[Chennai14]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Thank you. After filling to the brim, I get 2400KM warning after doing about 4-5K KM's. May be 5.5K at times but don't remember warning coming beyond 5.5K. Generally regen happens anywhere between 150-250KM mark. However when driven only within city/poor diesel have seen regen happen at 100KM interval too.

Few things that I have observed that can change the AdbLue Consumption:

1. Quality of diesel is important. With Xtragreen on highway regen happens every 200-250KM . With regular diesel its interval reduces to 150-200KM mark with same driving conditions. With some fuel stations at new place I have seen regen happening at 100KM interval too.

2. Driving at higher RPM's/pedal to metal usually results in frequent regens/higher AdbLue consumption.

3. Consumption is more at higher altitudes.

Its an added expense, but filling is breeze now. 5L can, a plastic mug and funnel, top up takes less than 5 min

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the quick and detailed reply. I get regen around 100 to 120 KMS irrespective of City or Highway driving.
Based on recent filling of 5L, it has lasted only for around 2000 KMs, which includes the warning as well.
My driving style is not agressive, I get around 9KMPL in city tradfic to 13KMPL in Highway, which I think it not bad.
I have changed the fuel stations, but always end up high consumption of AdBlue. May be I will switch to Xtragreen and see.

Thanks again.

[sumalkar]

Originally Posted by Chennai14

I have changed the fuel stations, but always end up high consumption of AdBlue. May be I will switch to Xtragreen and see.

For me, the regen usually is around 300km, shows up 4 bars. Mine is Sep 2022 model AT 4x4, done 23k+ km. I only fill up either Reliance (Jio) or Shell power diesel.

[PrideRed]

45000KM update

During last couple of drives noticed the wiper blades were not cleaning properly, creating lines while wiping. Realised hadn't changed wiper blades since I bought car. Visited service center hoping for a 2-3K bill. Service advisor mentioned we can just replace the rubber instead of blade set. Pair costed about 750 plus GST. Entire blade set costs about 5K a pair.

Have switched back to Xtragreen and happy with results. Recently had to visit HP outlet and they were promoting diesel additive. Tried it but didn't see any perceivable difference, regen happened at around 250KM mark and not much difference otherwise. Xtragreen has higher cetane number too. That said cheaper than Xtragreen, costing Rs 1.7 more per litre than regular diesel.

All my cars now get serviced at Mangalore or Puttur. Compared to Bangalore, I find servicing in smaller cities/town lot more convenient. Easier to get appointments, marginally cheaper labour, lesser waiting time and service advisors don't push for unnecessary extras. Only downside is delivery of parts from factory takes a day or two longer. And as a bonus, you don't have to sit in traffic for ages to reach service centre.

From recent drive to MH





At United Toyota for wiper rubber change



7 year old design

[PrideRed]

Fortuner gets company, bought Hilux Standard MT variant . Thar DI despite low running is 8 years old and was creating bit of problems despite serving purpose. Was looking to replace for sometime and was keen on new Thar. The new gen Thar lacks utility and is more of a lifestyle vehicle. Jimny scored slightly better interns of utility but still wasn't even to close my use case. That said I love how both look and should be amazing performers offroad in its stock form.

Since I need utility, was looking at pickup trucks despite their sheer size. I must admit pickup truck is something that fascinated me and F150 Raptor will always remain a dream. Bolero camper looked near perfect but then 4x4 variants don't have basic creature comfort/safety and Gold does not come in 4x4. DMAX has become expensive at 30L for 4x4 and is a generation older. Isuzu doesn't have a strong footprint either. Hilux while looked good was never considered due to outrageous pricing. Got to know about good discounts and Standard variant turned out be perfect for my use case. Cheaper price tag, 4x4 gear with proper low range transfer case, basic creature comforts and full suite of safety features, couldn't ask for more. Booked one which was in stock and bought home in a week's time.

