[parsh]

I could get a glimpse of the Fortuner at dealership as I had gone for Innova service. However, no TD was available as the Fortuners had just returned from the Mumbai Boot Camp and will be getting serviced first and then made available for TD, as I was told by the SAs handling those Fortuners. The Boot Camp-TD Fortuners are AT and not MT though, MT expected in sometime.

However, got to see the Phantom Brown in person and although maybe not as brute as Type I, it does make its formidable presence and does look menacing in some ways and angles. The orange peeling effect is very prominent on paint, maybe more visible from close quarters in darker shade.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by qr20de

To be quite honest, it's all fine and dandy that Toyota is pulling this 'off-road experience' marketing campaign but I'm not entirely convinced that that's why almost everyone buys the car.

The chances of a Fortuner customer using his vehicle for such off-roading could be maybe once in 40 or 50,000km of use. I know some people who don't even know how to use their 4WD transfer case box.

Toyota has done well to bring in a 2WD version for customer's who want the big vehicle feeling in our narrow city streets.

A lot of prospective customers ask me the same question when we sit next to them as experts in such drives.

For the toyota drive, towards the last few days of the event, this is the explanation I gave them:

Remember first, the mumbai drive was tame. Delhi and blr took a toll on the vehicles with the acceleration and braking on bad surfaces.

The event was 10 days long and we had these cars for about 3 days prior. During testing we pushed the cars to the limit simulating customer errors so safety margins can be added to the track.

Daily each car was approximating a 100 rounds of sheer bad terrain.

Not once did we have a breakdown. Not once did we hear a rattle or a squeak. And on terrains designed to really pound the suspension. The car behaved and how. Now toyota doesn't pay me well enough to say this but this was a testament to build quality. The only other car I saw this build quality was in the Cayenne.

This is how the company should actually market the car and the course.

Secondly buying a 4x4 for a non off-roader should be seen as medical insurance. We always hope to God that we don't need to use it but we pay the premium in time. Similarly, you never know when one day for any emergency you may need to venture off the road and that's the day you will bless the 4x4 capability.

This is my personal take on this question.

EDIT:

Since I was handling the Delhi event, I know this fact from my team: we had around 12 customers who asked us if they could upgrade to the 4x4 version from their 4x2 booking. They were promptly referred to the dealer.

[Yeldo]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

In the 15 days since it has been launched, the Fortuner has amassed over 5,400 bookings and has generated over 16,000 enquiries!

Then the waiting period is going to be minimum three months, may I assume?

See how a quality product backed by top notch service and an enduring brand succeeds in a big way even in underwhelming market conditions hit hard by demonetization.

[MAS]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

The event was 10 days long and we had these cars for about 3 days prior. During testing we pushed the cars to the limit simulating customer errors so safety margins can be added to the track.

Daily each car was approximating a 100 rounds of sheer bad terrain.

Not once did we have a breakdown. Not once did we hear a rattle or a squeak. And on terrains designed to really pound the suspension. The car behaved and how. Now toyota doesn't pay me well enough to say this but this was a testament to build quality. The only other car I saw this build quality was in the Cayenne.

This is how the company should actually market the car and the course.

Good to know the superior build quality of the Fortuner. When i test drove the car on normal roads, it felt solidly built with everything put together cohesively. Your positive comments are very encouraging.

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Secondly buying a 4x4 for a non off-roader should be seen as medical insurance. We always hope to God that we don't need to use it but we pay the premium in time. Similarly, you never know when one day for any emergency you may need to venture off the road and that's the day you will bless the 4x4 capability.

As rightly explained, a 4x4 vehicle gives the driver the confidence to come out of any sticky situation. Apart from "off-roading" roads, i would not want to be stuck with a 2.7 ton truck with only its back wheels spinning. This could happen on simple situations such a reversing up a sloping ramp with in tight spaces. I am sticking to my 4x4 AT booking...

[Stratosphere]

Congratulations Karan on your new pride! Enjoy happy miles!

A question I want to ask you is that is after a sufficiently long drive of 180 kms, do you in any way feel the need for more power on the highway or did the car hit the sweetspot?
I'm still confused between the Endy and T-Fort, so am asking the minutest questions.😊
Thanks.

[qr20de]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

A lot of prospective customers ask me the same question when we sit next to them as experts in such drives.

For the toyota drive, towards the last few days of the event, this is the explanation I gave them:

Remember first, the mumbai drive was tame. Delhi and blr took a toll on the vehicles with the acceleration and braking on bad surfaces.

