Watch: Toyota SUV Barrel Rolls Drifting On Sand
Another day, another drifting mishap. This time it happened to a Toyota Fortuner SUV in Pakistan, of all places. It looks like the urge to go out and do some drifting has no boundaries.
Drifting with a top-heavy SUV may not be the best idea
Sliding from side to side, the top-heavy Toyota SUV got tippy. And once that started the hapless driver could not control it. Another drifting calamity was the result. This is why most professional drifters do it in sports cars.
Posted on the Offroad Club Pakistan Facebook page, the driver cut that last turn a little too hard. What’s maybe crazier is that the SUV was full of passengers. Without the skills necessary to slide around on the sand, should he be allowed to endanger passengers, too?
As you watch, the Fortuner is easily plopped back onto its tires with the help of a winch. But the damage is rather extensive for having just landed on its side. And both of the driver’s side tires got blown out; probably from the lateral force.
When the tires dug into the sand the drifting became a barrel-roll
Once the tires gave out it was alley-oop. The post says that the driver was not injured. Nothing was said about the passengers.
Even under good conditions, it is hard to judge how a car will react in soaked sand at the beach. In this case, the sand was soft enough for the tires to dig in. If the sand were more solidly packed, it would have been just as easy for the SUV to wash out without incident.
So we doubt anyone with drifting knowledge would suggest doing this. Still, the pull to do some shenanigans with friends at the beach can be compelling. This just had too many factors that didn’t favor this coming out fine.
The Toyota Fortuner is much like the Hilux pickup in the US
As for the Toyota Fortuner, it is not sold in the US. It falls into the same category as the Hilux pickup. It is popular, sells in huge volumes wherever it is sold, but can’t meet emissions requirements in the US.
Within the Toyota hierarchy, it uses the same platform as the Hilux. It is similar to the Highlander and Lexus GX in the US. When the new Hilux pickup debuted in 2020 a new Fortuner did as well. The seven-seater does well in Australia, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
With the updated Fortuner it featured a more aggressive face and more rugged looks. It rides on 18-inch wheels, too. And there is also a built-in skid plate, large fog lamps, and slimmer LED headlights.