Comparison with Innova/Fortuner

While all 3 are built in same platform , each one is a different animal. The Innova is low on power, you sit lower and is comfortable especially at rear with those fantastic bucket seats. The preferred car for family outings. Being BS4, is epitome of reliability, fill it shut it forget it.

Fortuner is a different beast. The additional torque can be felt compared to MT Hilux, and ride is much more supple compared Hilux which has leaf springs at rear. On open highway Fortuner is the one that is most comfortable, fun to drive and confidence inspiring at higher speeds. Also feels upmarket inside.

The Hilux is the most intimidating one. Front looks butch with massive grille, and you sit bit higher than Fortuner. The 6 speed manual is slick shifting unit by Body on frame standards and clutch is light. Car can easily move from standstill in 2nd gear. Engine note is bit different compared to 2.8 AT and insulation is decent. I am yet to load the bay and should be able to carry load much better than other two. Hilux has oodles of character, and being a niche vehicle/low seller and massive footprint means is an attention magnet.

Hilux is CKD where as Fortuner is locally built(almost). Paint quality overall looked similar and interiors too could not see much difference w.r.to quality. May be the dashboard of Hilux is bolted slightly better but feels of similar grade. While design is different , both look similar and I can't figure out which one looks better.

Hilux positives
- Scores very high on utility.
- Powerful engine, nice gearbox and strong 4x4 gear.
- Decent amount of features and feels upmarket compared to competition.
- Toyota's reliability and after sales is unmatched.

Hilux negatives
- Pricey(before discount) and being CKD some parts may not be easily available.
- Toyota's DPF implementation is not the best and owners have reported few issues.
- Despite sheer size, space utilization is not great.
- A minor one, the horn sounds very meek from inside. The Innova/Fortuner one's sound better for some reason.

The Hilux is primarily intended to be used as a workhorse and take over farm duties. I am curious to see how the car will perform off road when loaded . Yes the ride is unsettled but then who buys a pickup for a plaint ride? The Fortuner will continue to do the touring and Innova for sometime now will be used as a beater. That wraps up the T garage comparison and a quick intro of Fortuner's new company-Hilux.


Other than bedliner, roll bar have opted for only standard accessories including mats/mudflaps. Thankfully standard variant is already de-chromed from factory.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

The Hilux is the most intimidating one. Front looks butch with massive grille, and you sit bit higher than Fortuner. The 6 speed manual is slick shifting unit by Body on frame standards and clutch is light. Car can easily move from standstill in 2nd gear. Engine note is bit different compared to 2.8 AT and insulation is decent. I am yet to load the bay and should be able to carry load much better than other two. Hilux has oodles of character, and being a niche vehicle/low seller and massive footprint means is an attention magnet.

Hilux is CKD where as Fortuner is locally built(almost). Paint quality overall looked similar and interiors too could not see much difference w.r.to quality. May be the dashboard of Hilux is bolted slightly better but feels of similar grade. While design is different , both look similar and I can't figure out which one looks better.

Hilux positives
- Scores very high on utility.
- Powerful engine, nice gearbox and strong 4x4 gear.
- Decent amount of features and feels upmarket compared to competition.
- Toyota's reliability and after sales is unmatched.

Hilux negatives
- Pricey(before discount) and being CKD some parts may not be easily available.
- Toyota's DPF implementation is not the best and owners have reported few issues.
- Despite sheer size, space utilization is not great.
- A minor one, the horn sounds very meek from inside. The Innova/Fortuner one's sound better for some reason.



Other than bedliner, roll bar have opted for only standard accessories including mats/mudflaps. Thankfully standard variant is already de-chromed from factory.

Attachment 2512518

Is this your car I observed sitting in Forum/ Nexus Mall parking today? The White Hilux really looks imposing I must say. Ive been also seeing the Dark Grey one at the Toyota showroom on Victoria Road from time to time when I pass that way and it sure is a head turner. I ve seen a red one at the golf course and once on the way to Ooty at Pug Marks Restaurant and that had me jumping up and down with excitement because it just looks so good.

