Toyota Fortuner Legender shows off its mud plugging skills with 500 Nm of brute torque

Toyota has just launched the facelifted Fortuner luxury SUV, and the upmarket Legender variant. Apart from refreshed looks and additional features, the biggest selling point of both SUVs is the higher state of tune for the 2.8 liter-4 cylinder turbocharged diesel engine. In the new state of tune, both SUVs make a mammoth 500 Nm of peak torque, which is a best in segment number. The peak power output of 204 PS is also a best in segment figure, making the Fortuner and Legender the undisputed leaders in the luxury SUV segment. Here is a video that shows the Toyota Fortuner Legender display its mud plugging skills with 500 Nm of brute torque. The India-spec Legender does not get a four wheel drive transfer case though. It is available with a rear wheel drive layout in the Indian market.

As the video indicates, the Thai-spec Fortuner Legender is attempting a steep, highly slippery climb on stock highway terrain tyres, which scramble for grip in wet mud. The brute torque coupled to the low range function on the four wheel drive transfer case ensure that the Toyota Legender has sufficient traction to slither up the slippery slope without getting stuck. In 4X4 low ratio, the new Fortuner’s torque is multiplied by about 2 times, which means that there’s 1000 Nm of torque to get the SUV out of a difficult off road situation. This is perhaps why the Fortuner/Legender managed to finish the steep climb despite not being equipped with the right set of tyres to surmount this off road obstacle.

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While Toyota markets the Fortuner and Legender as luxury SUV for urban roads, both vehicles are built on hardy, body-on-ladder frames that make them extremely tough, and capable of withstanding substantial abuse on less than perfect roads. The four wheel drive transfer case with low ratio allows the Fortuner to perform very well off the road.

Just adding suitable all terrain or mud terrain tyres to the equation will greatly improve the Fortuner’s off road performance, allowing the SUV to go to places that inherently seem impossible. The only grouse many off roaders will have with the facelifted Fortuner is the sheer size of this SUV, which makes it unsuitable for tight trails, where smaller 4X4s such as the Mahindra Thar and the Maruti Gypsy will be at home.

Toyota launched the facelifted Fortuner and Legender last week. Prices for the facelifted, 2021 Toyota Fortuner start at Rs 29.98 lakh, ex-showroom and goes up to Rs 37.43 lakh, ex-showroom. The Legender version of Fortuner is based on base 4×2 diesel automatic variant and has a price tag of Rs 37.58 lakh. Key changes include a stylistic facelift on the outside and inside, and the higher spec 2.8 liter diesel engine. The Fortuner Facelift is also sold with a 2.7 liter-4 cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine with 164 Bhp-245 Nm on tap. This petrol engine is offered with 5 speed manual and 6 speed torque converter automatic gearboxes on offer. The Fortuner Diesel gets a 6 speed automatic gearbox as standard.

Also read: Mahindra Alturas gets much cheaper than the Toyota Fortuner thanks to 3 lakh discount