Soon to be new owner

[advsuv]

Hi

Just joined the forum. I'm the editor of Adventure SUV magazine and am hoping to get a Fortuner GXL in the near future. Having just driven one form Perth to Sydney through the middle of Australia, I can appreciate how good the fortuner is as touring and all round vehicle.

Once I get I'm planning to develop it into great all round vehicle which we can use on trips etc. So thought I'd better jump on hear to see what's working and what's not etc.

Cheers

Andy

[Kiat]

That is one long drive from west coast to east. Glad you like it

[Mick66]

Hello advsuv, after such a long drive through various types of roads / terrain, would you mind telling us, in your opinion, what you found were the weak and strong points with the Fortuner on the journey? (Was it auto or manual)?

[advsuv]

Hi,
Overall I was very impressed with it. There were a couple niggles but to be fair you get that with every vehicle. It was an auto Crusade model.

Positives:
The seats were very comfortable for me.
Interior layout was very good.
Dirt road handling was predictable although would have benefited with AT tyres and not the standard HT.
Media system worked well, although the sat nav did reset itself a couple of times (probably due to the bumps etc.
Considering the corrugations and conditions of the crossing the standard suspension held up reasonably well.
Economy was pretty good considering the car was fully loaded and we were driving over mud and sand a lot

Negatives:
We had to leave the rear seats in place (press car) which cut down on luggage space quite a bit
Standard wheels seem to trap mud in them causing a lot of vibrations. We had to clean them out several times on the trip ( we noticed a lip on the inside of the wheel which seemed to contribute to the problem - other vehicles on the trip didn't suffer from this issue)
Standard suspension did over heat at time (this was to be expected)
Factory bull bar moved a round a lot.

Things I would consider changing:
Upgrade suspension with small lift
Fit AT tyres
Remove the 2nd row rear seats for more luggage space
Plus a few other personal bit here and there but not too much.

[Shaun]

Cheers for your insight advsuv and it can only be a positive reflection on the Fortuner when a magazine editor in the outdoors/4wd scene decides to purchase it!

Welcome to the forum,
Shaun

[Mick66]

Yep, thanks very much for that advsuv.

[advsuv]

Thanks Shaun.
The plan is I'm getting one as a long term test initially, and providing that goes well, I'll be looking to get one (hopefully the same one) myself, to develop as a good all round touring and adventure SUV. It's the right size for what I need, and based on past experiences, it seems to tick pretty much all the boxes.

I'm looking forward to getting it and building it up. So far it's been quite impressive and the wife quite likes it too which helps.

[SJC]

G'day Andy, looking forward to reading your write ups.
Cheers
sic

[advsuv]

Thanks.
Just putting the Cross Australia trip write up together which will be going in the next issue.