I have recently taken delivery of my 2.8 1GD Fortuner. Upgraded from a Vezel. First impressions:
Overall fit and finish feels very good. I am pleasantly surprised with Toyota's build quality - all interior fits feel very solid and durable, the materials used feel premium and high-end with the exception of some plastic here and there (which is unavoidable I guess).
Engine: The car has only done about 200 km so far, so its too early to say anything but I was prepared for a very loud engine (never owned a diesel before). I am happy to report that the engine is rather quiet and on the inside, you could almost be fooled into believing its not a diesel (until you really step on it). The engine operates, as I'm sure you all know, on three model: Eco, Normal and Power. Eco and normal are very usable and perfectly fine for city driving. Power mood is fun to engage when you're the first one at a traffic light and an empty road awaits you. Much like the Sport button on the Vezel, the Power mode really changes the behavior of the engine.
Transmission: Not much to report yet, I haven't even had a chance to put the paddle shift to test yet. I hear the response is sluggish on paddle shifting but that remains to be seen. Transmission behaves smoothly otherwise.
Entertainment: The head unit is pretty decent. I use my ipod with it and I have a serious issue with the fact that you cannot operate much of the system while driving. You can move back and forth between songs but cannot even change playlists etc. I understand its a safety issue but imagine how irritating it would be on the highway.
Ride: Having read many many reviews about the ride being similar to that of a tractor, I was almost convinced at some point that I have made the wrong decision buying the Fortuner. Again, I am surprised. For me, at least, when you're buying a SUV, you're not going to get the plush drive of a Rolls Royce. But then a Rolls Royce would not give you the ability to do the things you can do with an SUV. The ride is doubtlessly firm - but in a good way. It actually feels very solid and gives me confidence in the car's suspension. To each his own, I guess. An interesting note - a friend sat in my Fortuner for quick spin soon after taking a similar spin in a 2017 Land Cruiser. According to him, the ride comfort etc was different for sure, but not by a huge margin. I have no experience with the 2017 LC so I don't know if he was being nice or if it's actually true. I will keep updating everyone here with my experiences - was actually thinking maybe we should have a separate Diesel Fortuner thread so that people can come to that for information and it could be sort of like a owner's club.
