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Opinions invited on the New Fortuner 4L - 4x4

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 11:37 am
by jas_mirage
Hey friends,

I am in the process of thinking of buying a SUV (If the wife approves) that I can use for my daily drives as well as off-roading. Keeping in mind that I have a tiny little mini me to keep safe and the missuss to keep comfortable, along with the budget to buy the car of course, what do you think of the new Fortuner 4L?

i had in mind:
1. Jeep - Ruled out coz I want to be comfortable driving on the road as well
2. FJ - Cramped, claustrophobic rear seats
3. Prado - Too much money for what it does.

which brings me to number;
4 - The new Fortuner 4 Litre - Looks good. Decent price point for the vehicle. And seems to be a capable offroader. what I have been told.

Would be great if you guys could give me some feedback on this. Or maybe add to the confusion.

Thanks,
Jas

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 8:41 am
by matts
Friend of mine drove both the fortuner and the xterra. He went for the Xterra Offroad edition in the end, cheaper than the Fortuner, just as capable offroad and with better springs and shocks. Only thing ive noticed about the xterra since he's had it is the rear seems to bottom out quite easily but after he test drove the fortuner offroad it wasnt sitting level was leaning to one side so not sure how well it would hold up to the stresses of the type of driving we do. No such problem with the Xterra so far.

Thats just my 2 cents but I own a wrangler and think its fine on the road so what do i know :)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 9:53 am
by dLemma
Hi [MENTION=10978]jas_mirage[/MENTION],
I drive an FJ for daily drives and off-roading and I think the car is simply great in both situations. A stock FJ would be able to easily perform in any tracks, if the driver is capable too.

However, since you've ruled it out, out of your list I would go for the Fortuner (same chassis base as the FJ, same engine, but polished to be more a car than an off-road rig).
XTerra I drove as a rental car for about 1 month and hadn't the chance to drive it off-road. On road it was a good drive, but didn't like much the responsiveness of the back suspensions. And I found it to be more noisy than FJ.

The question is how much off-road you plan to do and what level you aim to reach.
If you will be spending 80% or more on road and are looking for a car that you can use to go desert camping with your family and also join our club for some off-road trips at newbies/intermediate level, I would recommend you also having a look at the Pajero 5doors 3.8L. It comes cheap, it's very durable, comfortable on road, spacious and capable off-roads as long as you aim at most to intermediate level trips.
It would require very minor modifications before hitting the dunes (a front skid plate and a rear skid plate or similar to fix the issue of the rear bumper that collects lot of sand). We have some Pajero in our club and you may ask the owners.
I don't like the gearbox of Pajero when driving in complex off-road tracks as it decides when to shift gears and there is no way you can force it to stay in the gear you've chosen. It takes a lot of practice to learn the car and get its best out.

However, as I said, this would not be an issue for driving newbies and by then you will have learned your car to drive also intermediate. But you won't go further because you'll risk to seriously damage the car when increasing the pace/level.

Not an easy decision, eh? :)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:59 am
by jas_mirage
matts;46450 wrote:Friend of mine drove both the fortuner and the xterra. He went for the Xterra Offroad edition in the end, cheaper than the Fortuner, just as capable offroad and with better springs and shocks. Only thing ive noticed about the xterra since he's had it is the rear seems to bottom out quite easily but after he test drove the fortuner offroad it wasnt sitting level was leaning to one side so not sure how well it would hold up to the stresses of the type of driving we do. No such problem with the Xterra so far.

Thats just my 2 cents but I own a wrangler and think its fine on the road so what do i know :)
Thanks for sharing your experience matts. But was it the new Fortuner that he took out? If the brochures are right, the new fortuner has a 6 speed auto box so it is better than the xterra and also has the third row seats. (if I am in the mood to torture someone)

And ahhh!! A wrangler driver, I've been told not to take regular car advise from them before. :)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 12:06 pm
by orlantsev
Many times it has been said that it is more the driver than the car...but from statistics I do not recall seeing any Pajero / Fortunner amongst current Intermediates. So I guess these cars find it difficult to manage it and retire early :yuush: Xterras are also quite few here, but I have seen quite plenty in Wahiba in Oman and they did reasonably well.

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 12:08 pm
by jas_mirage
dlemma;46453 wrote:Hi @jas_mirage,
I drive an FJ for daily drives and off-roading and I think the car is simply great in both situations. A stock FJ would be able to easily perform in any tracks, if the driver is capable too.

However, since you've ruled it out, out of your list I would go for the Fortuner (same chassis base as the FJ, same engine, but polished to be more a car than an off-road rig).
XTerra I drove as a rental car for about 1 month and hadn't the chance to drive it off-road. On road it was a good drive, but didn't like much the responsiveness of the back suspensions. And I found it to be more noisy than FJ.

