Toyota reveals all-new Fortuner in best-sophisticated refinement

TRUCK-BASED SUVs may be losing ground to car-based crossovers across the world, but in some markets, sport-utes like the new Toyota Fortuner still reign as king. The Fortuner is the SUV version of the HiLux pickup you might recognize from Top Gear expeditions.

According to Toyota Motor Co. Fortuner, the new SUV will expand Toyota’s market-leading SUV line-up to six vehicles – joining RAV4, Kluger, FJ Cruiser, LandCruiser Prado and LandCruiser 200 Series.

Entering its second generation, to replace the first-gen Fortuner launched in 2005 and the HiLux Sport Rider before it, the Fortuner is slotting in between the RAV4 and the Land Cruiser Prado.

The Fortuner may be Toyota’s challenger to the new Ford Everest, which is similarly based on the Ranger pickup. To put it in relative terms, though, it’s a bit smaller than the 4Runner that Toyota offers in the, and a bit bigger than the Nissan Xterra, but with decidedly more streamlined styling.

The midsize SUV boasts seven-seat capacity and packs a 2.8-liter turbodiesel inline-four with 174 horsepower and as much as 332 pound-feet of torque. Part-time all-wheel drive comes standard, paired with either an automatic or manual a six-speed transmission. The new Fortuner is capable of towing up to 1,650 pounds on a trailer without its own brakes, over 6,600 lbs on a braked trailer, and features a trailer-sway system that keeps a towed load in line in adverse conditions.

The truck rides on double wishbones at the front and a five-link, coil-spring setup at the back, with front and rear stabilizer bars to minimize body roll. It also boasts a locking rear differential, hill-start assist, and all the electronic systems you could need on the road or off. All of which ought to help Toyota further cement its SUV offerings – particularly in Australia, where it sells far more trucks than any other automaker.