2019 Toyota Fortuner vs 2018

What's the difference?

The Toyota Fortuner GX offers a low entry price, and if that matters a lot to you then it will probably appeal - especially if you need a hardcore off-roader with strong reliability prospects. 

However, serious competition in this part of the market means there are better options out there if you can afford to spend just a little more. In some cases, you mightn’t even need to stretch the budget to get a considerably better off-road seven-seater.

Adventure Off-Road Ranking: Medium

Toyota’s Fortuner Crusade is a sensible answer for those looking for a family-friendly off-road wagon, not a faux four-wheel drive. It has the style and off-road abilities to suit a number of applications and, despite being based on a commercial vehicle chassis, offers composed ride and handling for a high-riding, beach or bush-capable vehicle. Still unsure whether the top grade Crusade is worth almost $10,000 extra over a GXL model for the family.

Reckon the Crusade is worth the extra dosh? Have your say in the comments below

You mightn’t be able to tell that the Fortuner is based on the HiLux ute (as the MU-X is based on the D-Max, Everest is based on the Ranger, and so on…), and that could be good or bad, depending on your take on things.

Where the HiLux looks a bit more muscled and edgy, the Fortuner is aimed to appeal more to those who appreciate curves and sweeping lines. To my eye, it doesn’t quite work.

The model you see in the images is the GX, which misses out on the privacy glass (tinted windows) offered on the models above, and likewise lacks roof rails (which make fitting roof racks a cinch), and it has colour-coded door handles, rather than chrome - there’s no chrome on the grille or rear door garnish, either. There are no fog lights, no daytime running lights, and the headlights are halogen units. Yeah, so it looks a bit… like a base model. 

You still get side steps - which were put to good use by my niece and nephew, and my mum (she’s only 149cm) - and there’s a rear spoiler. Hey, if you want a full body kit, Thailand has some eBay sellers you should check out. 

Sadly, Toyota decided that all Fortuner models should come with alloy wheels, so the 17s fitted to this model (and the GXL above it) have a little bit of bling about them, but not as much ‘go anywhere’ cred as earlier base models, which were fitted with black steel wheels.

The Crusade is the dearest of these Fortuners and showcases the wagons’ lines with confidence on those 18-inch alloy wheels with an interesting asymmetric style.

Overall, it’s a restrained look, quite clean with chrome work limited to a three bar grille and surrounds, door handles and a line along the wagon’s belt line.

There’s a hint of menace to the nose and a touch of muscle tone to the wheel arches but no unnecessary curves or bulges and no taillight lenses dribbling down the rear (as seen on the Pajero Sport).

The rising beltline over the rear axle and the dark privacy glass down back add some points of difference. It’s a wagon that neither stands right out nor lacks a road presence.

With seven seats as standard, the Fortuner offers a more affordable alternative to the Prado above it, and a more hardcore option if you’d prefer to get dirtier than is possible in a Kluger.

It isn’t as roomy as either of those models, though, because the cabin space is compromised by the ladder-frame chassis and a poorly designed seven-seat layout. The rearmost seats never allow you to make full use of the entire width of the boot because they fold up into the D-pillars - and in the process, you can bank on any over-shoulder vision being cancelled out completely. 

Make sure you clip those seats in and tighten the straps, as we had them fall down on occasion, such is the sharpness of the the suspension. Just imagine if you had something fragile (or, worse, a pet or a child's limb) under the seat when that happened...?

You won’t get the best boot space in the Fortuner. There’s 200 litres of cargo room with the third row seats in place, and that apparently jumps to 716L with the third row clipped up. The space expands to 1080L if you fold the second row seats forward.

The 60:40 second-row seats have a flip and tumble trigger for both sides (the larger portion is on the kerb side) and they slide fore and aft to allow better space for those in the back row. You’ll need to make sure those in the front row don’t have their seats set too far back, otherwise the second-row tumble function won’t work as the headrests will hit the seat backs in front. 

During my time in the Fortuner I put all seven seats to use, so these criticisms come with a solid foundation. My eight-year old nephew and 12-year old niece fit in the back row just fine, and my mum, dad and sister could fit across the second row, but I wouldn’t use the word ‘comfortably’ to describe the experience. In fact, it was quite the opposite, as all five rear occupants complained about space, storage or comfort levels at some point. The ceiling-mounted centre belt was annoying, too - many other seven-seaters have the middle lap-sash belt built into the seat.

