2016 Toyota Fortuner Revealed
Next generation of Toyota’s Hilux-based Fortuner shows off smart duds
Imthishan Giado
Ten years after the Fortuner was first unveiled for the Asian market as part of the IMV project that gave us sister vehicles Hilux and Innova, the Japanese giant is now ready to reveal its latest version.
As before, the Fortuner is essentially an SUV version of the Hilux pickup, swapping the latter’s truck bed for a seven-seat body. No fancy monocoque here; expect body-on-frame construction, double wishbones at the front and a four-link coil spring rear.
While the underpinnings may not surprise, the styling’s bang-up-to-date. Slinky lighting, blacked out c-pillars combine with rugged styling to make this best-looking Fortuner since, well the last one. This is no soft roader, either. As befits a Hilux the Fortuner has serious offroad capability including full-time four wheel drive and a separate transfer case.
Inside, the new Fortuner has clearly been influenced by the t-shaped dashboards of the new Corolla and Camry. Frankly, the old car looked and felt like a pickup inside but this looks much more plush and upscale with touchscreen navigation taking centre stage. In Thailand where the Fortuner is built, it’s sold as a luxury vehicle, and they get all the trimmings: power driver seats, push button start, three-zone A/C, hill start, bi-LED headlamps, and a power tailgate.
Asian markets get a pair of all-new four-cylinder turbodiesels, a 2.8-litre 177bhp unit and 2.4-litre 150bhp. What we’ll get – once it’s confirmed for the Middle East – is the usual 2.7-litre four, good for 166bhp and the 4.0-litre V6, usually good for 236bhp but sure to updated to Dual VVT-i for this new version, upping power to somewhere around 285bhp.
Source: Paul Tan
