Toyota Rush - Hits & misses

Toyota introduced the Rush in the Philippines a few years ago and since then the Rush has established a strong base for itself. It is a popular car, indeed, and available in 5-seater as well as 7-seater avatars. Most of the people have named it as Toyota’s baby Fortuner.

So what are the things that the baby Fortuner is good at and what are the areas where it needs improvement? We are going to find out in today’s hits and misses.

Toyota Rush Hits

Design

Walking in its elder sibling’s (Fortuner) shoes, the Rush demands attention. It has been given a design that helps it to achieve its goal. Up ahead, we have a pair of sleek LED headlamps that keep the sportiness alive. Then there’s the front grille with the brand’s logo which reminds us that it is a Toyota and not a Daihatsu.

We also have the front bumper with fog lamps. It tries to keep up with the sporty look of the car, too. And we think it just manages to pull it off. What do you think?

The side profile gets very subtle character lines on the doors. There is body cladding present all around and the roof rails make the Rush looks more SUV-ish than it actually is. We also have the sporty alloy wheels available in 16-inch and 17-inch sizes. At the rear, the Rush shows off its roof-mounted spoiler and large taillamps.

Following are the dimensions of Toyota Rush-

Length	4435 mm
Width	1695 mm
Height	1705 mm
Wheelbase	2685 mm
Ground clearance	220 mm
Fuel tank capacity	45 litres

Interior space

Thanks to the large dimensions, the Rush has a generous amount of room available on the inside. There is more than enough legroom for the rear passengers. The headroom is decent as well. However, the person sitting in the middle at the rear would have to adjust to the transmission tunnel going though.

Following are some of the other key interior features-

• 7-in touch screen infotainment system
• Weblink for iOS and Android
• Commanding driving position
• Well-bolstered seats

Safety features

Toyota always keeps safety as one of its top-most priorities while building a car. Another great thing about the brand is that it tries to make as many safety features as possible standard across all the variants of its products. And with the Rush, things aren’t any different. It gets the following safety features-

• Parking sensors
• Reverse camera
• Vehicle stability control
• Hill-start assist
• Traction control
• 6 airbags
• ABS with EBD

It’s mostly because of these safety features that the Toyota Rush has been awarded a 5-start ASEAN NCAP safety rating.

Engine

Listed in the Toyota Rush specs sheet is a 1.5-litre engine that produces 104 PS and 136 Nm of torque. It is mated to either a 4-speed automatic or 5-speed manual transmission. Many would argue that these figures aren’t sufficient to provide a thrilling driving experience. Well, Rush isn’t built to break lap records. Drive it sanely and you might just like the way the power is delivered.

Following is the detailed engine specs of the Rush-

Engine type	2NR-VE engine with Dual VVT-i
No of cylinders	4
Displacement	1496 cc
Max power output	102 PS at 6000 rpm
Max torque output	134 Nm at 4200 rpm

Toyota Rush Misses

Cabin insulation

The Rush is a decent car to drive, however, Toyota should have done a bit more work on its cabin insulation. A certain amount of noise creeps inside the cabin which, in turn, spoils the overall good driving experience. The NVH levels might not be that prominent on idle, however, as the revs climb, you would start to feel the cabin ambience unsettle.

Interior quality

Although the interior of the Toyota Rush has a good amount of space, it does lack in terms of material quality. You would find the use of hard plastic at various locations inside the cabin which is a bit of a letdown.

Handling

We already mentioned that the Rush isn’t supposed to be driven too enthusiastically, however, most of us would indeed like to put our foot down every now and then. And it is during these occasions you realise that the Toyota Rush isn’t a great handler. It has a certain amount of body roll which results in loss of driver’s confidence.

There you have it guys. These were some of the areas where we think the Toyota Rush excels and disappoints. Do let us know your experience with the Rush. 

Toyota Rush price list-

Variants	Price
1.5 E MT (5-seater)	Php 968,000
1.5 E AT (5-seater)	Php 1.01 million
1.5 G AT (7-seater)	Php 1.1 million

 

Also read: Cross-Segment comparison: Toyota Rush vs Toyota Avanza