First Drive of Automatic Transmission Car - Toyota Fortuner 2018

The concept of automatic transmission car is not much acceptable by an average Indian consumer, as it is famous in US and European market. Due to the same reason, I was apart from driving and experiencing automatic transmission cars. The first time when I got chance to get a ride in an automatic transmission vehicle, it was the 5-Series BMW. Just put the transmission in "D" mode and gears changes by itself. You just have to put your foot down on peddle and sit back, RPM rises and needle falls down as gears get shifted. It was always fascinating for me to see formula one drivers changing gears by their hands with paddle shift. I was desperate to get my hands on these automatic transmission cars.

In September 2017, Toyota launched all-new version of its well known SUV, the Fortuner. It was the first major update after 2016. This new fortuner was completely transformed from its previous models. The old version was simple and roundish in shape, but this new one is more edgy and aerodynamically sharp. They launched this SUV with both petrol and diesel variant.Petrol variant has a capacity of 2.7 liter and diesel variant has capacity of 2.8 liter. The variant in which I was most interested is the automatic one with paddle shifts. We got to know that the test drive vehicle is available at our nearest Toyota dealership. So, it was the time to hit the showroom, to get our hands on the automatic fortuner 2017.

Toyota Fortuner Old Vs. New (Image Courtesy: CarBlogIndia)

As we reached the Toyota showroom, it was crowded by Toyota customers. At the beginning, no one paid attention to us. So, we went to the reception and asked for sales representative. After 10 minutes, a young guy came up to show us the brand new Fortuner. He was speaking about the specifications which I already knew and he was mentioning about the vehicle dimension figures, which I was not interested in at all. I wanted to feel the car by its heart. Just open the door and you'll be welcomed by the brown luxurious leather interior. You will literally have to climb one step up to get into the car. The seats were comfortable like sofa. There is nice 7" touch screen infotainment system in the center console. And the best eye catching thing in the cockpit, it was the matte silver paddle shifts behind the steering wheel. The center automatic transmission stick was provided with slots around it. So now was the time, and I asked the sales guy for the test drive of this automatic vehicle. And I was just waiting for his reply. He said, Yes the vehicle is available and we can have test drive of it.

The Ride

We went out side of the showroom, where the test drive vehicle was parked. It was a white color 4x2 automatic diesel model. As the Fortuner comes with key less entry, I did not get to see the key as it was in the salesman's pocket all the time. I got inside, buckled up, put my foot on the brake and hit the start button. The Diesel mill came to life with a deep grunt. Before putting the car into D mode I gave it a little gas to listen this grunt. And what i felt was amazing, I saw dust cloud coming out beneath the car as it was smoking by rage. As I said that I was driving the automatic vehicle for the first time but I knew how it works. So, I put the car into D, and released the brake. The car started rolling, gave it more gas and it started changing gears with increase in speed. It was really clever that how the car was changing gears by itself. We went on highway and I tried to accelerate it, so i put my leg all the way down on the peddle and transmission downshifted, diesel mill was grunting loudly and as I glanced at speedometer I was already doing 120 kmph. The test ride was arranged on all kind of terrains to check the vehicles performance. I drove it at high speed on the rough road but suspension did an excellent job in absorbing the shocks and maintain the stability. Even when I applied hard brake on the gravel surface, the gigantic SUV was completely under my control. Really the maneuverability of this vehicle is phenomenal.

Now to try the paddle shifts, I slotted the lever to the "S" mode. The MID display started showing gears like S1,S2,..and so on. To get the juice out of it, I downshifted but surprisingly it took around 1 to 2 second to downshift the gear, as compared to what I have seen in the formula one cars and other sports car on the TV or on the internet. The possible reason for that is because those cars are equipped with the dual clutch transmission, which reduces the shifting time phenomenally. Whereas in Fortuner it uses the torque converter, which is a fluid coupling which transmits power from engine to the wheels. There are other types automatic transmissions available in markets like CVT(continuous variable transmission), Single clutch automatic and dual clutch automatic. Small cars uses CVT transmission which used pulley and belt mechanics, but these transmissions are not suitable for the SUVs because they are not capable to handle the amount of torque which SUVs are producing.

This is how a Torque Converter works 

As I have not tried any other automatic transmission cars, so I do not know how other automatic cars drives but if you are a aggressive driver and want a total control on when and how much power you want to get delivered, you may feel bit disappointed if you are driving it for the first time like me. I felt the best mode to drive the car was in "D" mode. And if you want more aggressive power delivery, the SUV has "Eco" and "Power" mode. You can change it in between.

Verdict

In a conclusion I would say, driving an automatic car is pleasure in a city area. It gives you a great cruising experience on the highway without worrying about messing with stick. Overall it is the best SUV among all the others I've driven since today. If you want a driver's car, go for a manual, and if you want to just sit back and enjoy the cruising hassle free, automatic is the best option to go for.