Cruising along in Prosser Toyota’s all new Toyota Fortuner Crusade is a breeze.
The top of the range model offers a diesel alternative to the petrol-only Kluger, with its engine modelled on the popular HiLux, but is smaller than the Prada.
The six-speed automatic turbo diesel with four-cylinder 2.8L engine has no trouble overtaking on Tonkin Highway or winding its way up the steep Mills Road to Roleystone and back down Canning Mills Road to Kelmscott.
With options for eco and power drive modes you can choose how little or how much grunt you need.
It certainly performed well enough in the eco mode up the hill and you could definitely feel the power boost when trying out that mode along the flatter Albany Highway.
Steering is a cinch, with parallel parking in a small Kelmscott Street, aided by the reversing camera and parking censors, completed first go.
To really test things out, a 360-degree loop of the small roundabout outside Hungry Jack’s in Armadale was attempted – it was tight but doable, showing just how easy it would be to get this vehicle out of a difficult situation.
Parking underneath Armadale Central Shopping Centre and navigating the drive-through from the right hand side of McDonald’s Armadale were also given the thumbs up.
The all new Fortuner comes in three grades including GX, GXL and of course the Crusade with its extra luxuries of satellite navigation, power tailgate, LED headlamps, 18-inch alloy wheels power-operated driver’s seat and digital radio.
The GX and GXL come with 17-inch wheels (alloy for the GXL), reversing camera, hill-start assist control and Bluetooth, seven airbags, stability control and ABS braking.
The GXL and Crusade also offer keyless entry and you have the choice of manual or automatic transmission.
A strong selling feature of the SUV is its seven-seat capacity.
The third row seats are accessible from the boot door, where you need to unclip them and fold out a mounting bracket before entering from the second row.
This is probably the only downside of the vehicle, the seats store up against the sides of the vehicles, which hinders visibility and is a bit of an obstruction to storage.
Although it does offer boot space of up 1080 litres with no one in the third row and packed to the roof or 200 litres with all seats full.
The upsides of versatility in seating and fuel economy of between 7.8L/100km in the manual version and 8.6L/100km in the automatic versions make it a worthwhile investment regardless.
It has off-road capabilities with options for 2WD and 4WD.
With a towing capacity for up to 3000 kilograms and a five-star safety rating, you can’t go wrong with this vehicle for work, camping trips with the family or transport to weekend sports matches with extra people.
Prosser Toyota on Albany Highway Gosnells is offering the 2016 Fortuner Crusade in automatic at $69,487 drive away.
It has a demo model with all the accessories including alloy bull bar, tow bar, rubber mats, bonnet protector, headlight covers and weather shield on the market for $66,500 drive away ($77,077 worth of value).
It is offering the 2016 GX from $53,749 in a manual and the 2016 GXL from $59,219 in a manual.
A demo GXL in automatic is also available for $52,990 drive away.
All vehicles come with a three-year/100,000km warranty.
Drop into Prosser Toyota at 2085 Albany Highway Gosnells for a test drive, call Prosser Toyota on 9492 1311 or visit prossertoyotagosnells.com.au for more details.
