Oh here we go! Obviously a multi-millionaire to boot! Retired SAS by any chance?

I didn't say Fortuner buyers were stupid per se. Only if they thought they were buying an SUV.

(in reply to Sviss Geev's post #29 above)

Oh here we go! Obviously a multi-millionaire to boot! Retired SAS by any chance?

I didn't say Fortuner buyers were stupid per se. Only if they thought they were buying an SUV.

I thought I was buying an Innova and ended up with a Fortuner, or is it a pick up ?

Maybe because it's simply a Hilux posing as an SUV. Not that a Hilux is a sh1t vehicle, but it is simply a pick-up afterall, with a pick-up chassis, suspension, brakes etc

Very clever of Toyota to do this. Very stupid of the public if they think they are getting anything other than a pick-up posing as an SUV.

Not sure about the teacher connection - but that is one profession that are pretty high in the stupid stakes

"Maybe because it's simply a Hilux posing as an SUV. Not that a Hilux is a sh1t vehicle, but it is simply a pick-up afterall, with a pick-up chassis, suspension, brakes etc"

Isn't a a pickup a vehicle with a cab and an open bed at the rear? A Fortuner definitely isn't a pickup as you state, it is a SUV.

The Fortuner doesn't have the leaf spring rear suspension that the pickup has either. So it doesn't have pickup suspension.

How does a pickup braking system differ from an SUV system, they're both either discs or drums, the same as every other car on the planet aren't they?

Regarding your assertions that the public are very stupid for buying Fortuners and that the teaching profession is highly stupid, your observations simply highlight who is really the stupid one. Just to give you a clue it's not the Fortuner buyers or professional teachers.

A Fortuner owner perhaps? A teacher perhaps? Most likely both!

Just to put you straight however, I have no grief against folks who buy Fortuners. Just don't pretend you've bought an SUV.

Compare, if you can, its ride with say a Captiva, or an Explorer.

At best it's a crossover, but really: it's Toyota's No.1 pickup with a fancy body bolted to the chassis rather than the cab & open bed of the Hilux.

Both the Fortuner and the other models mentioned come under the general description of "SUV" = Sports Utility Vehicle. however they are not the same animal and have quite different characteristics - the Explorer I don't think is currently available in Thailand.

The Australians have a great expression for those more sophisticated SUV models that seldom go "off-road" - they call them "soft-roaders" - which I think sums them up very well - the Fortuner however has quite a good ability for off-road use.

This form of pickup based vehicle has proved very popular with all the manufacturers of pick up trucks as a cheap way of offering an SUV - Ford (Everest), Isuzu/Chevrolet and Mitsubishi (Pajero Sport) all offer this sort of vehicles in the wake of the Fortuner's success. Only Nissan's Pathfinder is missing, presumably having failed to meet the legal requirements of the Thai market.

May I add, I have a Vigo 4x4 auto and have driven a new Fortuner auto, to me they are totally different machines in the handling department. Shorter wheel base and the coil springs really make a difference on the Fortuner if you like to "fly" around a bit.

Vigo is great but has it's limitations if you want a rally car type drive........

Oh here we go! Obviously a multi-millionaire to boot! Retired SAS by any chance?

I didn't say Fortuner buyers were stupid per se. Only if they thought they were buying an SUV.

(in reply to Sviss Geev's post #29 above)

Well you asked the question about my being a Fortuner owner, if you don't like the answer do you think I care? But if you think it takes a multi-millionaire to buy the cars I have you need to go and check the prices.

A Fortuner is an SUV so you were saying that their buyers are stupid.

No I'm definitely not retired SAS, but apart from being, to quote your own avatar, a

Boring old Fart

• 

are you a nut job "Commander" by any chance?

You're on your own now, I'll let you have the last banal comment.

My thoughts....

Without doubt the Fortuner is Thailands Rolls Royce in the eyes of the locals. Anyone who owns one is looked at as Hi-So, made it in life.

Reliability is second to non and has proved itself over many years

The Vigo is longer than the Fortuner so the chassis are not the same, plus the modern approach to suspension by using coil springs all round is used.

As for the "blanket" statement that ALL Fortuner drivers are bad or heavy footed, thats daft.

No, I can't afford one...... ...........

When yours comes up for sale next year ... I've got a lazy Bt 250,000 ...

Nice Blue colour from memory?

Opps ... my bad.

transam ... your Fortuner Vigo 4x4

Cough ...

May I add, I have a Vigo 4x4 auto and have driven a new Fortuner auto, to me they are totally different machines in the handling department. Shorter wheel base and the coil springs really make a difference on the Fortuner if you like to "fly" around a bit.

