The Toyota Fortuner GR Sport is currently available in countries such as Indonesia and Thailand but will we see it South Africa any time soon?

The Toyota Fortuner is currently the most popular 7-seater adventure SUV available in South Africa. The Fortuner is a multiple #CarsAwards category winner and it rivals strong products such as the Ford Everest, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Isuzu MU-X and the Haval H9.

While the Fortuner is perhaps most appreciated for its formidable offroad capability, it’s not necessarily considered to be ‘sporty’, or is it?

Sporty looks for Fortuner GR Sport

The Fortuner GR Sport features some added visual appeal over the standard Fortuner.

Toyota’s Gazoo Racing arm has given the Fortuner its GR Sport treatment which elevates the vehicle’s styling but the treatment does not include any mechanical upgrades for the sought-after 7-seater.

The stylistic upgrades include a new front bumper, dark chrome grille and sleek looking rear bumpers. Obligatory GR Sport badging is seen on the tailgate and lower door sections which serve as a subtle reminder that this is not a standard Fortuner.

Moving inside, the Fortuner GR Sport gains nice-to-have features such as leather upholstery with red stitching and GR emblems, sports pedals,a 9-inch infotainment system, a rear infotainment screen, a surround-view monitor and a wireless charging pad.

While the differences are mostly cosmetic, the Fortuner GR Sport has new Monotube Shock Absorbers and the special 20-inch GR Sport wheels gain ventilated disc brakes with red GR brake callipers.

The tried and tested 2.8-litre turbodiesel engine with 150 kW and 500 Nm remains.

Will the Toyota Fortuner GR Sport Come to South Africa?

There are no immediate plans to introduce the Fortuner GR Sport locally as the South African market “has more of a leisure/luxury focus withFortuner. It could potentially appear as a lifecycle action but there are no definite plans at present”, according to a local Toyota spokesperson.

Ford recently introduced the Everest Sportandif you consider just how popular the Fortuner is in South Africa, we think the Fortuner GR Sport will be well-received locally.

Also, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a mechanically-enhanced Fortuner GR or even a hardcore Fortuner GRMN come to market at some stage. How awesome would that be?

It’s also worth bearing in mind that an all-new Fortuner is expected to be revealed in 2022.

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