The event was 10 days long and we had these cars for about 3 days prior. During testing we pushed the cars to the limit simulating customer errors so safety margins can be added to the track.

Daily each car was approximating a 100 rounds of sheer bad terrain.

Not once did we have a breakdown. Not once did we hear a rattle or a squeak. And on terrains designed to really pound the suspension. The car behaved and how. Now toyota doesn't pay me well enough to say this but this was a testament to build quality. The only other car I saw this build quality was in the Cayenne.

This is how the company should actually market the car and the course.

Secondly buying a 4x4 for a non off-roader should be seen as medical insurance. We always hope to God that we don't need to use it but we pay the premium in time. Similarly, you never know when one day for any emergency you may need to venture off the road and that's the day you will bless the 4x4 capability.

This is my personal take on this question.

EDIT:

Since I was handling the Delhi event, I know this fact from my team: we had around 12 customers who asked us if they could upgrade to the 4x4 version from their 4x2 booking. They were promptly referred to the dealer.

That's awesome that customers asked for an upgrade to a 4X4 after the event. I guess the marketing paid off right there.

In terms of durability and testing, it definitely is testament to Toyota's build quality that the cars didn't rattle or squeak after all that driving, but if I may add, the speeds at which the vehicles were being tested would have taken a very very long time to show on the cars.

During my time as a test driver in my previous company, reliability and durability testing used to be done for over 50,000km on rough roads. And by that I mean driving about 300km a day on corrugation, rocks, gravel etc. of speeds up to 50kph. We would only start noticing sounds and damage once you get into the 10,000km mark.

Obviously this is not possible for customers or the company and I didn't want to be pedantic, but I'll be very interested to see how owners give their long term feedback.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

I think you should visit an offroad track one day to see what is thrown at the cars. I've seen company test tracks. They are quiet tame in comparison.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by MAS

I am super surprised that you booked a car without a test-drive. This shows the confidence you have on Toyota. Good luck with the Ne Fortuner's delivery today. Please do post a lot of pictures. Super White looks good and i wish you a million miles of happy and safe motoring.

Looking forward to your "Detailed" ownership review.

Thanks, yes i booked one without a test drive (even before driving the A/T). Also M/T demo vehicles weren't available nor at the showrooms or the 4x4 experiential camp.

The only worry i had in mind was how easy / difficult would engaging reverse would be considering its a 6 speed Manual, but i think Toyota have engineered that brilliantly i can loosely relate it to the 6 speed BMW Manual i drove last month in Germany

A delivery experience video is in the making & should be ready this weekend.

Originally Posted by Venku2015

Congratulations Karan! Wish you lakhs of happy miles in your new Fortuner! Look forward for a detailed video review.

Thanks Venku !

1 video is already in the making which is of the delivery experience. A full blown video review will follow in a couple of weeks

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Congratulations, Karan! Eagerly waiting for your crisp video review.

Thank You Avi.

Yes, 1 video is already in the making which is of the delivery experience. A full blown video review will follow in a couple of weeks

Originally Posted by Stratosphere

Congratulations Karan on your new pride! Enjoy happy miles!

Thanks !

A question I want to ask you is that is after a sufficiently long drive of 180 kms, do you in any way feel the need for more power on the highway or did the car hit the sweetspot?
I'm still confused between the Endy and T-Fort, so am asking the minutest questions.��
Thanks.

The manual transmission is very powerful & if you know how to work your gears through then the more power in the 3.2 Endy wont matter.

BUT if an A/T then definitely the Endeavour A/T is better & quicker than the Fortuner.

Also i am still running in the engine, tyres, brakes etc so did never push the car beyond 2500 rpm and still was amazed by the power.

[parsh]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

The all-new Fortuner is on it's way to become a huge hit.

In the 15 days since it has been launched, the Fortuner has amassed over 5,400 bookings and has generated over 16,000 enquiries!

Attachment 1578477

Attachment 1578474

Originally Posted by Yeldo

Then the waiting period is going to be minimum three months, may I assume?

See how a quality product backed by top notch service and an enduring brand succeeds in a big way even in underwhelming market conditions hit hard by demonetization.

While they are publishing the huge bookings records as also on their site below:
http://www.toyotabharat.com/news/dist/2016/Nov-24.aspx,

the ground reality is also that there have been quite a few cancellations due to demonetization as was told to me by the sales team as well. So it is possible, the wait right now may not be as much as anticipated above and one may be able to squeeze earlier deliveries too. Just in case, anybody is contemplating.

