Ssangyong Rexton vs Toyota Fortuner

What's the difference?

If KG Group can provide the long-term stability and new model investment that has eluded SsangYong for so long, the brand could have a promising future in Australia judging by the MY24 Rexton Adventure. It’s a solid package and what it lacks in benchmark ANCAP safety and third-row comfort is offset by a compelling driveaway price, generous warranty and national dealer network. So, if you’re looking for a feature-packed 4x4 seven-seater SUV for less than $55K, you might be pleasantly surprised by this competent Korean.

The Toyota Fortuner is a family friendly wagon and a very capable 4WD, but it’s looking and feeling decidedly old, especially when cross-shopped against the current highly competitive 4WD wagon market in which vehicles are increasingly stylish, sophisticated and packed with driver-assist tech (that isn't clunky) and standard features (that are extensive).

The Fortuner is practical and easy to live with as a daily driver, and in GXL spec it makes a lot of sense as a functional not flashy off-road tourer, but it’s far from the best family 4WD wagon around.

Until a next-generation Fortuner possibly arrives, there are plenty of Toyota fans who’d happily settle for a current Fortuner – if they haven’t already.

With its 4850mm overall length and 1960mm width, the Rexton rides on a 2865mm wheelbase with a compact 11-metre turning circle.

Its smooth ride comes from four-coil suspension with double-wishbones up front and an independent multi-link arrangement in the rear. For those venturing into the rough stuff, it has 20.5 degrees approach and departure angles, 20 degrees ramp break-over angle and 203mm of ground clearance.

Looks are subjective, of course, but we reckon it has attractive and cohesive styling, with its prominent and ornate diamond-style grille complimented by distinctive side-body contours that can’t be mistaken for other SUVs.

The interior has a premium look and feel, with lots of exposed stitching along soft-touch seams and a tasteful blend of contrasting surfaces including chrome, satin chrome, piano black and textured patterns.

There’s good attention to detail and build quality is excellent, but there are some annoying design quirks like the need for the front passenger to access a touchscreen menu just to adjust the audio volume.

The second-row of seating has a/c vents in the centre console and is spacious even for tall people like me (186cm). When sitting behind the driver’s seat in my position, there’s about 60mm of clearance between my knees and the driver’s seat backrest, which combined with ample head and shoulder room makes for a comfortable ride.

By contrast, the third-row seating is strictly for young kids, as there are no adjustments for the second-row’s backrest angle or fore/aft base cushion positioning to accommodate taller frames like mine. The side windows in the thick rear roof pillar are also conspicuously small, which adds to a claustrophobic feel.

Fortunately, access to the third-row is made easier by the 60/40-split second-row, which can be folded and tumbled forward.

However, given I’ve found tolerable third-row comfort in some rival seven-seaters, the Rexton’s third-row is my only gripe for those with longer limbs.

The GXL is 4795mm long with a 2745mm wheelbase. It is 1855mm wide, 1835mm high and has a listed kerb weight of 2185kg. It has a 11.6m turning circle.

Not a lot has changed in terms of the Fortuner’s looks over the years and while it stubbornly retains that pleasingly non-offensive exterior of most modern SUVs, it does manage to not be totally bland.

The GXL is a body-on-frame 4WD based the HiLux, so it’s no sports car in appearance whether you gaze at it from the front, side, rear or from a bird’s eye view, but it doesn’t look like a block of rotten wood, so unless you’re looks-obsessed, then you should be okay driving this around.

The Fortuner interior is looking dated and the standard dark grey fabric cloth seats, though well-suited to coping with day-to-day messes and spills, don’t do the cabin any favours either, and – you know what? – I don’t mind any of it. Note our test vehicle on this occasion had black leather-accented seats as part of its GXL Option Pack, but I've spent time in cloth-seat Fortuners.

With its 2130kg kerb weight and 2960kg GVM, our test vehicle has a sizeable load capacity of up to 830kg, which should be ample for five occupants and their luggage.