I even had a stint as second-row passenger on this test, and being 182cm tall, found it pretty unpleasant. I’m a good 15cm taller than the rest of my family, though, and they had no such issues with headroom.

Some good things to note, though - there is air conditioning for all three rows, with roof-mounted vents and a separate fan controller for the five back seats, and being a Toyota, the A/C is superb at cooling down a hot car very fast. 

There are cup holders in a fold-down armrest in the second row, and some storage nooks in the third row but no cup receptacles. Also, the bottle holders are hard to access in the second row doors if you have three abreast. 

Up front, the storage is okay but not great, with a pair of cup holders, reasonable bottle holders in the doors, and a very handy twin glovebox - the top portion of which has cooling, and it works (it stopped some roadtrip chocolates from melting).

All the controls are logically laid out, but the 7.0-inch touchscreen media display is pretty average. Some of the buttons are small and hard to locate, there is no volume knob, you can’t connect to Bluetooth unless you’re at a standstill, and there’s no nav in this spec. Add to that the fact the Bluetooth was glitchy on test (dropping out/failing to reconnect at times) and there’s no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, and you can see that the Fortuner is hardly a class-leader for cabin comfort and convenience.

Being based on the HiLux chassis appears to bring with it a narrow-gutted cabin, perhaps made more noticeable on the Crusade’s highish front seats; it’s not uncomfortable but the closer shoulder width is noticeable for adults – 1433mm compared with the Prado’s 1549mm.

The second row is good for two adults; there is a lap sash for the centre spot and three child seat anchorages here. The back two seats – best for small folk – fold up against the sides at the back, taking up a bit of cargo space and limiting visibility back this way; a full-size spare (commendable) sits below the rear floor so it would’ve been difficult to have fold down-and-away seats.

So the Fortuner would be handy for taking home a couple of extra kids from sports practice but best seen as a five-seater wagon – Mum, Dad plus three – for a family outing.

There are a number of cup and bottle holders, storage compartments and seat pockets plus three 12-volt accessory sockets and a 100w-220 volt socket in the centre console.

The touch screen for audio, phone and navigation operations is intuitive enough for most though the main instrument panel ahead of the driver, while classy and most informative, is a tad too busy – a digital speed read-out would be handy in these over-nannied days.

The Crusade version of the Fortuner is the one-with-the-lot, hence the list price ($56,990) is almost $10,000 over the next model down, the GXL. And while the Crusade includes satellite navigation and auto air-conditioning over the GXL, other extras such as power-adjustable front seats, a powered tailgate and a ‘soft-touch’ console lid may not be worth stretching the family budget.

Standard gear on the GXL (there is a base GX model) and the Crusade include a rear differential lock, reversing camera, driver aids, Bluetooth connectivity, seven seats and full-size spare wheels (18-inch alloy for the Crusade). There are paddle shifters for the automatic transmission, privacy glass for the rear windows and keyless entry. And all three models run with the same coil-sprung chassis, 2.8-litre diesel engine and two-speed transfer case.

Perhaps one piece of Crusade envy - the leather-accented interior, with handsome tan highlights on our Fortuner in another well-fitted and finished Toyota cabin showed a deal of class.

Under the bonnet of the Fortuner is a familiar 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine - the same one used in the HiLux and Prado. 

It produces 130kW of power (at 3400rpm) and 450Nm of torque (from 1600-2400rpm), and it has a six-speed automatic as standard. Those outputs are decent for the class, but it’s not the best engine out there…

Towing capacity for the Fortuner is rated at 750 kilograms for a trailer without brakes, and up to 2800kg for a braked trailer. All of its diesel rivals offer better towing capacity.

Toyota have long produced sensible powerplants and here the 2.8 litre common-rail diesel generates a useful 130kW at 3400rpm and 420Nm from 1400rpm when the four cylinder is mated to the six-speed automatic gearbox. (Six-speed manual Fortuners have 450Nm from 1600rpm but the range-topping Crusade only arrives with auto).

The turbocharged diesel and auto gearbox is a good, fairly refined, partnership and helped out with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters - particularly useful for off-road work when hands can be a mite busy.

There’s also a set of low-range ratios, accessed by a rotary dial on the console and handy when the going gets proper tough.

The diesel fuel use claim for the Fortuner is 8.6 litres per 100 kilometres, and you can bank on using more than that in pretty much all situations.

Over more than 1300km of driving over the Christmas/New Year period I saw no better than 10.0L/100km, with a mix of country, highway, city and back road driving, and between one and seven people on board.
 