Vigo is great but has it's limitations if you want a rally car type drive........

You are kidding, right? You of all people who seems to know something about cars.

I have driven a Fortuner. Don't like it. It is a wallowing top-heavy truck. I would be scared to try to carve corners in it.

I cannot afford one. I already drive two Audi quattros.

May I add, I have a Vigo 4x4 auto and have driven a new Fortuner auto, to me they are totally different machines in the handling department. Shorter wheel base and the coil springs really make a difference on the Fortuner if you like to "fly" around a bit.

Vigo is great but has it's limitations if you want a rally car type drive........

You are kidding, right? You of all people who seems to know something about cars.

I have driven a Fortuner. Don't like it. It is a wallowing top-heavy truck. I would be scared to try to carve corners in it.

I cannot afford one. I already drive two Audi quattros.

Perhaps you are not a "driver". Thats OK............

Perhaps you never checked tyre pressures, perhaps................

May I add, I have a Vigo 4x4 auto and have driven a new Fortuner auto, to me they are totally different machines in the handling department. Shorter wheel base and the coil springs really make a difference on the Fortuner if you like to "fly" around a bit.

Vigo is great but has it's limitations if you want a rally car type drive........

You are kidding, right? You of all people who seems to know something about cars.

I have driven a Fortuner. Don't like it. It is a wallowing top-heavy truck. I would be scared to try to carve corners in it.

I cannot afford one. I already drive two Audi quattros.

Perhaps you are not a "driver". Thats OK............

Perhaps you never checked tyre pressures, perhaps................

Like I said, it wasn't mine. I am not going to tear ass in it.

I do check the tire pressures rigorously on my cars.

37psi on the S6, 32psi on the 80Q.

And I love booooost!

May I add, I have a Vigo 4x4 auto and have driven a new Fortuner auto, to me they are totally different machines in the handling department. Shorter wheel base and the coil springs really make a difference on the Fortuner if you like to "fly" around a bit.

Vigo is great but has it's limitations if you want a rally car type drive........

You are kidding, right? You of all people who seems to know something about cars.

I have driven a Fortuner. Don't like it. It is a wallowing top-heavy truck. I would be scared to try to carve corners in it.

I cannot afford one. I already drive two Audi quattros.

the last sentence in your post gives the lie to your perspective............ your ideas on CoG are pretty much subjective as regards to the Fortuner - but if you are comparing it to a quarto, then I think you need a reality check.

. A Tuna Owners Dream No.

I drove one a few times. My impression. Ok but ride was not fantastic despite no leaf springs. Rear storage area compromised by those fold seats. Would I take one over a crv? Yes because of the diesel engine option.

I have a 4 Runner back home in storage....in driving both (family has Fortuner) I was never impressed by the Fortuner.....a far as a 4x4 the Fortuner does not perform well - the 4 Runner feels stronger, more solid, and smoother (not a tinny) would leave it far behind and the 4 Runner is a decent 4x4 not a great one......I think I'd rather have the Sport here - it may be an illusion but to me they look smaller the the 4 Runner (US).....

At the time I bought the 4 Runner (all the air bags/curtains) it shared being the safest vehicle worlwide with (I believe) the MB 400?.....I felt safe in that car and had good handling characteristics for what it was - don't feel that in the Fortuner.....

Toyota used to build every platform 20% different one from the other but I do not know whether this still holds true.....

Do I assume that most, if not all, Fortuners are 2WD and thus RWD ?

Do I assume that most, if not all, Fortuners are 2WD and thus RWD ?

David, you can assume whatever you want.

Do I assume that most, if not all, Fortuners are 2WD and thus RWD ?

Nope, you can have 2WD, or on demand 4WD or constant 4WD.......Pay the dosh and get what you want....

I think the Fortuner has a good reputation in Thailand. Not sure where you come up with that it has a bad wrap, maybe from somewhere else other than Thailand? In your country?

As for comparing the Fortuner to an Audi S6 Quattro or a BMW X5, I think it's not really in the same price range. I had an Audi S6 Quattro in Europe, loved it, but really in Thailand it's completely overpriced compared to Europe and it's the wrong car for Thailand. If you want to compare the Fortuner, you should use the Mitsubishi Pajero or Isuzu MUX.

Do I assume that most, if not all, Fortuners are 2WD and thus RWD ?

Nope, you can have 2WD, or on demand 4WD or constant 4WD.......Pay the dosh and get what you want....