[karan561]

A quick photo-shoot at my office parking lot;




New number plates need to be made ASAP;



The alloy wheel is extremely well finished & looks much better in flesh;



A closer look at the dark brown leather;



Love how the rear wheel well is showing so much of wheel travel gap;



A closer look at the key;

[JediKnight]

Congratulations Karan on your latest acquisition.

How is the ride quality of the new fortuner compared to the previous generation. Since you own both the new and old fotuners simultaneously you are probably best guy to answer this question.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by Samurai

All in all, Fortuner simply exceeded my expectation for an heavy SUV in offroad performance. And here is the final surprise. All the Fortuners here were running highway tyres.

Great report, Sharath. The new 4x4 MT Fortuner will be my next buy, when I decide to upgrade. Hoping that my Classic Fortuner lasts till 200,000 km.

Originally Posted by qr20de

To be quite honest, it's all fine and dandy that Toyota is pulling this 'off-road experience' marketing campaign but I'm not entirely convinced that that's why almost everyone buys the car.

The chances of a Fortuner customer using his vehicle for such off-roading could be maybe once in 40 or 50,000km of use. I know some people who don't even know how to use their 4WD transfer case box.

Toyota has done well to bring in a 2WD version for customer's who want the big vehicle feeling in our narrow city streets.

Some of us do, driving thousands of kms to Central Indian forests and Himalayas, and then offroading there. Or for that matter, driving 300km to the Nilgiris and exploring some of the trails.

When one is far way from civilization (and ASCs and home), one needs a vehicle that can cruise as well as go where one wants to go. E.g. a forest rest house 30 km inside the forest, and then 200 km of forest trail driving (to shoot wildlife) in the next 3 days.

The Fortuner is a great allrounder. One can focus on what one wants to do instead of worrying about the vehicle. Somewhat like taking photos with a DSLR - focusing on composition and light, instead of worrying about controls or whether it can handle the task.

The 2WD Fortuner doesn't appeal to me at all, one might as well buy an Innova.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by parsh

While they are publishing the huge bookings records as also on their site below:
http://www.toyotabharat.com/news/dist/2016/Nov-24.aspx,

the ground reality is also that there have been quite a few cancellations due to demonetization as was told to me by the sales team as well. So it is possible, the wait right now may not be as much as anticipated above and one may be able to squeeze earlier deliveries too. Just in case, anybody is contemplating.

Well this is one of the reason why Fortuner is still commanding just 2 months of waiting period. If the bookings were 5K plus, I would safely assume a waiting period of atleast 4-5months! In Mangalore, i have heard there is nil or minimal waiting for most of the models.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by karan561

A delivery experience video is in the making & should be ready this weekend.

No text? But I am not complaining

The manual transmission is very powerful & if you know how to work your gears through then the more power in the 3.2 Endy wont matter.

How does the sport mode work on the Endeavor, does it provide the same feel?

never push the car beyond 2500 rpm and still was amazed by the power.

Could you please share more...the differences.

Originally Posted by karan561

A quick photo-shoot at my office parking lot;

A closer look at the key;

Thanks for pics. what is the knob for in the key fob [the last pic]

And a big congratulations

[karan561]

Originally Posted by JediKnight

Congratulations Karan on your latest acquisition.

How is the ride quality of the new fortuner compared to the previous generation. Since you own both the new and old fotuners simultaneously you are probably best guy to answer this question.

Thanks Jedi,

Well to be honest the ride quality seems marginally improved so far, BUT the bounciness like on uneven surfaces at high speeds, approaching / leaving flyover etc are noticeably better, credit probably goes to the pitch & bounce control feature.

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

Congratulations Karan on the new acquisition and it is now time to change your Signature as well.

Done, Thanks

Originally Posted by speedmunster

@KARAN... I smell another video review coming up. Waiting eagerly for it.

Yes, one video is in the making which will cover the delivery experience. A full review will follow after a couple of weeks.

Originally Posted by Sheel

No text? But I am not complaining

How does the sport mode work on the Endeavor, does it provide the same feel?

Could you please share more...the differences.

And a big congratulations

Thanks !

The Endeavours Sport mode i believe is more about sharpening the gearbox & holding revs high rather than changing the engine mapping like in Fortuners Power model.

Thanks for pics. what is the knob for in the key fob [the last pic]

Not sure myself yet, will find out & update you