Yesterday, I attended the preview of the All-New Toyota Rush 7 seater SUV organised by the Malaysian distributors of Toyota vehicles, UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd. This is the second generation of this affordable and practical 7 seater Sports Utility Vehicle which was specially developed for ASEAN markets. This time around, the Rush will be officially on sale early 2019 with local contract assembly of the vehicle by Perodua.
The All-new Toyota Rush is basically Toyota's entry level Urban SUV for emerging markets in the ASEAN region. Design briefs include the combining the comfort of a passenger car with spaciousness, high seating position, and greater ground clearance of an SUV. This latest model actually differs from the previous Toyota Rush in that it is more closely based on the Toyota Avanza platform, or a separate chassis from the body design but it actually has more space, a lot more refinement than before as well as more equipment. It has been ten years since the first generation Toyota Rush came about and things have moved on a fair bit.
With this new generation of Rush, Toyota introduces their latest approach - the 360-T. The 360-T approach is all about Trust and Technology by Toyota, giving customers a complete suite of innovations, designed to protect and provide total advantage on the road. Three elements make up the 360-T: Safe-T Plus with the latest safety features and systems as a standard feature; Connectivi-T which provides latest technology for connectivity, entertainment and safety; and Guaran-T for total peace of mind throughout the ownership of the vehicle. It is a more holistic approach to sum it up.
Now while Toyota has actually based the all-New Rush on the latest Avanza platform, it actually looks better in some aspects. Toyota decided to give the Rush a design which is edgy and more fashion forward than the simple lines of the previous one. They've called it the ‘R-BLADE’. The ‘R’ stands for ‘Rush’ and the ‘blade’ refers to Metal, Sharp and Edge, while a dual tone theme on the bodywork adds visual impact. Whatever they say it is I must say that there is more emphasis on edgy styling and lines as they've put in more aggression and when you compare with the previous, more rounded styling of the earlier model, it does work. This looks like a chunkier looking SUV and that alone may attract more buyers to it.
As for the powertrain and drivetrain, the All-new Toyota Rush is powered by the latest Toyota 16-valve DOHC 1.5-litre 4 cylinder engine which makes 105 ps at 6,000 rpm with 136 Nm of torque at 4,200 rpm. It is coupled to a robust and reliable, but very basic 4-speed automatic transmission. While some may say that this is 2018, the Rush was actually designed to be affordable and reliable in the long run, so it does make sense in order to keep prices low.
It may be a four speeder, but Toyota have equipped it with an Automatic Stop-Start system which will sopt and start the engine when it is idling. Toyota claims that fuel consumption is better and can be as good as 15.6 kms per litre. Because of this is actually qualifies as an Energy Efficient Vehicle (EEV) under the current Malaysian National Automotive Policy.
Like the previous Rush, the All-new Toyota Rush will be sold here in a rear-wheel drive setup which would actually suit its SUV characteristics better than a front wheel drive SUV. More proper 4x2 style SUV setup which you see in some pickup trucks that are used more for on road purposes rather than off-road. The additional ground clearance that it has would actually still help this basic SUV traverse rough terrain.
Other features include Electric Power Steering (EPS) which will add a few percent to its fuel efficiency, and it is also fitted with tyres with the largest diameter in its class which actually makes it look like a tough looking compact SUV unlike its other 7 seater SUV looking rival from what is currently the number One Japanese brand in Malaysia (The Rush looks tougher by a large margin I think). Despite the large tyre size, the Rush still has a turning radius of 5.2 metres.
Toyota also states that this is a full 7 seater. It is, as some larger members of the media actually fit in the third row of seats easily. Getting in and out is fairly easy too. The cargo capacity is 217 litres but when required, the volume can be expanded to 514 litres by folding the rear seats. Additionally, for those who may have long or large objects not exceeding 50 kgs, the edges of the roof have integrated low profile rails which cargo can be placed on.
In terms of equipment, it is fitted with a DVD-AVX audio system with an 6.8-inch touchscreen. The system can be linked to a compatible smartphone to ‘mirror’ the smartphone’s screen onto the audio display. This allows GPS navigation apps such as Google Maps and Waze to be used and viewed from the screen.
Other standard features include 13 cupholders for 7 people OR almost 2 cups per person inside the car. There is also a Multi-Info Display, Panoramic View Monitor (PVM) for a 360-degree bird’s eye view of the vehicle, and a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) for the driver to monitor the surrounding of the car in most parking or driving situations.
A 'SmartTag' or what Toyota calls the Toyota AutoTag reader is also installed for electronic payment of toll also. There is also a Smart Entry system which locks/unlocks the doors with just a touch of the button located on the outside door handles.
The all-new Rush has a combination of advanced safety systems plus computer-aided engineering and design. This has enabled the All-new Toyota Rush to score the highest overall rating of 5-stars from ASEAN NCAP (for both Adult & Child Occupant Protection categories). I have written about that in a previous post actually and you can read about it here.
New active safety features include the Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) with Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA). BSM helps the driver to be more aware of other road-users in the vehicle’s blind spot, reducing the risk of a collision, while the RCTA is able to warn the driver of approaching vehicles as the vehicle is reversing out of a parking bay.
The Rush, in 1.5S variant, is also fitted with Pre-Collision System (PCS) which helps to reduce low to medium speed accidents due to inattentive driving (seen being demonstrated to the media below) . The system, which uses a stereo camera, has Pre-collision Warning, Pre-collision Braking, Front Departure Alert, and Pedal Misoperation Control features. The PCS is designed as a driver assistance feature but it still gives priority to driver inputs which will override its functions.
There will be two variants for the Malaysian market with an expected launch early 2019. The estimated price of the All-new Toyota Rush is RM98,000 for the S variant (which gets the added Pre-Collision System -PCS) and RM93,000 for the G variant. The All-new Toyota Rush comes with a 5-year full warranty with unlimited mileage. The all-ew Rush will come with 5 exterior colours choices – White, Silver Metallic, Dark Gray Metallic, Blue Metallic and Dark Green Metallic.
Bookings for theall-new Rush are accepted at all authorised Toyota showrooms nationwide.
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