Just to add. I work in the middle east and we have two export version Thailand Fortuners on site. 4.0L VVTi V6 petrol, 5 speed auto, AWD. Plenty of power and torque, speed limited to 190kph (I had to try it out). One has 177,000 kms on the clock and both still run like Swiss watches. I wish I could have one in Thailand.

Sent from my SM-T211 using Tapatalk

Because it's the car of successful farmers...

PM3003701.jpg. A Tuna Owners Dream No.

I will NEVER be old enough to own a Mercedes.

What's the difference between a Merc and a Fortuner? You can't tell someone's Merc, but ...................

you can't wear a Fortuner -in but you can wear a Merc-in (geddit??)

I now have to go and cut off my forefinger as I "liked" a post by transam!!!!

Its the Arrogant <deleted> way they are Driven, the drivers of other SUV s and big trucks dont seem so bad.Strange really.

see my post above...

 

Far form being an "expensive" SUV, the Fortuner being a pickup intensive labour built vehicle is actually relatively cheap compared to more sophisticated SUV models - e.g Toyota Prado , Harrier etc.....

Trivia: The J150 platform is the IMV platform under a different name. The Landcruiser Prado is the Fortuner's slightly bigger, slightly posher brother

Have to disagree. The Landcruiser is the slightly larger brother and the Prado definitely smaller.

In reply to the OP, it might be the number of Essex boys calling them Tuna's. Well, depends what they're used to.

I have a 4 Runner back home in storage....in driving both (family has Fortuner) I was never impressed by the Fortuner.....a far as a 4x4 the Fortuner does not perform well - the 4 Runner feels stronger, more solid, and smoother (not a tinny) would leave it far behind and the 4 Runner is a decent 4x4 not a great one......I think I'd rather have the Sport here - it may be an illusion but to me they look smaller the the 4 Runner (US).....

At the time I bought the 4 Runner (all the air bags/curtains) it shared being the safest vehicle worlwide with (I believe) the MB 400?.....I felt safe in that car and had good handling characteristics for what it was - don't feel that in the Fortuner.....

Toyota used to build every platform 20% different one from the other but I do not know whether this still holds true.....

"At the time I bought the 4 Runner (all the air bags/curtains) it shared being the safest vehicle worlwide with (I believe) the MB 400?.....I felt safe in that car and had good handling characteristics for what it was - don't feel that in the Fortuner.....

Toyota used to build every platform 20% different one from the other but I do not know whether this still holds true....."

love to hear where you got those 2 snippets from.

Between work and pleasure over the past 5 years I've regularly driven Hilux,Ranger, Dmax, Camry, Pathfinder, Hyundai Scoupe and Fortuner.

We bought the Fortuner as we needed a covered vehicle and it was our 2nd choice.

I've now grown to love it. Out of all the vehicles I mentioned its the one I find a pleasure to drive. It does everything I want plus has plenty of comfort and power.

The pathfinder was another one of those vehicles I fell in love with. It was rugged and went everywhere I wanted altho a little underpowered. The fortuner now has the same mileage the pathfinder had when I retired it. The difference being the Fortuner is still going strong and hasn't aged like the pathfinder did.

wiki

The Fortuner is not offered in Japan, Europe, North America, Australasia, or China. For the medium pick-up based SUV segment in those markets, Toyota offers the Hilux Surf (Japan), 4Runner (North America) and Land Cruiser Prado (Europe, Australasia and China). However, in some Central American countries (Panama for example), Toyota offers the Fortuner alongside the 4Runner and Land Cruiser Prado.

1 Markets

1.1 Argentina 1.2 Colombia 1.3 Ecuador 1.4 Egypt 1.5 Venezuela 1.6 South Africa 1.7 Pakistan 1.8 India 1.9 Indonesia 1.10 Malaysia 1.11 Philippines 1.12 Singapore 1.13 Jamaica 1.14 Vietnam 1.15 Saudi Arabia and UAE 1.16 Kazakhstan

If they were treated as the cheap practical vehicle they are instead of some self important status symbol/road blocking ram they probably wouldn't get the same rap.

Yet people who drive them here drive them like barges and everybody else should get out their way.

It's an underpowered , overweight barge. 2 tonnes with rear drum brakes and pick up truck suspension until recently.

It's made pretty much only for developing and third world countries. Yet wannabes here think it's a status symbol.

In short it has become naff. A truck with extra windows paraded as a status symbol. Pick up chassis, pick up brakes, pick up steering, pick up engine, pick up drive train. It aint a luxury car as people pretend it to be.

Poor mans C-class which also = naff.

Things that are seen as 'status symbols' are pretty much always seen as naff.

