Muscled-up Toyota Fortuner

THREE-ROW SUV: GR-S LANDS A POWERFUL KNOCK-OUT

- Charl Bosch

The Toyota Fortuner has consistently been South Africa's best-selling bakkie-based SUV since the original went on sale locally in 2006.

Billed at the time as a masterstroke, the Fortuner held a segment market share of 48% last year despite only being in its second generation which debuted in 2016.

Having entered 2025 as the oldest in its class, the Fortuner has long been rumoured as being replaced around 2026. So the recent introduction of the GR Sport (GR-S) can potentially be seen as the last hurrah for the current generation.

The Prospecton-built GR-S is a unique-to-South-Africa version by virtue of deriving motivation from the same 2.8 GD-6 turbodiesel engine as the Hilux GR Sport III. It takes up station above the mild-hybrid 48V VX 4x4 as the new flagship.

In fitting fashion, the recent media launch included a road trip from George through the Western Cape's backroads on mostly gravel roads before ending on the outskirts of Hermanus.

The GR-S features a black GR badged honeycomb grille, black fog light bezels, GR front and rear bumpers, black side-steps, a new lower air intake with a black honeycomb pattern, 18-inch black alloy wheels, black mirror caps and darkened clusters for the LED headlights.

At the rear, and aside from the new bumper, an imitation black diffuser replaces the conventional coloured insert, while the bootlid spoiler also receives a black finish.