A group of concerned Fortuner owners recently held a test session in Gauteng to make sense of complaints about the Fortuner’s dirt-road handling and stability. Adrian Burford lent an ear.
Reading comments on online 4×4 forums and letters in Drive Out over the past few months, most observers would have concluded that Toyota’s Fortuner is fast gaining a reputation as a tricky (and even unsafe) proposition on dirt roads.
This followed a number of incidents in which Fortuner drivers reported losing control of their vehicle – sometimes at relatively low speeds – and, in at least one instance, causing a rollover accident.
Toyota’s initial reaction was to imply that, if there was a fault, it lay with the tyres. Many of the vehicles involved were shod with the standard General Grabber AW 265/70R16 tyre – a size and construction built to Toyota’s specification and fitted to the vehicle since its introduction in mid-2006.
Matters came to a head at the end of August with officials from Continental Tyre SA (manufacturers of General tyres), meeting with Toyota at the manufacturer’s Johannesburg offices – a day before a test session on a dirt road east of Pretoria arranged by a group of concerned Fortuner owners (see pictures on opposite page).
Toyota SA pulled out the stops, sending PR manager Ferdi de Vos, technical services manager Leon Theron and two test drivers to the session.
Also present was Alan Best from Continental.
Pg 2: The possible problems …
The possible problems are …
Not all Fortuner owners at the session expressed dissatisfaction. In fact, the mix more or less mirrored what is being said on the forums and in the letter columns: about half of Fortuner owners are happy with their vehicles and can’t understand what the fuss is about.
The live axle.
Toyota’s stance on the matter was straightforward and to the point: there is no problem with the vehicle or its General Grabber tyres.
However, in terms of its design, there are certain dynamic limitations as far as the Fortuner’s dirt-road ability (as opposed to the off-road capabilities of 4×4 versions) is concerned.
Theron said the Fortuner was designed as “a versatile and affordable multi-purpose vehicle” and if driven on dirt roads it would have “certain limitations”.
“The rear suspension of the vehicle is not independent – it is a live axle and it will therefore move around on corrugated surfaces, as will the back of any vehicle fitted with a live axle. This ‘fishtailing’ that people are experiencing is not abnormal – it is within the vehicle’s design parameters.”
Tyre pressure and speed.
Theron added that tyre pressure and speed played a huge role, while the point was also made that South Africans seemed to ignore the 80 km/h speed limit on dirt roads.
“Tyre pressure and speed have a huge impact on unpaved roads, and our research indicates that the country’s roads have deteriorated markedly in the last three years.”
A particular issue, he said, was a washer-board-type corrugation that is out of phase, with the left and right wheels oscillating at different rates.
A quick check of the Fortuners at the gathering also revealed tyre pressures as high as 2.8 bar, significantly harder than the recommended 2.1 bar all round – irrespective of whether the vehicle is laden.
Some of the Fortuner owners admitted that they would habitually inflate the tyres above the specification if carrying a load or increase tyre pressure to improve fuel economy when cruising on tar. Moreover, these issues are invariably compounded by a little too much blind faith in staff and equipment on the service station forecourt.
The tyres.
Best pointed out there had not been a single complaint from Continental dealers and stockists about the Grabbers and that there was “no problem” as far as they were concerned.
Nevertheless, Continental had been working on a revised version of the Grabber – a process said to have started at least nine months ago – to be introduced with the facelifted Fortuner towards the end of the year.
This tyre would be more stable than the previous one, thanks to reduced flex in both the tread area and sidewall of the tyre, said Best.
While a test drive in the back of a Fortuner 4×2 at 80 km/h on a moderately bad dirt road was far from hair-raising, repeating the test with the vehicle shod with the latest Grabber revealed a noticeable improvement in the way the vehicle dealt with corrugations and potholes.
However, ride comfort was slightly reduced.
The improved tyre is already on the market and Toyota is keen to talk to any dissatisfied Fortuner owner and will consider coming to an agreement with them to fit the latest tyre.
“The new-specification tyre addresses driver apprehension caused by steering feedback in very specific corrugated road conditions and was initiated upon Toyota’s request to Continental,” said De Vos in a statement before the Pretoria test session.
“However … the original General Grabber AW 265/70R16 specified for the Fortuner meets and fulfils all technical and quality requirements.
“The fitment of new-specification tyres in appropriate cases is a gesture of goodwill to ensure customer satisfaction.
“The aim is to find the best solution for each individual Fortuner owner.
“This could include the fitment of a new-specification tyre, depending on the driving conditions they experience,” said De Vos.
Stability control?
The new tyre is the only mechanical change being made to the facelifted Fortuner’s tyre and suspension set-up: shock absorbers, spring rates and suspension pick-up points remain identical.
However, significantly, the 3-litre-turbodiesel version of the updated Fortuner may apparently also be fitted with an electronic stability control system that will provide both throttle and brake intervention to help control the vehicle.
This is considered, says Toyota, because of the huge torque (unchanged at 343 Nm) of that specific engine.
Adding such a system to the 4-litre-V6 versions is deemed unnecessary.
What do the Fortuner owners say?
Overall, Fortuner owners who attended the test session seemed encouraged by the outcome.
Yes!
“We’re very happy with Toyota’s explanation; they approached the matter well and were clearly keen to resolve the issue with the Fortuner,” said Uys van Rooyen, who owns a Fortuner 4×4 diesel and helped organise the indaba.
“We’ve resolved the issue concerning the handling and many owners learned a lot today,” Van Rooyen said.
Yes, but …
However, not all were completely satisfied, and some are still considering (or have already changed to) aftermarket shock absorbers and premium tyres to improve the situation.
“Their explanation (that the Fortuner has limitations on a dirt road) is a bit disappointing and it looks like I’m just going to have to live with the trade-off in handling,” said one owner, on condition of anonymity.
Another was more pragmatic, saying that he would just have to watch the road more carefully and slow down when he saw corrugations.
Both felt Toyota could have done more to warn customers about the Fortuner’s handling and stability characteristics on dirt, even suggesting something should be added to the owner’s manual and that salespeople at dealerships should be more candid.
At the end of the day …
Fingers are being pointed at the drivers: tyre pressures of the owners’ vehicles recorded at the test session suggests that not much attention is being paid to instructions in the handbook and on the tyre pressure recommendation sticker on the vehicle itself. (And talking about drivers: expecting a car salesman to tell you that the car he is trying to sell you is anything less than perfect is at best quaint, at worst delusional.)
Conversely, the manufacturer is being denounced: did Toyota get its sums wrong with the Fortuner’s dirt-road handling and stability, releasing it into the marketplace without sufficient research and development considering our local conditions and usage patterns, only rectifying these issues with the facelifted version that is due to go on sale later this year?
You decide.
