Toyota Fortuner Competition Check

So finally Toyota has entered the SUV market in India. First, just a month back, it was the massive, elitist yet extremely capable, Land Cruiser V8. And now the Jap giant has just launched the Land Cruiser's younger sister, the Fortuner. While the bigger car's competition is rather limited, the Fortuner lands smack dab in the middle of some of the most competent off-roaders and soft-roaders available in the country. We take a look at its rivals.

The Endeavour is probably the closest to the Fortuner in terms of origins and abilities. Like the Fortuner, the Endeavour is based on a pick-up truck platform, and comes with the inherent abilities of the same, namely ruggedness and its ability to take punishment. But its ancestry has its own downside as well, namely lower ride quality than the rest of its class. The Endeavour also sports classic SUV butch looks and therefore has massive road presence. While the older powerplant was a bit of a letdown, the new 3.0-litre TCDi diesel unit is refined and torquey and offers decent performance for a car that tips the scales at nearly 1.9 tonnes. While the Endeavour does offer oodles of interior space, the rear bench is rather cramped, thanks to high floor which also makes climbing in and out of this big car a cumbersome activity. The Endeavour performs rather well off road thanks to its simple ladder chassis underneath, but certain off road situations manage to stump this car thanks to its 'longest-in-class' wheelbase.