Upgraded to a Fortuner 4x2 MT from a 2006 City: My experience so far

It is three months since the vehicle reached home, so am penning the experiences of local driving and one outstation trip.

BHPian Nib_on_wheels recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Car Buying

We were trying to upgrade from a 2006 Honda City and finally zeroed in on the Fortuner 4x2 Diesel MT. It was actually a complex decision as the City is a difficult car to upgrade, it has served us for 17+ years with no issues, clocking over 1.3L km. Both for city driving as well as on the highway it is comfortable, reliable and gives good mileage. However, as the kids grew up, the back seat started feeling uncomfortable for them. As the car aged, it appeared to be tiring when pushed to higher speeds on the highways. Besides, the lower ground clearance meant that each speed-breaker was a torture to cross. These days, however good the highways, once you exit them for any local travel, you have to cross huge speed breakers right at the exit.

The decision took over a year, with browsing sites like Team BHP and suggestions from friends and relatives. Our budget was 40-50L and key requirements were SUV (ground clearance), Japanese (reliability), IC engine (frequent 600+km trips) and Manual Transmission (for “better” satisfaction while driving). Also on our list were larger engine and more cabin room than the City. Eventually we picked the diesel Fortuner in bronze colour (this gave us about 6 months wait time, because Toyota seems to prefer shipping only white automatics on the Fortuner).

It is three months since the vehicle reached home, so am penning the experiences of local driving and one outstation trip.

Hyderabad Local Driving

The steering is heavy for city roads. The higher seating took some getting used to, but driving and parking are similar to the previous car as the length and width are almost the same. Driving on narrow roads, taking u-turns are more difficult, and so is the luggage space (City’s trunk is a huge boon). On the Hyderabad Outer Ring Road (ORR) the upgrade was clearly visible, the engine power, when the accelerator is floored, is humungous. It is easy to keep to the speed limit of 120, there is no significant body roll as the tyres are big/wide and the vehicle is heavy. Getting in and off is a bother, even with the footrest.

Hyderabad-Tirupati-Bengaluru-Hyderabad

Barely a month after delivery, we had to make a trip to Tirupati & Bengaluru to meet extended family during the kids’ summer holidays. It was a short trip but even then, the luggage space was wanting. We folded in the third seat for extra space.

Hyderabad-Tirupati

We could start only after 12 noon due to office commitments but the traffic exiting Hyderabad was a breeze. The Shilpa flyover onto ORR and the ORR itself make pleasant driving. Hyderabad to Kurnool on the NH 44 is quite standard and issue-free. After Kurnool the new bypass towards Nandyal/Kadapa makes life easier (than before). We stopped overnight near Kadapa. at the Ontimitta Haritha resort and had good darshan at the nearby temple. Next morning we continued onto Tirupati. This stretch (Kadapa-Tirupati) is a divider-less state highway that has speeding vehicles frequently overtaking the slower trucks and makes it very hazardous. We kept to our side, minimized overtaking and drove defensively. The road is hilly with several sharp turns, even passing through some towns/villages with sudden speed breakers, am sure it must be very accident-prone.

Tirupati-Bengaluru

The first part (Tirupati to Chittoor) is an excellent new road and we could keep to 100+ even in heavy rain. Around Chittoor we had to do an unplanned off-roading where the SUV part of our car-upgrade-decision proved itself.

The older road from Chittoor to Bengaluru is ageing with several cracks, bumps and craters. Hopefully the Bengaluru-Chennai-Expressway will be an option in this segment once it is ready. Entry into Bengaluru is always a strain, Hosakote to south Bengaluru took us about two hours on a Saturday afternoon. We were a bit apprehensive in the bumper-to-bumper traffic with new car, but somehow managed.

Bengaluru-Hyderabad

This is the best segment in the overall trip, the road is fast and predictable. It has actually improved over the last dozen years that we have been driving on it. Exiting Bengaluru (that too from south extreme onto the Hyderabad highway) meant passing through the entire city-length, so we started early on a Sunday and could avoid the gridlocks. Riding over the big speed breakers on the outskirts (Nandi hills junction etc) was enjoyable as these were certain chassis-hitters with our older car. The highway is good, except for some new (not there last year) instances of rumble strips being replaced with harsher speed-breakers at some junctions. We reached Hyd by evening before the toll booth queues piled up.

In summary, the trip was good, we could save a few hours due to the higher power, comfort was better- daylong driving on the City used to make us all tired. One feature that is really helpful is that touching the turn indicator gives three blinks, very useful for lane changing. The higher seating makes getting into the vehicle like getting into a bus, and also makes us miss the road-hugging safety of the sedan.

Thanks for reading, will write again as we drive and discover more…

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