

Test drive Toyota Fortuner

When you need to go in one of the lower gears, you can switch to manual mode using the steering wheel paddle. By the way, he is honest here - there is protection from the fool, which does not allow dropping from the sixth immediately to the first at full speed, but in a fixed gear you can spin the motor almost to the cutoff.

To these certainly useful off-road skills of the power unit, it is worth adding that the Fortuner also has a transmission similar to the Hilux. By default, the car is rear-wheel drive, but here - part-time all-wheel drive. Its interesting feature is that the front axle can be connected on the move at speeds up to 100 km / h. It relies on the Fortuner and a lowered row, and even a rear differential lock.

With such an arsenal, we easily drove through a shallow forest pond, never even getting stuck. But here it is also worth saying thanks to the special off-road tires. By the way, they only rely on the younger version. And the older equipment comes with road wheels.

The interior of Fortuner is expectedly uncomplicated - both in decoration and decoration. The third row is more a fiction than a real place. Even children can hardly fit there, not to mention adults. Touch multimedia without a single analog key is sluggish and requires quite a lot of getting used to - both to the sensitivity of the screen and to the specific menu.

Test drive Toyota Fortuner

You can also note the not very comfortable operation of the rear suspensions on sharp asphalt irregularities. The energy-intensive dampers seem to be weak at filtering small longitudinal vibrations. But the new Toyota is so well prepared for off-road that it allows you to drive in the steppe in zigzags without choosing the road.

A typeSUV
Dimensions (length / width / height), mm4795/1855/1835
Wheelbase, mm2745
Cargo space, l480
Curb weight, kg2215
engine's typeDiesel, supercharged
Working volume, cubic meters cm2755
Max. power, h.p. (at rpm)177 at 2300 – 3400
Max. cool. moment, Nm (at rpm)450 at 1600 – 2400
Drive type, transmissionPlug-in full, AKP6
Max. speed km / h180
Acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h, sND
Fuel consumption (mixed cycle), l / 100 km8,6
Price from, USD33 600

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