2021 Toyota Fortuner & Legender Variants Explained - Which One To Buy?

What Is The Price of The 2021 Toyota Fortuner & Legender?

The 2021 Toyota Fortuner prices start at Rs 30.34 lakh. The Fortuner petrol version is available only with 2WD drivetrain, and its automatic transmission variants are Rs 1.60 lakh more expensive than the manual counterparts. 

In the case of the diesel version, the 2WD format of the Fortuner comes with manual and automatic transmission options, while the Legender comes with automatic transmission. The Fortuner diesel 2WD manual transmission variant is priced at Rs 32.84 lakh, while the Legender automatic is tagged at Rs 38.30 lakh.

With the diesel engine option, 4WD option is also available, which comes with both manual and automatic transmission options, and these have around Rs 2.30 lakh price difference. 

The following table offers you a look at the pricing details of all the variants of the 2021 Toyota Fortuner and Legender:

What Are The Engine Specifications of The 2021 Toyota Fortuner? 

The Fortuner petrol comes equipped with a 2.7-litre petrol engine that is good to deliver 166PS of maximum power and 245Nm of peak torque. The diesel engine option’s performance is better than this petrol engine. The diesel engine offers 204PS of maximum power and 420-500Nm of peak torque.

The diesel engine is available with the 4WD option that the petrol engine doesn’t have. 

The Fortuner’s petrol engine comes paired with a 5-speed manual and a 6-speed automatic transmission option. The diesel engine comes with a 6-speed manual and 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission option.

Compared to all its diesel rivals, the Fortuner’s performance is only less than the Gloster automatic. However, all its rivals come only with automatic transmission. 

You can check all the engine specification details of the 2021 Toyota Fortuner in the following tables along with comparison with rival models:

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What Are The Dimensions of The 2021 Toyota Fortuner? 

The Toyota Fortuner is a D2 segment SUV, and its length is around 4.8m. When it comes to the exterior dimensions and wheelbase, the Fortuner is smaller than the Gloster and Endeavour. It is worth noting that the 2WD format of the Fortuner is available with 17-inch wheels, while the 4WD format and Legender variant is available with 18-inch wheels. In both cases, the tyre width is the same. 

The following table offers you a look at all the dimension details of the 2021 Toyota Fortuner: 

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What Are The Features of 2021 Toyota Fortuner Petrol?

The Fortuner’s entry level 2WD petrol variant is tagged at Rs 30.34 lakh. 

Apart from all the basic safety features, the entry-level Fortuner petrol MT offers electronic stability control, hill start assist, traction control, side and curtain airbags, LED headlamps, LED fog lamps, front parking sensors and rear parking camera as well. 

The parking camera’s footage gets displayed on an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which also comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity options. 

You can view all the safety and entertainment related features of the 2021 Toyota Fortuner petrol 2WD in the table below:

As far as functional features are concerned, keyless entry w/ push-button start/stop, multi drive modes, ventilated and powered front seats, electrically adjustable & foldable ORVMs, cruise control, tilt and telescopic steering wheel and auto AC w/ rear AC vents are the key inclusions.

In terms of style, LED DRLs, chrome door handles, alloy wheels and leather upholstery are this variant’s notable features. 

You can view all the functional and style related features of the 2021 Fortuner petrol 2WD in the table below:

With the petrol engine there are options of manual and automatic transmissions. The automatic transmission option is around Rs 1.60 lakh more expensive than the petrol counterpart. The Fortuner automatic also offers paddle shifters. 

According to us, the incremental cost of the automatic transmission is on the higher side. However, in the case of the petrol Fortuner, we think you should go for the automatic transmission. This is because, if you are buying an expensive car like the Fortuner, missing on the convenience of the automatic transmission for another 1 lakh or so, is not sensible. 

Given the price of the Toyota Fortuner, we feel that it should also have features like auto-folding ORVMs, rear captain seats, wireless charging and wireless phone connectivity. 

What Are The Features of 2021 Toyota Fortuner Diesel?

In case of the Fortuner 2WD, the diesel engine version costs Rs 2.50 lakh more than the petrol version. 