It’s also rated to tow up to the class-benchmark 3500kg of braked trailer and its 350kg maximum tow-ball download is compatible with that requirement.

Plus, its generous 6460kg GCM (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) means it can legally tow its maximum trailer weight while carrying its maximum car-load, which is a practical set of numbers for just about any recreational requirement.

Front-row cabin storage includes cup/bottle-holders and a small bin in each front door, plus a single glove box. The stylish centre console has a bin up front with sliding-lid, two cupholders in the middle with another sliding-lid, plus a box at the rear with hinged padded-lid that doubles as a driver’s elbow rest.

Those seated in the second-row get a cup/bottle holder and bin in each door, plus pockets on each front seat backrest. The fold-down centre armrest has two more cupholders and a handy hidden compartment that’s ideal for small items. Third-row occupants get storage bins on each side but no cup/bottle holders.

Accessing the cargo area through the power tailgate reveals 236 litres (VDA) of load volume with the third-row seats upright. This expands to 641 litres with the third-row folded flat and 1806 litres (or more than 1.8 cubic metres) with the second and third-rows folded.

The cargo area’s rear floor has a two-tiered design, with the top floor lying flush with the third-row seats when folded but it can be removed to reveal a lower floor that provides a second level of storage. There’s also a usefully large bin in the right-hand-side wall cavity. The only things missing are sturdy load-anchorage points at floor level to secure cargo nets or straps.

The Fortuner’s cabin has a comfortably familiar feel to it and, thankfully, this interior is all about function not fashion.

It’s a practical space, with standard cloth seats (as mentioned our test vehicle has the Option Pack leather-accented seats, but I’ve spent enough drive time in Fortuners with cloth seats to know how those cope with the mess and dirt of everyday life), carpet floors with rubber mats, and durable plastic surfaces everywhere.

Up front, there’s an 8.0-inch multimedia screen (too small, not clear and bright enough) and that system has USB-connected Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (no wireless anything), and a 4.2-inch colour driver’s display, which is too small, too basic and part of an outdated mix of analogue and not-new-enough digital instrumentation.

There are the usual storage spaces – including a glovebox, a centre console, a tray for your smartphone, pop-out cup-holders on the outboard edges of the dash – and a USB port and a 12V socket for charging purposes.

The Fortuner’s three rows are in a 2-3-2 seat configuration. The 60/40 split-fold second-row seat has a one-touch, tumble feature. The 50/50 third-row seats are able to be stowed away, sort of. When folded to each side they protrude into the load space, reducing the size of what would otherwise be a more useable cargo area.

It’s reasonably comfortable in the second row; I sat behind my driving position and I had adequate head and knee room.

The second row has cup holders in the fold-down armrest, ceiling-mounted controls for the aircon, and two ISOFIX and three top-tether anchor points.

All three rows get aircon – with ceiling-mounted vents – and there are a few storage spaces in the third row, but no cup-holders. 

In terms of comfort, it’s ordinary back here; the seats are flat and unsupportive – and, for anyone other than children, the space is tight. 

Boot space is listed as 200 litres with the third-row seats in use, and in that area there are cargo hooks and a 12V socket.

Stow away the third-row and cargo space increases to 716 litres. But the seats still jut into the cargo area, greatly reducing your actual useable load space, and they also obscure a lot of driver vision to the rear.

With the second and third rows out of the way you have a listed 1080L of cargo area.

Our test vehicle is the GXL, the mid-spec variant in a line-up topped and tailed by the base-spec GX and the top-shelf Crusade.

The GXL has a starting price of $58,895 plus on-road costs.

Standard features onboard this seven-seat 4WD wagon include a 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a six-speaker sound system, digital radio, manually adjustable seats and 17-inch alloy wheels.

Exterior paint choices include Glacier White (no extra cost) or premium paints Frosted White, Graphite, Stunning Silver, Eclipse Black, Feverish Red, Phantom Brown, and Saturn Blue, which all cost $675 extra.

Our test vehicle has the Option Pack, which includes black leather-accented seats and eight-way power-adjustable front seats.

The quiet and refined 2.2-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel, which meets Euro 6 emissions standards, produces 149kW at 3800rpm and 441Nm across a 1000rpm-wide torque band between 1600-2600rpm. It provides energetic response in city and suburban use.

This engine is paired with an equally refined eight-speed torque converter automatic, with overdrive on its sixth, seventh and eighth ratios ensuring low-rpm operation and optimum fuel economy at highway speeds.

Sequential manual-shifting is available using the steering wheel-mounted paddles and there's a choice of three drive modes ('Power'/'Winter'/'Eco') which can be selected using a console button.

The part-time, dual-range 4WD system is controlled by a console dial, offering the choice of 2H (2WD high-range), 4H (4WD high-range) and 4L (4WD low-range). It also has an auto-locking rear diff to optimise traction as required.

Every Fortuner in the line-up has a 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine – producing 150kW and 500Nm – and that’s matched to a six-speed automatic transmission.

In terms of performance, the Fortuner is not going to set any hearts a-flutter: it’s sluggish off the mark, it takes a heavy right boot to make it feel like anything other than lacklustre on the move, and the six-speed auto downshifts quite harshly at times, especially when going up or down long, gradual inclines on the highway.

However, the 4WD set-up is effective, with adequate low-range gearing, a quietly efficient (but a tad clunky) off-road traction control system, and a rear diff lock.

SsangYong claims an official combined cycle average of 8.7L/100km. At the completion of our 307km test, which comprised mostly city and suburban driving with a bit of highway travel, mostly in Eco mode with up to five occupants on some trips, our figure calculated from fuel bowser and trip meter readings came in at 11.0L/100km.

Although higher than SsangYong’s claim, it was within the usual 2.0-3.0L/100km discrepancy between official and ‘real-world’ figures. So, based on our numbers, you could expect a driving range of more than 600km from its 70-litre tank, which is not bad. Based on the official figure, driving range extends to around 800km.

The Fortuner has official fuel consumption of 7.6L/100km.

On this test I recorded 9.6L/100km.

Going by my on-test fuel figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 833km from this Fortuner’s full 80-litre tank.

The Rexton’s overall refinement and build quality are evident when you get behind the wheel. It offers good adjustability for driver comfort and the fundamentals of the vehicle are sound, as there were no red flags during our test.

The engine is smooth and quiet with good all-around performance, the automatic transmission shifts quickly and smoothly, the steering is nicely weighted and communicative, the brakes provide reassuring response and the ride quality is supple over bumps yet disciplined enough to provide good handling response.

It’s also pleasantly quiet at highway speeds, with low tyre and wind noise. Engine noise is also minimal, given that it requires only 1600rpm to maintain 110km/h, ensuring low-stress cruising.

Most of our driving time was spent in Eco mode, as we found performance in this setting more than adequate for our purposes. We did briefly use the Power mode but didn’t notice any significant change in response.

On-road, the Fortuner offers up a pretty standard driving experience for a ute-based wagon. It’s on the HiLux ladder-frame chassis, and it has a firm ride, bordering on harsh. Having said that, you do get used to it soon enough and the Fortuner's coil-spring suspension set-up takes most of the sting out of surface irregularities, except for the more severe dips and bumps.

The Fortuner’s driving position offers plenty of visibility – although the A-pillars are bulky and the third-row seats block vision to the rear when they’re folded up to the sides of the cabin.

This 4WD wagon is generally quiet, although there’s noticeable wind-rush noise around the wing mirrors and engine noise builds to a diesel shriek when you use a heavy right boot as is regularly required.

Steering – reach- and rake-adjustable – is adequately light and sharp, and the Fortuner, with its 11.6m turning circle, is reasonably nimble in suburban areas.

Acceleration, from a standing-start or for overtaking, is laggy but available power and torque come in handy during general driving, making the Fortuner more agreeable all-round than previous versions.

The six-speed auto is generally right for the job, but it downshifts harshly, especially when going up or down long, gradually sloping highway stretches. That happens enough for it to be on the wrong side of annoying.

Some aspects of the Fortuner’s driver-assist tech is annoying: active cruise control is too abrupt and pre-emptive, consistently miscalculating the space between the Fortuner and the vehicle in front as accurately as most of its rivals. This clunky application of tech to real-world scenarios works against the Fortuner. 

While driving a lightly corrugated and rutted dirt track o the way to our set-piece off-road tests, the Fortuner’s ladder-frame chassis yielded a stiff, firm ride, bashing and bouncing over any and all surface imperfections. Airing down the Yokohama Geolandar ATs (265/65R17) from 38 psi (pounds per square inch) to 26 psi takes some sting out of the ride.

The Fortuner is a very capable 4WD with standard off-road measurements, including ground clearance (216mm), approach angle (29 degrees), departure angle (25 degrees) and rampover angle (23.5 degrees). It has a listed wading depth of 700mm.

The Fortuner’s switchable part-time 4WD system has two-wheel drive (H2), and high- (H4) and low-range (L4) four-wheel drive. There’s ample low-end torque on offer – on tap across a broad rev range – for controlled low-speed 4WDing and the unfussed turbo-diesel engine keeps the Fortuner ticking along, without any hassle. 

Engine braking is good, keeping the Fortuner to a sustained and composed momentum on downhill runs.

The off-road traction control system is an effective set-up, limiting wheel-spin and sending much-needed torque to the tyres with some useable traction, with the aim to keep the vehicle moving along at a safe, controlled pace.

Besides that, the driver always has the option of engaging the rear diff lock for more traction action.

Wheel travel is decent for a wagon like this and if you can get the full suspension flex, and drop any mid-air tyres to the dirt for more traction, chances are you’ll be able to get moving along safely soon enough.

So, the mechanicals are fine – its 4WD set-up is very effective – but the Fortuner doesn’t have a whole lot of ground clearance (a claimed 216mm, standard for a contemporary 4WD wagon) and the side steps are prone to hitting on the edges of steep and deep ruts, but those factors are easily overcome through considered driving and tyres that are better suited to off-roading. 

The standard Yokohama Geolandar AT tyres are somewhat of a flaw in the Fortuner’s off-roading set-up. Sure, they’re technically all-terrains, but I reckon a better bet for you – if you’re planning to drive anything beyond formed trails – is to invest in a set of more aggressive all-terrains with greater sidewall bite. 

If you’re planning to use your Fortuner to tow anything, keep in mind that it has a 750kg unbraked towing capacity and 3100kg braked towing capacity. Remember: to be on the safe side, avoid going loading up to anywhere near those capacity figures.

Payload is 615kg (easily reached when you factor in people, pets, camping gear and more), gross vehicle is (GVM) is 2800kg, and gross combined mass (GCM) is 5900kg.

The Toyota Fortuner GXL has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in 2019. Note the ANCAP safety rating for the Fortuner is based on crash tests of the Toyota Hilux.

Standard safety gear includes seven airbags and driver-assist tech, including AEB with pedestrian (night and day) and cyclist detection (day only), active cruise control, lane departure alert, road sign assist and more.

Warranty cover is seven years/unlimited km warranty plus seven years roadside assist.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/15,000km whichever occurs first.

The first seven scheduled services run to $375 each, up to seven years/105,000km, for a total of $2625.

A five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty covers the Fortuner, which is par for the course these days.

If you stick to the relatively short servicing schedule – six months or 10,000km with at authorised dealerships – Toyota says it will cover the engine and driveline for up to seven years. All warranty elements are subject to terms and conditions, so make sure you’re fully aware of those.

Capped-price servicing applies and, for our test vehicle, it was $290 per appointment for the first five, then $377.38, $813.93, $572.55, $478.93 and $377.38.