Although they provide great entertainment when you put your foot down when they sit up your backside (when the traffic moves slowly and they eventually catch up) or when you have to undertake them hogging the outside lane swerve across them and then put your foot down with your hazards on.

If they were treated as the cheap practical vehicle they are instead of some self important status symbol/road blocking ram they probably wouldn't get the same rap.

Yet people who drive them here drive them like barges and everybody else should get out their way.

It's an underpowered , overweight barge. 2 tonnes with rear drum brakes and pick up truck suspension until recently.

It's made pretty much only for developing and third world countries. Yet wannabes here think it's a status symbol.

In short it has become naff. A truck with extra windows paraded as a status symbol. Pick up chassis, pick up brakes, pick up steering, pick up engine, pick up drive train. It aint a luxury car as people pretend it to be.

Poor mans C-class which also = naff.

Things that are seen as 'status symbols' are pretty much always seen as naff.

Although they provide great entertainment when you put your foot down when they sit up your backside (when the traffic moves slowly and they eventually catch up) or when you have to undertake them hogging the outside lane swerve across them and then put your foot down with your hazards on.

"...undertake them hogging the outside lane swerve across them and then put your foot down with your hazards on."

Why would anyone want to do that crazy manoeuvre?

Maybe because it's simply a Hilux posing as an SUV. Not that a Hilux is a sh1t vehicle, but it is simply a pick-up afterall, with a pick-up chassis, suspension, brakes etc

Very clever of Toyota to do this. Very stupid of the public if they think they are getting anything other than a pick-up posing as an SUV.

Not sure about the teacher connection - but that is one profession that are pretty high in the stupid stakes

"Maybe because it's simply a Hilux posing as an SUV. Not that a Hilux is a sh1t vehicle, but it is simply a pick-up afterall, with a pick-up chassis, suspension, brakes etc"

Isn't a a pickup a vehicle with a cab and an open bed at the rear? A Fortuner definitely isn't a pickup as you state, it is a SUV.

The Fortuner doesn't have the leaf spring rear suspension that the pickup has either. So it doesn't have pickup suspension.

How does a pickup braking system differ from an SUV system, they're both either discs or drums, the same as every other car on the planet aren't they?

Regarding your assertions that the public are very stupid for buying Fortuners and that the teaching profession is highly stupid, your observations simply highlight who is really the stupid one. Just to give you a clue it's not the Fortuner buyers or professional teachers.

Rear springs don't make a different vehicle - they don't even make much of a change to the vehicle's suspension. suspension is the whole system of linkages, shock absorbers and springing between a vehicle and its wheels, (BTW - it's relatively easy to convert a pick up to coil springs - but you then incur higher tax/duties in Thailand. the reason (which involved special dispensation under the law) is that coil springs take up less room and allow a shorter wheel base and better seating as well as ride.

Leaf springs are used instead of other suspension links- trailing arms. They are used to accommodate greatly varying loads and because it is cheap. Design and develop a suspension system and make the links or just bung some leaf springs on.

The extra linkages that coil spring systems use allow better wheel placement and control and much lower unsprung (and sprung) weight. Coil springs can be much better selected as they are more specific and the damper can be much better tuned for them.

Leaf springs and live axles don't allow any camber change , give a horrible hard ride with wheel control like jelly.

If they were treated as the cheap practical vehicle they are instead of some self important status symbol/road blocking ram they probably wouldn't get the same rap.

Yet people who drive them here drive them like barges and everybody else should get out their way.

It's an underpowered , overweight barge. 2 tonnes with rear drum brakes and pick up truck suspension until recently.

It's made pretty much only for developing and third world countries. Yet wannabes here think it's a status symbol.

In short it has become naff. A truck with extra windows paraded as a status symbol. Pick up chassis, pick up brakes, pick up steering, pick up engine, pick up drive train. It aint a luxury car as people pretend it to be.

Poor mans C-class which also = naff.

Things that are seen as 'status symbols' are pretty much always seen as naff.

Although they provide great entertainment when you put your foot down when they sit up your backside (when the traffic moves slowly and they eventually catch up) or when you have to undertake them hogging the outside lane swerve across them and then put your foot down with your hazards on.

"...undertake them hogging the outside lane swerve across them and then put your foot down with your hazards on."

Why would anyone want to do that crazy manoeuvre?

They don't seem to get the message they are blocking everyone else any other way.

Moved from a Jaguar XKR in UK to a Fortuner in Thailand. What a come down in aspirational terms? Nah - I'm happy as a pig in $hit - horses for courses. What the proverbial do I care what you hoi polloi think, anyway