If there is a better test of a family car than packing it to the roof with a husband, two children and camping gear for a 2500km bush road trip, I cannot think of one.
I know the Toyota Fortuner well. That is to say that I see it everywhere: at the school, gym, mall, beach. This SUV has become to South Africa’s suburban roads what the hadeda is to our gardens. But our trip promised a sterner test than a few speed bumps in the Pick n Pay car park.
Ahead of us were four days of driving – north from Lanseria Airport, via the Waterberg, to Botswana’s salt pans, to the edge of the Okavango Delta, and home.
A straight piece of road in Limpopo offered a short cut to the border crossing at Martin’s Drift, but the country’s finest tender-preneurs had got there first to create the best possible test-bed: 30km of asphalt pockmarked with potholes.
Our 3.0 litre D-4D 4x4 coped well, the power steering allowing me to weave a fast line along a sliver of tarmac yet-to-be-corroded, and when a bump could not be avoided the suspension was up to the task.
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
The vehicle had the correct balance of lightness and power – especially in low range – to cope off-road with the Kalahari sands that grew ever deeper as we headed further west.
At one point, we stopped to commiserate with a Land Rover Discovery 4 that had begun its own opencast diamond prospecting pit in Botswana. To be fair, it was the heavy trailer it was pulling that was dragging it down, but the age-old Land Rover versus Toyota rivalry meant we could not help but feel a little smug.
The Fortuner truly is a 4x4 that drives like a car. I felt as comfortable nipping between suicidal donkeys on Botswana’s highways as at the wheel of my Opel dodging the gung-ho drivers – many of them mothers in Fortuners – I encounter on the school run in Cape Town. And yet, the approach tracks to the Makgadikgadi pans – where there was plenty of evidence of other vehicles having to be dug out of the sand – were no problem.
THE REAL TEST
The true test of the car for a family holiday was whether the Fortuner passed the scrutiny of our children, a son, 8, and 6-year-old daughter. Here the SUV did well.
Both children love listening to audio books and Tim and I were not really looking forward to enduring Heidi on permanent loop for 96 hours. However, the audio settings are so smart and user-friendly that we were able to turn off the speakers up front while activating only those at the back.
Driving bliss resulted, leaving us adults to chat and secretly suck sweets, while palming the absorbed kids off with raisins.
The sheer driveability of the Fortuner and the sense of safety, surrounded by a chunky, pleasant-to-look-at shell was reassuring on the long, flat, dusty roads leading to our first camping spot in Botswana.
VERSATILE
When it was my turn to take a rest from the wheel, the passenger seat reclined pleasingly flat while providing enough leg room for those in the back.
And when it was my shift to drive, the electric seat adjuster meant it was a quick handover between my husband’s 6’ 2” driving position and mine, just under a foot shorter. The leather seats were a blessing too, easy to tidy after several serious sessions of padkos.
The boot was certainly big enough for our rather half-hearted camping style. We had deliberately booked sites with restaurants and ablution blocks, and prioritised space for big fat mattresses and low-maintenance pop-up tents, both of which were supplied by 4x4 Megaworld www.4x4megaworld.co.za, which has 25 branches countrywide.
Happily, our scepticism about the “put up and take down in seconds” promise on the tents’ labels proved unfounded. Much to the delight of the children, the tents did – literally and quite dramatically – spring to attention. Taking them down required more brain than brawn, yet once the knack was mastered, we were packed up and back on the road in no time at all.
On windy nights, the tents’ low profile kept us pretty much oblivious to the harsh, dry winds that battered our neighbours in their roof-top tents, and our weighty, comfortable mattresses anchored everything securely.
Our only nod towards traditional hunter-gathering camping had been to squeeze in a small gas stove to boil some water for tea and provide an authentic camping soundtrack via a whistling kettle.
For more serious-minded campers, it would be hard to imagine having space in the Fortuner’s modest boot for anything longer than a weekend, so a topbox or a trailer is a must-have accessory if the vehicle is going to be used for a fully catered camping holiday.
And with their being so popular, our Fortuner even spawned a new family game when the story books’ appeal wore thin. Instead of cows, red cars or tour buses, spotting Toyota Fortuners turned out to be a busy game. Bonus points were awarded for any other colour but white. -Saturday Star
toyota fortuner 3.0 d-4d 4x4
Engine: Four-cylinder, in-line, 3-litre turbodiesel, 120kW, 343Nm.
Fuel requirement:50ppm (low sulphur diesel) although, being a Toyota, it can also tolerate 500pm diesel but with extra maintenance.
Fuel consumption: For a large car with good offroad capabilities, surprisingly good. You will get around 10 litres per 100km in the city and around 8.5 to 9 litres/100km on the open road. Off-road driving will increase the figures considerably.
CO2:228g/km