(I really have no use case for such a vehicle.
It is just a pure Big Tough Guy Pickup Truck Madness that comes from basically a deep urge of mine wanting to be a Cowboy in Texas Or Wyoming or somewhere.)

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Is this your car I observed sitting in Forum/ Nexus Mall parking today? The White Hilux really looks imposing I must say. Ive been also seeing the Dark Grey one at the Toyota showroom on Victoria Road from time to time when I pass that way and it sure is a head turner. I ve seen a red one at the golf course and once on the way to Ooty at Pug Marks Restaurant and that had me jumping up and down with excitement because it just looks so good.

No, this is not mine. I have the standard variant similar to the grey one which you saw at Victoria road showroom. I was given option of this grey one or the white and picked up the latter.

[Raghav07]

Congratulations on the Hilux!
Now you have the full collection(Hilux, Fortuner and Innova), that's probably the first time I've seen someone do that. Also the first time I saw a Hilux Std MT on the forum(others are usually High AT variants). Color choice is also great, and it would make a good farm vehicle as you mentioned.
I hope you create a new thread and post a detailed review and ownership as I do enjoy reading them : ).

[navpreet318]

What are those light type protrusions from the front bumper just below the fog lights?

Haven't seen them on the AT models.

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

What are those light type protrusions from the front bumper just below the fog lights?

Haven't seen them on the AT models.

Those protrusions are actually reflectors, which come only on the STD variant and this variant gets the 80kmph speed limiter as well.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

Those protrusions are actually reflectors, which come only on the STD variant and this variant gets the 80kmph speed limiter as well.

Correct these are reflectors that come from factory in Standard variant. With the price correction Toyota did in March/April, standard variant lost Cruise control, iMT and DAC. The standard variant lost below features compared to high variant along with addition of 80KMPH limitter.

1. Auto AC
2. LED headlights
3. Rear AC
4. iMT in manual variant
5. Downhill assist
6. Cruise control
7. Leather seats
8. Electric seat adjust
9. 18 inch alloys.
10. Tonne of chrome .

For a price difference of nearly 8L OTR, this looked ok to me. Few surprises that Toyota included in standard variant are as below:

1. Auto dimming mirrors
2. Auto up/down for all windows.
3. 2 pin charger.
4. Same audio as High.
5. LED fog lamps.
6. Rear camera.
7. Remote unlock with push button start.
8. Color MID.
9. Front parking sensors.

And lastly thumbs up to Toyota for including 7 airbags and all safety kit.

[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Correct these are reflectors that come from factory in Standard variant. With the price correction Toyota did in March/April, standard variant lost Cruise control, iMT and DAC. The standard variant lost below features compared to high variant along with addition of 80KMPH limitter.

And lastly thumbs up to Toyota for including 7 airbags and all safety kit.

So the 8L ex showroom difference is over and above the massive discounts which are going on as of now. Correct?

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

So the 8L ex showroom difference is over and above the massive discounts which are going on as of now. Correct?

Difference between High MT and Standard MT is about 8L OTR. In KA Standard MT is 38.5L and High MT is 46.5L. Discounts are available on both variants and depends on stocks.

[PrideRed]

The keyfob battery probably was weak and since couple of days/weeks, MID was showing a warning indicating low battery. That said the car was starting without issues. Got battery replaced at Toyota which costed RS 170. Service center had recently started detailing counter, I had 5 year underbody coating package which was bought in 2021, got a recoating done as part of the package. Back to back drive, can clearly feel lack of grip on Fortuner. 500NM torque, 45K run HT tires, squeals a lot on corners and even the ATrac starts blinking on hard acceleration on wet tarmac.

Side by side shot with Hilux

From ORVM height, you can notice the Hilux is marginally taller. This may also be due to the fact that Fortuner tires are almost end of life. The bonnet of Fortuner and Hilux looks to be same and so does front doors.