Apart from all the features that are offered by the petrol 2WD Fortuner, the diesel version also offers pitch and bounce control and variable flow control in power steering, to improve drive dynamics.

The incremental cost of Rs 2.50 lakh for the diesel engine is on the higher side. However, if in your state, diesel cars are getting registered for 15 years and if you run your car frequently for long distances, then we recommend the Fortuner diesel for you. This is because, compared to the Fortuner’s petrol engine, the diesel engine offers a significantly high torque figure that will certainly have a positive impact on drivability.

In case of the diesel 2WD Fortuner, the automatic is Rs 2.36 lakh costlier than the manual transmission option. The automatic transmission comes along with an idle start/stop feature, which should help improve the fuel efficiency. 

The benefit of the automatic transmission in case of the diesel 2WD Fortuner, can only be felt if you drive your own car and are buying it primarily to be driven on paved roads or for mild off-roading. 

If you wish to take your diesel Fortuner for occasional off-roading or mainly travel on rough roads, then rather than going for the 2WD Fortuner diesel automatic you can choose to buy the similarly priced 4WD diesel manual version. 

It is worth noting that the 4WD version of the Fortuner offers 18-inch alloy wheels and an 11-speaker JBL audio system.

The Fortuner diesel 4WD version also comes with an automatic transmission option, and it is around Rs 2.30 lakh more expensive than its manual version, and this price increment is on the higher side. High running, self drive and occasional off road use, if these 3 things are your requirements, then you should consider buying the diesel 4WD Fortuner with the automatic transmission. Otherwise, the diesel 4WD manual or the 2WD automatic versions are suitable for most buyers. 

What Are The Features of 2021 Toyota Fortuner Legender Variant?

The Legender variant is available only with the 2WD diesel-automatic drivetrain. So clearly, it’s meant mainly for on-road use or soft-road. The Legender variant is Rs 3.10 lakh costlier than the Fortuner 2WD AT.

The Legender is around Rs 3 lakh more expensive than the regular diesel Fortuner 2WD automatic.

The Legender stands apart from the rest of the Fortuner variants with its cosmetic updates to make it sportier looking. Apart from the exterior and interior cosmetic differences, which includes -- updated design for the front and rear facades, dual-tone paint scheme, dynamic turn indicators and black-maroon interior colour theme, the Legender variant also offers added features such as wireless charger, foot swipe boot open, rear USB port and ambient lighting.

The following table offers a look at the additional features of the 2021 Toyota Legender variant over the regular Fortuner variants:

The incremental cost of the Legender is significantly more than the other Fortuner variants for its additional features and cosmetic updates. Hence, The Legender is not a suitable option for most buyers, and only those who don’t mind spending substantially more just for exclusive appeal can consider it. 

Toyota Fortuner & Legender Variants - Which Variant To Buy?

The Toyota Fortuner is essentially available in 2 variants -- regular and Legender. 

The Legender variant is only available with the 2WD diesel-automatic drivetrain, and is considerably more expensive than the regular variant of the Fortuner. Hence, we do not recommend the Legender variant.

In case of the regular variants of the Fortuner, the petrol engine version is suitable only for those buyers, who won’t run their car much, and who don’t plan to take it for off-roading. 

In this case, we would recommend the automatic transmission for easy driving abilities on busy city roads.

If you run your car relatively more, but don’t have off road requirements, and based on whether you will drive yourself or you have a driver, you may choose to buy the 2WD diesel Fortuner with automatic or manual transmission. 

However, for most buyers we recommend the Fortuner’s diesel 4WD variant with manual transmission, as you can take it for occasional off-roading. In the diesel 4WD’s case, if your on-road or city road travel is considerably high, then you can consider the automatic transmission. 

The following table offers you a brief look at our variant-wise recommendations on the 2021 Toyota Fortuner, to make your buying decision easy:

What Are The Exterior Colour Options of 2021 Toyota Fortiner & Legender?

The Toyota Fortuner’s regular variants are available in 7 exterior colour options, namely -- Sparkling Black, Black, Brown, Grey, Bronze, White and Pearl White. While the Legender variant is available only in the Pearl White shade with contrasting Black roof. 

We like the Pearl White colour option of the Fortuner the best. Let us know which colour option you like the most in the comment section.