A new addition for 2019 models is a diesel particulate filter (DPF) burn-off switch that is designed to allow owners to perform their own burn-off sequence, rather than relying on the automated system (which has developed a reputation for problems, and could soon be subject to a class-action law suit).

Maybe it was the light early-morning city traffic, maybe it was a driver’s light foot in a fairly empty wagon, but this Fortuner averaged 7.8L/100km for a combined urban and highway drive; the read-out wasn’t that much higher in the traffic but a more stop-start drive could well see 10s and more.

Where consumption rose rapidly was down the beach – over about 50km of sand driving, most of it on a falling tide – fuel use blew out to 15L/100km. It was about the same when picking our way down a rough, washed-out bush track over 30km.

I know there are more convincing ute-based SUVs out there for similar money, so I have to admit my time behind the wheel of the Fortuner was sullied somewhat.

The engine felt underdone at times, revving harder than its outputs suggested it should, even with the Power mode engaged. The six-speed auto had some odd actions at times, upshifting too soon and even feeling a bit clunky on occasion. 

But the transmission’s grade braking system (exhaust brake, essentially) worked well descending steep hills, allowing you to go easy on the actual brakes if you’re loaded up or doing a lengthy downhill run - it’s particularly handy when towing, though we didn’t get a chance to do that this time around. 

The steering is true enough, and at higher speeds it is nicely responsive, even if there is a lot of wallow and body roll, but at urban pace it requires a bit of wrestling as it’s quite heavy.

The suspension is, I have to say, fierce. It is sharp, largely uncomfortable in town or on the open road, and it never settles as much as you might want it to. The front suspension is a copy and paste job from the HiLux, while the rear suspension is a five-link setup that should deliver a more pliant drive experience than it does. 

According to my family, it’s unpleasant to be a passenger in. As mentioned above, every single occupant that I had in the car over the test period had a gripe with it, ranging from “it feels a bit gutless” (from an owner of a 2011 HiLux diesel manual) to “I don’t want to get back in there” from the middle-seat passenger second-row passenger. “Why is it so bumpy?” was a common refrain, too. 

I’ve driven the Fortuner in some serious terrain in the past, and I know it does quite an impressive job in that environment. This time around the extent of my off-road review was a few sections of unsealed gravel road, where there was barely any noticeable difference in terms of dynamic behaviour. It was still firm and not very comfortable, but the way the suspension behaved over washed out sections of road and big, open potholes was adequate. 

If you're interested in the off-road specs of the Fortuner, here they are: approach angle - 30 degrees; departure angle - 25deg; break-over angle - 23.5deg; ground clearance - 225mm (not 279mm as Toyota originally stated); wading depth - 700mm; tare weight - 2095kg. 

I’ll give it this, though - the Fortuner is relatively quiet. There’s not much road noise, and the diesel engine is louder outside than in. Some competitors can’t claim that.

A high-riding, rough-road-capable Toyota is never going to be as reassuring as a low-slung Toyota 86 when it comes to traffic sprints, roundabouts and underground parking in cramped shopping centre car parks.

Yet the Fortuner offers reasonable get-up-and-go from the lights, a decent view of the road ahead and the assurance of bulk metal in navigating city traffic. There will be body roll and protesting tyres if trying to keep up with sedans at times but the cabin is packed with all today’s modern conveniences so a driver potters along at a comfortable pace, whether around the town or on the open road where understeer can become an issue if pushing on too much.

Rear three-quarter visibility is an issue though with that high hip-line and with the third-row seats folded up. 

All Fortuners arrive with seven airbags and a five-star ANCAP rating.

Among secondary safety features are stability control, traction control, hill start assist and trailer sway control. And under heavy braking the hazard lights flash to warn fellow travellers to steer clear.

A recent bump to the brand’s warranty plan - now a five-year/unlimited kilometre set-up - is a welcome and overdue move from Toyota. It is now on a level playing field in that regard, while the brand also offers the opportunity for up to seven years of cover if you service your car at a Toyota dealership.

Servicing intervals, though, are short - six months/10,000km, whichever occurs first - and that means you’ll be visiting the dealer more often than if you’d bought any of the competitor ute-based SUVs. 

The cost of maintenance, at least, is reasonable. Expect to pay $480 per year.

There is a pretty standard three year/100,000 kilometre warranty and a fixed servicing program of $240 per service for up to the first six services for three years or 60,000 kilometres to the first six services for three years or 60,000km (whichever occurs first).