The question is how much off-road you plan to do and what level you aim to reach.
If you will be spending 80% or more on road and are looking for a car that you can use to go desert camping with your family and also join our club for some off-road trips at newbies/intermediate level, I would recommend you also having a look at the Pajero 5doors 3.8L. It comes cheap, it's very durable, comfortable on road, spacious and capable off-roads as long as you aim at most to intermediate level trips.
It would require very minor modifications before hitting the dunes (a front skid plate and a rear skid plate or similar to fix the issue of the rear bumper that collects lot of sand). We have some Pajero in our club and you may ask the owners.
I don't like the gearbox of Pajero when driving in complex off-road tracks as it decides when to shift gears and there is no way you can force it to stay in the gear you've chosen. It takes a lot of practice to learn the car and get its best out.

However, as I said, this would not be an issue for driving newbies and by then you will have learned your car to drive also intermediate. But you won't go further because you'll risk to seriously damage the car when increasing the pace/level.

Not an easy decision, eh? :)
dLemma. As your name nearly says, it is quite a dilemma.

I love the FJ too, but the rear is too claustrophobic to put the elders who keep visiting locked in. And the missuss doesnt like it. else would have gone for it in a heartbeat.

I have been a coupe' sports car type of person for years. But after having some desert drives with friends, I do have an itch to join the club and learn to drive off-road proper. Would like to be present in the intermediate level drives and also be able to take my family for camping trips and back. but keeping in mind the possibility of upgrading the capabilities of the vehicle as mine increase. wouldnt want to spend on a new car now and then sell it as my capabilities increase, I would rather like to have the capability to upgrade my vehicle as I learn.

I dont know if I made any sense in this post. but thats the dilemma I am in now.

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 12:09 pm
by Daggerfall
Dont go for Pajero. It is to smart for desert :)

And you would damage it during our intermediate drives unless you make serious modifications (Clearance is the issue) which is not feasible since there is not much options for this car . I was constantly smashing my stock FJ during our intermediate drives and I had to do some modifications to improve my clearance to survive so It would be harder to use a Pajero without damaging it.

Dont rule out the FJ. Its one of the best car for city and offroading.

Xterra is also great offroad car. You can get advise about it from our marshall [MENTION=1657]Rashidjass[/MENTION] who recently switch to FJ.

Fortuner: I dont know but I didnt like the geometry (Approach & departure angles) of the car it might have the same problem of the Pajero.

This is my personal opinion coming from my experience observing the cars during the trip.

Hope it helps

Regards

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 12:10 pm
by Daggerfall
Dont go for Pajero. It is to smart for desert :)

And you would damage it during our intermediate drives unless you make serious modifications (Clearance is the issue) which is not feasible since there is not much options for this car . I was constantly smashing my stock FJ during our intermediate drives and I had to do some modifications to improve my clearance to survive so It would be harder to use a Pajero without damaging it.

Dont rule out the FJ. Its one of the best car for city and offroading.

Xterra is also great offroad car. You can get advise about it from our marshall [MENTION=1657]Rashidjass[/MENTION] who recently switch to FJ.

Fortuner: I dont know but I didnt like the geometry (Approach & departure angles) of the car it might have the same problem of the Pajero.

This is my personal opinion coming from my experience observing the cars during the trip.

Hope it helps

Regards

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 12:11 pm
by Daggerfall
Dont go for Pajero. It is to smart for desert :)

And you would damage it during our intermediate drives unless you make serious modifications (Clearance is the issue) which is not feasible since there is not much options for this car . I was constantly smashing my stock FJ during our intermediate drives and I had to do some modifications to improve my clearance to survive so It would be harder to use a Pajero without damaging it.

Dont rule out the FJ. Its one of the best car for city and offroading.

Xterra is also great offroad car. You can get advise about it from our marshall [MENTION=1657]Rashidjass[/MENTION] who recently switch to FJ.

Fortuner: I dont know but I didnt like the geometry (Approach & departure angles) of the car it might have the same problem of the Pajero.

This is my personal opinion coming from my experience observing the cars during the trip.

Hope it helps

Regards

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 12:15 pm
by Daggerfall
orlantsev;46455 wrote:Many times it has been said that it is more the driver than the car...but from statistics I do not recall seeing any Pajero / Fortunner amongst current Intermediates. So I guess these cars find it difficult to manage it and retire early :yuush: Xterras are also quite few here, but I have seen quite plenty in Wahiba in Oman and they did reasonably well.
Only Kia could do that :yarr::yarr::yarr: