AN EPIC ADVENTURER TOYOTA FORTUNER 2.8 GD-6 4X4 EPIC BLACK AUTO

Ironically named as it may be, the Toyota Fortuner Epic is, as the badge suggests, more than just another SUV, as we discovered during a somewhat localised leisure drive in Gauteng.

By slimming down the Fortuner range, and adding a handful of accessories, the Fortuner is once again the top of mind choice for SUV buyers, even at the somewhat rich price point of R753,900 of our full-fat 4x4 Epic Black test unit.

Fans of Toyota’s thirsty 4.0-litre V6 petrol engine will mourn its demise in the new Fortuner line-up, although few are likely to miss the manual gearbox option which has been wholly excised from the Fortuner range. If you, like me, absolutely still see value in Toyota’s workhorse 2.4 GD-6 engine or the petrol 2.7 VVT-i, fear not, as these remain available in the range, albeit not in Epic or Epic Black trim.

WHERE DO YOU GO TO MY LOCKDOWN?

Sadly lockdown-encumbered as we were during the Epic Black 4x4’s test week, we still managed a respectable 270 km of localised leisure travel, using the opportunity to take the Fortuner for a stroll around Gauteng, to some of the region’s natural highlights.

Beginning at the Rietvlei Dam Nature reserve in the east of Pretoria, one of the Fortuner’s best features were put to great use. With its elevated ride height, the Fortuner is an ideal game viewing vehicle for up to seven occupants. However, a maximum of four – including the driver (for social

distancing purposes, and all that) – enjoyed the drive through one of the capital city’s most underrated nature experiences.

Covering 4,000 hectares of Highveld grassland, the Rietvlei Nature Reserve is home to the 20-hectare expanse of the Rietvlei Dam and about 1,600 individual animals that include cheetah, red hartebeest, eland, zebra, waterbuck, reedbuck, springbuck, leopard, buffalo, and hippopotamus. Two male lions and four lionesses are also kept in a separate enclosure on the reserve.

Our next stop was another of Pretoria’s proclaimed reserves, the Groenkloof Nature Reserve, located adjacent to the Fountains Valley at the southern entrance to the capital.

Covering over 600 hectares, the reserve is flanked by the Voortrekker Monument and Klapperkop Nature Reserves, where some 1,400 hectares of endangered bankenveld is conserved.

The reserve is popular with cyclists, and mountain bikers can follow a 20 km route. Hikers