Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) brought out the razzmatazz yesterday in launching the facelifted 2011 Fortuner and Hilux.
With facelifts worthy of Vicki Belo, the Fortuner and Hilux do come out with a rather fresh take on their all-too-familiar appearance. The Fortuner features a new grille, HID headlamps with auto leveling and auto-on on the 4×4, headlamp washers, overfender moldings, and new alloy wheels. The exterior mirrors now have turn signal LEDs and feature power folding. The bumper is also new, with a black section under the bumper forming a wide grin is something we’ve seen before in the Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-9. It mostly works here. As for the taillights, well, they’re new, too.
As for the interior, gauges feature Christmas-tree like lighting. There’s now iPod/USB connectivity for the audio system, and a bit of chrome trim on the dashboard.
Toyota also promised a more comfortable ride “without sacrificing an SUV’s durability.”
The variants remain the same, 4×2 G 2.5-liter Diesel MT, 4×2 G 2.7-liter Gasoline AT, 4×2 G 2.5-liter Diesel AT, and 4×4 V 3.0-liter Diesel AT. Now, the reason we are not getting the upgraded 2.5-liter diesel with power and torque nearly equaling the 3.0-liter is due to incompatibility with local “dirty” fuel. Why we are getting the four-speed automatic and not the five-speed which is already standard in some markets (but notably not Thailand, which also still uses four-speed ATs) is still a mystery.
The Hilux also sports a new front end, with new bumpers, fenders, hood, grille, headlamps, and 17” alloy wheels. The interior features new gauges, two-tone door trim, Bluetooth (G trim) and USB ports for the audio (G and E trim).
TMP president Michinobu Sugata said, “With these new models, we offer our customers better products, with significantly improved riding comfort, handling and style. Another striking benefit is the very competitive pricing of all Fortuners and some Hilux variants. We remain true to Toyota’s Sure Advantage of great value with vehicles that offer both high quality and great affordability.”
At motioncars.com, we have a general rule when it comes to car launches: the longer the song-and-dance number, the less exciting the product actually is. For the Hilux and Fortuner, we were proven half-right. The styling, surprisingly, does a lot to refresh these cars that have, after all, been around since 2005. However, there are hardly any changes under the skin and we yearn for more updated powertrains. Will it be enough to stave off challenges from the Mitsubishi Montero Sport and L200, the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Kia Sorento? Anyone who has already eliminated the Fortuner or Hilux from their short list will not be swayed by the minor improvements, but we suspect the facelift will be enough to snag quite a few fence-sitters.
See the new Hilux and Fortuner at Toyota’s Tent Event, running from August 18 to 23 at the NBC Tent, Bonifacio Global City.
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