[PrideRed]

Year end drive to KL

For Christmas weekend, wanted to do a drive , idea was to keep it short and spend rest of the vacation time at home. Locations up North were rejected due to time constraints. Decided to take long drive back home, drove to Kanyakumari- Poovar- Kochi- Vythiri-Puttur. We started at around 4 PM on Friday and idea was to drive as much as we can until 8PM . Thanks to long weekend traffic and road construction at Hosur, we managed only till Salem.

Next day, started post breakfast and there was good enough traffic until Dindigul, though we could maintain 70-90KMPH. Post Dindigul, it was breeze. Since we had time, decided to drive to Kanyakumari and then to Poovar. Spent some time by the beach and drove off towards Poovar. Reached Poovar by around 7PM.

Started leisurely from Poovar after breakfast and boat ride, none us were in mood to visit tourist location enroute. Took few interior roads, visited local beach and by evening we hit Fort Kochi. From our previous visit, we liked this place , though this time we preferred strolling around the streets and enjoying the views.

Wasn't sure next if to head towards Calicut or drive via Wayand. Drive across coast was getting bit monotonous plus the there is too much traffic. We decided to drive towards Vythiri. This was my first drive via Thamarassery ghat(or is it called something else?), encountered quite heavy traffic and progress was slow. Reached hotel at around 4 PM.

Drive back home was uneventful and reached on time for lunch. The drive from Kutta-Kannangala-Murnad was fantastic with very little traffic and Madikeri to Puttur was beautiful as usual. That wraps up the 1500KM short trip.

Few highlights from 3 years of ownership

As I write, the car is 1 week short of completing 3 years, with 49000KM on ODO. Car is still running on stock HT tires which are good for another 10K KM's are per service advisor. The car has seen all type of roads , from the high passes of Arunachal to fantastic butter smooth highway, from slushy off roads of my farm to country roads of western ghats, beaches to mountains- the Fortuner has taken us places and how! Most of the travel, car is packed to the brim with luggage and rear seat is set up for kids. While the 3rd row is used occasionally, the extra luggage space comes in handy and the flexibility is very helpful.

- Wished the Adblue range was little longer. While filling takes less than 5 min, have to refill every 5K KM's.

- Storage space for only 1 phone, additional phone has to go inside glove box or other closed storage box.

- People complain about lack of features, which to certain extent is true as car doesnot have fancy features like Sunroof, ambient light, EPB etc. My other car has these, and frankly don't remember when was the last time I opened sunroof or appreciated the presence of ambient light. Only feature I wished car came was with ADAS.

- Overall fuel efficiency is around 11.5KMPL. Most of the drives are on highway and may be 30% city driving.

- People do cross country in bumpy Thar/Tiguan/Ecosport and boats(read: 1st gen Safari, Hexa, 1st gen Scorpio, Hector etc.) and yet complain on ride quality of Fortuner. Yes its not as comfortable as a nice sedan or a well tuned crossover, but offers reasonable comfort. The ride is pretty good by body on frame vehicle standards.

- Toyota dealers especially in Bangalore while good, try to add many "Value added stuff" . I have to ask them to stick to what Toyota recommends else the bill can easily cross 20K.

- Most complain about Dueler HT, I find them pretty decent. They are not very noisy, offer reasonable comfort, can perform well off road in 4H mode and have lasted well. Yes they don't look good and traction off road is not as good as a AT tire. But I don't find a compelling reason to swap other than looks. Yes, for next set I will go for AT, as Dueler HT are about 19-20K a tire and there are cheaper ATs.

- While the audio is great for front seat occupants, is quite average for rear seat occupants, the loudness is missing and the subwoofer hardly adds anything.

Closing the post with some recent shots.

At a recent off road drive



Thanks AD for this click, one of the best shots of car till date



@Kanyakumari



Somewhere near Trivandrum



With the 3 series



With garage mates

[Amrit@wheels]

Congratulations on reaching (almost) the 50k mark and wishing you many more. I love reading your small travel reports. With the current gen Fortuner, the only major con is the price tag. This is a personal opinion.